On the night Matt Ryan was inducted into the Atlanta Falcons Ring of Honor, Kirk Cousins stole the show by putting up a franchise-record 509 passing yards in the team’s 36-30 win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Cousins, who signed with Atlanta in the offseason, passed for 509 yards, four touchdowns and one interception during Thursday night’s thrilling NFC South matchup. The Falcons quarterback took home NFC Offensive Player of the Week honors following his big performance in Week 5.
After a slow start, Atlanta’s offense is starting to look like we expected coming into the season. Cousins made a big leap in CBS Sports’ new quarterback power rankings, moving up to No. 11 entering Week 6.
That $180 million deal didn’t look so bad on Thursday night, when he slung it, slung it and slung it some more, willing the Falcons to a big divisional win with laser-sharp pocket passing.— Cody Benjamin, CBS Sports
Cousins moved up seven spots after being ranked 18th a week ago. With a solid performance against the Panthers over the weekend, he could find himself in the top 10. Cousins also moved up the NFL passing yardage leaderboard for 2024.
The Falcons signal-caller now ranks fifth in the league with 1,373 passing yards after five games. Seahawks quarterback Geno Smith leads the league with 1,466 passing yards. As you can see below, less than 100 yards separates the NFL’s top five passers through Week 5:
However, Cousins needs to take better care of the football as his five interceptions are tied for the fourth most in the league. Considering the number of one-score games the Falcons have played in, cleaning up the turnovers would give the team a huge advantage.
Atlanta will look to keep things rolling on the road this weekend against Carolina. Check out the team’s depth chart, injury report and 53-man roster entering Week 6.
