Falcons coach Raheem Morris has fielded questions about benching Kirk Cousins for weeks. Each time, Morris confirmed that Cousins was the starter. Morris declined to do that soon after the Falcons got back from Las Vegas on Tuesday.
Two hours later, Morris announced that rookie Michael Penix Jr. would replace Cousins as the starter for Sunday’s game against the Giants and “moving forward.”
“This was a football decision and we are fully focused on preparing the team for Sunday’s game against the New York Giants,” Morris said in a statement released by the team Tuesday evening.
It’s a bold move by Morris. It’s also the right one. Morris has been widely praised for his enthusiasm and upbeat attitude. The quarterback crisis was a test of how he’d handle a potentially volatile situation. Morris made the correct, tough call to bench his 13th-year veteran quarterback for a rookie.
The decision comes with risks. The Falcons will chase a playoff spot with an untested quarterback. Penix has yet to play a meaningful snap in the NFL. Morris’ decision surely is a blow to Cousins’ flagging confidence. His contract guarantees him $100 million, and now he’s not even the starter after 14 games.
But the potential downside of not making this move now were greater. The Falcons (7-7) are one game behind the Bucs in the NFC South with three to play and hold the tiebreaker advantage. They weren’t going to make the playoffs with Cousins holding back the offense. The Falcons snapped a four-game losing streak with the 15-9 victory at Vegas, but Cousins was the weak link again.
The running backs, defense and special teams gave Cousins optimal chances that he couldn’t convert. That made five consecutive subpar performances for Cousins. He’s thrown one touchdown and nine interceptions over the past five weeks. On Tuesday, Morris acknowledged what everyone could see: Cousins had lost confidence.
The Falcons drafted Penix No. 8 overall this year to be the eventual successor to Cousins. That vision didn’t include Penix playing this season. If all went well, Penix would start two years from now at the earliest. But all is not well with Cousins. He’s struggling and, unlike with his uneven play early in the season, the issues appear to be mental more than physical.
Penix will learn on the job. He played only a handful of snaps in one exhibition game and had two mop-up assignments in official games. I believe Morris should have done more to get Penix ready. He had a plan that didn’t involve Penix starting as a rookie, but contingencies always are needed in the NFL.
The timing is right to give Penix his first start. Doing it against the Chargers or Vikings would have been unfair. Both teams are elite on defense. The Raiders have a bad defense, but a debut start on the road for Penix would be tricky. Plus, that game was a final chance to see if Cousins could regain his confidence.
It didn’t happen. Now, Penix will start against the Giants (2-12). Penix’s play at Washington made him a top draft prospect. But the Falcons made a mistake by acquiring him when they still had Cousins. There was no way they could get full value out of both players. That’s still a problem even with Penix unexpectedly starting as a rookie.
Cousins is guaranteed $27.5 million in base salary next year. It’s untenable to pay that much to a backup. But the Falcons part ways with Cousins they’d take a “dead money” charge on their salary cap that would make it very difficult to improve the roster. The Falcons just went through that when they traded Matt Ryan, followed by two losing seasons with marginal-or-worse quarterbacks.
Cousins was supposed to help the Falcons finally climb out of that hole. But they started 1-2 as Cousins looked like who he was: a 36-year-old less than a year removed from Achilles surgery. But the Falcons recovered as Cousins rediscovered his form. They were 6-3, two games ahead of the Bucs, and Cousins was among the favorites to win NFL Comeback Player of the Year.
Then came the decline of the past five games. Cousins seemed less sure in the pocket. His decisions were slow, and his passes were late. The turnovers piled up. Cousins appeared dejected when facing questions after games. He didn’t have the answers as the Falcons lost four games in a row and fell behind the Bucs in the South.
The Falcons won at Las Vegas on Monday despite the play of Cousins. Finally, Morris had seen enough. Making the switch from Cousins to Penix is a bold move. It’s also the right one.
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