Here’s what Falcons quarterback Kirk Cousins had to say after the 27-21 win over the Cowboys on Sunday at Mercedes-Benz Stadium:
Opening Statement: “A workmanlike day today. I came in at halftime and just was communicating to teammates that it felt like a game we were going to have to grind out, they were going to make us earn every play, every yard, and it felt that way, especially through the late in the third, into the fourth. I thought that teammates stepped up, substantially in Drake’s [London] absence, KhaDarel Hodge stepping up. [Darnell] Mooney made some big plays for us. Bijan Robinson showed up in the run game, pass game quite a bit. Tyler Allgeier’s touchdown run was phenomenal. More of the same from him. Had a lot of great protection, a lot of time on the touchdown to Ray Ray [McCloud]. It’s so fun to be a progressive passer and have an offensive line that really gives you the time to tick through. So great job there, and unbelievable catch by Drake on the touchdown. That’s really what he does, among other things, so well is that jump ball, high point contested catch, strong hands. Love playing with a guy like that, being able to just put the ball up for him let him go get it. I told him we really haven’t had enough plays like that this year. I told him earlier this week when we were meeting. It was fun to see that come alive in the game for a touchdown. And now we’ve just got to keep building, keep stacking and it’s always good to drive home now after a win. I’ll take any questions you have.”
On the overall efficiency of the offense and the importance of starting the second half with a scoring drive: “I think that was an important drive. To answer, I thought both scoring drives in the second half felt like really important drives and plays, and being two-for-two on fourth down, I go back several games, our fourth-down plays have continued to make a major difference in our offensive production. There’s plenty there to clean up. I mean 4-for-13 on third down is not what we want. There’s still a lot there that you felt like wasn’t as sharp as we are capable of being.”
On what makes this team special to be 6-3 right now: “I think whenever you’re winning, you certainly feel like the wind is at your back more, and yet it is such a week-to-week league that I’ve learned that maybe you have a tough loss and maybe things don’t feel as special, if you will. And it’s just kind of that week to week nature of our league, but I think it starts with Raheem Morris as our head coach setting the tone each week and allowing guys to feel comfortable to be themselves and to play with great effort, and then from there it kind of trickles down to our captains and our locker room, and we’ve just got to keep challenging each other, keep going out to practice each day with an edge and with an attention to detail and believe that if you do that, good things will happen on Sundays and the wins will start to stack up.”
On whether he used his past relationship with Cowboys defensive coordinator Mike Zimmer to motivative himself: “I thought today was unique facing Coach Zim because I did feel like he was doing a good job of keeping us guessing, keeping us kind of, oh, okay, now he’s doing this, oh, wait, they just changed to this, okay, now he’s pressuring or okay, now he’s bluffing. That’s why it felt like a grind. I felt like he had a good plan for us. And there were a couple of times, the way he defended us, I thought that was smart. That was a good approach. And I think that’s probably why we did have some challenges in and some of the drives did stall.”
On whether he feels any validation having success against Zimmer’s defense today: “Well, I think there was positives, but there was also a lot we left out there. I think when you look at some of the production, like the touchdown to Drake, I mean that’s just kind of a player more than a play, if you will. And the same with Mooney a little bit in the coverage there. That was kind of a tough look for them. It’s a challenging deal. But it was hard earned today. I felt that.”
On how impactful Bijan Robinson has been as a receiver: “He’s a big deal. He’s a big deal. When I got here, I wanted him to be a receiver for us, I wanted him to show up in the pass game. I want to check the ball down to him. I want to put the ball in his hands. And my background would be whether it was Chris Thompson in Washington or Dalvin Cook in Minnesota. I see a running back as a running back, and I also see them as a receiver, and Bijan has a lot of ability catching the football, and I love when he shows up in our pass game, too.”
On whether he felt like today was a game or to quote Head Coach Raheem Morris it was their game: “Well, I think it’s something you answer probably more in February. But it was a positive day to come out with a win, and guys made plays. We spread it around again. But there’s always going to be things I’m going to nitpick and we can be better in and would have loved to have pulled away, but we weren’t able to do that as much today. Dallas stood up tough in the second half and made it hard for us to kind of be able to pull away the way we wanted.”
On whether the team is playing the way he envisioned when he joined the Falcons: “It’s so week to week. Certainly, the Pittsburgh game wasn’t what I envisioned. The Kansas City game wasn’t what I envisioned. The Seattle game wasn’t what I envisioned. It goes both ways. And even in some of our wins you feel like there’s a lot more that we’re capable of. The challenge as a player in this league is trying to chase a standard that is potentially unrealistic, but you’re still going to chase it and demand it, and it can leave you wanting more when you walk away from each game. But I do believe that when you hold yourself to a high standard, it tends to lead to the best results possible.”
On where Darnell Mooney was in his progression on the touchdown pass: “It’s a little complicated answer because, cover zero, you kind of only have time to work one receiver. I had a decision to make kind of pre-snap as to where to go and felt like I made an educated decision, I guess, educated guess that I think Mooney will be my best option, and Mooney made me right. But it was a tough pressure look, and we were kind of fortunate there to be able to get a big explosive in a moment like that.”
On how fun it is to be able to spread the ball around to different guys at any moment: “You want to be multiple just so that defenses have to honor all five eligibles and have to kind of play you that way as opposed to leaning towards somebody heavily and making the looks more difficult. But we also feel like there’s a lot of people on our offense that can help us, and I think you all know that. But the more we can spread it around the better.”
On whether he feels like he still needs to deliver a message to the team when it is on a winning streak: “I just think there’s a message and a mindset you have to carry in every week. This league will beat you up and it’s so tough. It’s such a grind. As one coach used to say to me, he’s like, hey, we’re checking into a miserable hotel for six months. That’s the way it is. And so we all need encouragement. We all need motivation. Football is such an emotional game. You have to find that emotion each week, and you can’t be waiting on someone else to provide it for you each week, but at the same time you are aware of the need to make sure our team is in the right mental space and emotional space each week. And sometimes you aren’t, and it can lead to poor performances. So as a captain, as captain and leaders, you try to have your pulse on that, and the message can be anything. But you try to understand what guys need to hear to play at their best that Sunday.”
On whether he can sense that the fanbase is having fun with the team at 6-3 and that it has been starved for success: “Well, you know, I thought fanbase-wise when you’re playing Dallas, you never know just how much are you going to see Cowboys fans in the crowd, and I thought our fanbase really stepped up today to make it a home-field advantage for us. The Swag Surfin’ in the fourth quarter was tremendous. The Nest continues to bring it every week, even during TV timeouts, which is amazing. So that’s what it’s all about. I was with a retired quarterback this spring and I had recently signed with Atlanta and he was talking to me and unsolicited he said, you know, Kirk, when I was in free agency and I was looking where to go, part of what I thought about was the city you go to if you win, what would that be like in that city. And he said, I look at you in Atlanta, and I say, that could be really fun if you win. That could be a really special place to win. And he said, you’ve got to be excited about that. I thought that was a good perspective to have, that this is a city that when you come here and you get the job done, there’s a lot to look forward to in terms of what the city -- how we can all come together. You do it one week at a time to get there, and you kind of see where you stand in February, but certainly a big part of playing football, the privilege it is to play football, to quarterback this team is to try to create that community together as we win.”
On where he feels like he is with his mobility and comfort level on the field being a year removed from surgery: “I think it’s been pretty consistent as of late. I don’t really think too much about the Achilles as I’m playing. If anything, it’s just so sturdy that I really trust it, and so I feel pretty good. I’ve always kind of been a pocket passer, but today there were a couple of times that I wish I had taken off and run, and just as a pocket passer, I’ve had this conversation with many of you, that you want to go through your progression, but at the same time you want to take off and run, and a couple of times today I thought the better decision would have been to take off and run and I didn’t. And that was something I wanted to do differently. But keep leaning from each of those plays and try to put that Achilles to work running the football at times.”
On what he is using to diagnose where his read needs to be on Mooney’s touchdown and how confident he is that he will be right in those situations: “There’s definitely a growth process of learning from past experiences. It’s all-out pressure. As Gary Kubiak used to tell me, the ball’s got to go. It’s got to go somewhere, quickly. I had Bijan on a double move to my left and had Mooney on my right and had Kyle on a shallow cross. All three had potential there versus man coverage. They both, all three need to win quickly, and I just felt best about drifting right and trying to work Mooney knowing the ball had to be out quick, and he made me right.”
On when he knows during that play that he made the right decision: “I think the ball was maybe two-thirds of the way there, and I thought he’s pretty open. This has potential. And then he had to catch it and he had to finish. That was a good feeling.”
On Raheem Morris saying that his competitive edge and aggressiveness are some of the reasons that the team has been successful in fourth-down situations: “I don’t know. I wish we’d do it on third down, or second and first, you know. So it doesn’t have to come down to fourth down. But certainly, your head coach has to be willing to put that out there and be aggressive and go for it, and that’s a challenge for many times to make that call, but he’s been consistent in how he wants to approach it. And then Zac [Robinson] has to be very quick thinking to react in the moment, okay, we are going to go for it. What do I like in such a critical situation. So, a lot of credit goes to Zac as far as what he’s dialing up quickly on these fourth downs, and then you’re going to get people’s best rush, so protection has been holding up. You’re going to get tight coverage. Guys have been separating and winning. So it kind of all adds up to production. But I go back to what I’ve said so many times. I just try to be the point guard distributor, and so many other pieces have to step up, too, coaches and players, and when they do, that’s when it gets really fun to be that distributor.”
About the Author
