For the Atlanta Falcons, starting quarterback Kirk Cousins has been worth every penny of his four-year $180 million contract through five games in the 2024 NFL season. After his late-game heroics in the fourth quarter and overtime in the team’s victory over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers last Thursday night, it got FOX Sports’ Colin Cowherd talking about the Falcon's new signal-caller.
“He has 15 game-winning drives in the last four years, not only is that most in the NFL, including (Patrick) Mahomes, that's four more than any other quarterback. He also has the greatest comeback in league history for a quarterback: 33 points. He's also the first quarterback in NFL history after last night to have 450-yard passing games for three different franchises. Early in his career, Kirk had a reputation in stand-alone or primetime games, he would get a little tight and a little anxious. By the way, that was Peyton Manning's reputation for years in the NFL. ” Cowherd said on his show Friday.
"Payton Manning eventually broke out of it and was beating Brady at the end, and Kirk Cousins the last several years has broken out of that."
In the last four years, Cousins has been one of the best players in the NFL when the team needed him most. From throwing to wide receivers Adam Thielen, Jordan Addison, and Justin Jefferson, he had plenty of quality options to lead his team to victory in his waning years as a Minnesota Viking.
Now that he is a Falcon, he has been putting the team on his back, and opponents do not have an answer for him when he runs the two-minute offense. With comeback drives in all three of the teams’ wins, he is establishing chemistry with receivers Darnell Mooney and Drake London.
Part of what makes ‘Kirko’ lethal is that he is 10 for 16 on the season with five touchdowns when he enters the opposition's 19-yard line or beyond. Cowherd continued to elaborate on his most recent performance.
