Of all the strange seasons happening in the NFL right now, the most bizarre may belong to the Atlanta Falcons. Everyone wondered what they were doing when they selected Michael Penix with the No. 9 pick in the NFL draft hot on the heels of signing Kirk Cousins to a four-year, $180 million contract. Watching Cousins play has helped provide some clarity, as 36-year-old quarterback does not look much like the player he was before suffering a torn Achilles.
Atlanta has done just enough—and the NFC South has been just bad enough—that they currently sit a game behind the Tampa Bay Buccaneers with three games remaining in the year. If they match records it will be the Falcons who exercise the tiebreaker and will get to host a playoff game. Which is genuine cause for optimism but doesn't feel all that exciting considering just how impotent the Cousins-led offense has been over the past five games.
Cousins completed 11 of his 17 passes for 112 yards while throwing a touchdown and a pick in Atlanta's ugly 15-9 victory over the Las Vegas Raiders on Monday Night Football. Over his last five games he's thrown just that score to Drake London against his nine interceptions. He's also failing the eye test because his arm just doesn't look the same.
A reasonable person might conclude that the Falcons have a better chance to make the playoffs and do something of interest in those playoffs if the organization makes the change and sees if Penix is ready for the big show. But that move obviously carries a tremendous amount of risk and could plunge things even deeper into jeopardy.
Assessing the state of play, Colin Cowherd on Tuesday tried to explain the pickle Atlanta finds itself in.
"Atlanta knows that if they play Michael Penix, Kirk Cousins, they can never go back to him," Cowherd said. "And they paid like $180 million. The staff and the front office convinced Arthur Blank to pay $180 million.
"You have got to exhaust every last start," Cowherd continued. "I think Atlanta is going to make a change but I think the reason we're all asking why Kirk Cousins and not Penix is because they asked the owner to write a huge check and they just wanted to make sure there is nothing left in the tank."
"Atlanta knows if they play Michael Penix, they can never go back to Kirk Cousins."
— Herd w/Colin Cowherd (@TheHerd) December 17, 2024
— @ColinCowherd on Atlanta's QB situation pic.twitter.com/HmJH636ilt
All of this makes sense. If Atlanta puts in Penix and he's awesome, well, what then of Cousins? If Penix plays poorly they not only miss the playoffs but they bench their expensive new quarterback as an added bonus. Neither of the options seem realistically capable of winning a Super Bowl this year so it may not even matter all that much.
If there's a bright side, it's that Cousins has an amazing opportunity to prove himself. Getting into the postseason and winning a game would go a long way. For as limited as the skills have looked, Cousins has still been able to game-manage and win football games. Crazy things can happen in January and it's not entirely out of the realm of possibility he starts to play better and Atlanta is a more formidable team.
For the Falcons' decision-makers, though, it's about more than wins and losses. They need to figure out the short-term plans, yes, but the long-term ones are even more important. Perhaps the biggest win left on their schedule would be to find any type of clarity.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Colin Cowherd Explains Why the Falcons Can't Play Michael Penix.
