Raheem Morris is quickly starting to convince me that he’s in over his head as Falcons head coach. Whether it’s the club consistently shooting itself in the foot with penalties, questionable in-game management, or the quarterback dilemma, Morris is seemingly chasing his tail.
His latest comments are quite disturbing if you’re looking for affirmation that he’s the right man for the job, telling Atlanta reporters that Kirk Cousins showed “significant improvement” from the Chargers game to the Vikings game, citing that Cousins nearly threw for 350 yards. This should bother you for several reasons.
Most notably, is the bar that low for a 13-year veteran? Kirk Cousins threw two interceptions instead of four and had around 100 yards passing in garbage-time, stat-padding yardage in which the Falcons were down by 14 and 21 points. That’s not exactly the kind of “improvement” most expected.
Secondly, Morris is directly contradicting his earlier statements. The head coach notes Cousins’ yardage as one instance of “improvement” but defended Kyle Pitts’ zero-catch performance against the Saints by saying, “Stats are for losers.”
“It was just about going out there and winning the game… Stats are for losers, man. I don’t get involved in that stuff,” Morris said following the Saints game.
Lastly, this isn’t a path that is dissimilar to the one he took with the Buccaneers. During his first stint as a head coach in Tampa Bay, Morris also used the “stats are for losers” quotes during the 2010 season despite the Bucs winning games in an unsustainable manner. Morris and the Buccaneers were 10-6 when he said that. The next year, they went 4-12, and Morris was fired.
The Falcons are beating bad teams and losing to good ones, excluding the victory over the Eagles earlier in the season. Kirk Cousins plays well against bad defenses and poorly against good defenses. Nobody should be surprised when the Falcons and Cousins get back on track against the lowly Raiders, but are we confident the organization has the right man leading them forward?
I’m not sure anyone could answer that definitively. Raheem Morris’ latest comments don’t inspire much confidence.
