There’s been a major quarterback switch that could potentially impact the Seattle Seahawks in the playoff chase.
After over a month of excruciatingly ineffective play and a slew of turnovers, the Atlanta Falcons have benched Kirk Cousins for former Washington Huskies star Michael Penix Jr. The first-round rookie will make his first NFL start at home against the hapless and increasingly injured New York Giants.
Cousins might have had a win against the Las Vegas Raiders on Monday, but there is no dressing up how much the Falcons coaching staff tried to hide him in an ugly 15-9 nailbiter. He was just 11/17 for 112 yards, 1 touchdown, and 1 interception against one of the worst defenses in the league (and without Maxx Crosby). I’d say this Bill Barnwell stat sums it up.
Why did the Atlanta Falcons bench Kirk Cousins?
Cousins has thrown just one touchdown to nine interceptions over his last five games, almost singlehandedly throwing away the NFC South lead to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Last month, Atlanta was 6-3 and two games up on the Bucs with a head-to-head tiebreaker, but Cousins’ slump has jeopardized the Falcons’ playoff hopes.
There’s also no way around how immobile Cousins looks. He’s the only quarterback with a lower play-action rate than Geno Smith, and that’s not for identical reasons to Smith. Cousins is clearly uncomfortable moving in and around the pocket, one year removed from his Achilles rupture when he was with the Minnesota Vikings. While he’s never been known for superb mobility, he has literally 0 rushing yards on the season.
If he can’t move, can’t run the offense, and can’t stop throwing it to the other team, the $180 million man is not a viable starter.
How this could matter to the Seattle Seahawks
Apart from Seahawks offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb getting to see his former Huskies star get his NFL opportunity, the Falcons’ end of season could be relevant to Seattle’s playoff chase.
If the Seahawks win the NFC West—sorry to the doomers, but I’m not here to write about tanking for the No. 13 pick—they will either be the No. 3 or No. 4 seed. Should Penix lead the Falcons to the NFC South title and they have an identical record to the Seahawks, Seattle would be the No. 3 seed on the head-to-head tiebreaker from Week 7 (when, coincidentally, Penix made his NFL debut).
If Penix can’t get it done and the Falcons lose, then the Seahawks would have to finish with a better record than the Buccaneers or else they’ll be the No. 4 seed due to an inferior conference record tiebreaker.
There’s also the potential “strength of victory” tiebreaker that may come into play between the Seahawks and Los Angeles Rams. We’ll explain this more in another article, but the Falcons winning over the final few weeks (vs. Giants, at Commanders, vs. Panthers) may be a benefit to Seattle to improve its SOV.
Lastly, while extremely unlikely, the Seahawks could still make the playoffs via Wild Card with a 10-7 finish while the Washington Commanders finish 9-8, and Atlanta is at Washington in Week 17.
Of course, none of it matters if Seattle slumps out of the playoffs completely, but these are all feasible paths. Nevertheless, I’m sure many local fans in the Seattle area and Huskies fans around the football world will be paying close attention to Penix’s debut this Sunday.
