Kirk Cousins accomplished a fair bit during the half dozen seasons he spent playing for the Minnesota Vikings. But, when his contract was up and he ended up signing with the Atlanta Falcons (for an egregious sum of money), it seemed like his new team might consider building around him for the future of their franchise. Instead, the Falcons drafted Michael Penix Jr. early in the first round.
And while early on it seemed like things might play out well for Cousins and the Falcons with him serving as the starting quarterback in Atlanta, things haven’t been great lately. Cousins has failed to throw a touchdown in the past four games all while he’s tossed eight interceptions.
Oh, and the Falcons have lost each of their past four games.
That, unsurprisingly, has led to a quarterback controversy. Cousins is getting a bit older. Penix, at 24 and after spending six seasons playing college football, seems like one of the more NFL starting ready quarterbacks from the past draft class.
It’s also worth noting that while the Falcons are now 6-7, the Vikings are thriving at 11-2 and the offense is having fun with Sam Darnold starting instead of having Cousins around in Minnesota.
For them, that brief spark of joy likely has to do with the fact that Cousins is expensive and the Vikings aren’t spending money on poor quarterback play. And honestly, who can blame them?
With the way that things have played out in recent weeks, it shouldn’t shock anyone that Minnesota Vikings fans might seem just a little thrilled that the Atlanta Falcons are having to deal with a quarterback controversy surrounding Kirk Cousins and Michael Penix Jr.
The Vikings aren’t having to worry about the fact that Cousins is on an incredibly large contract that limits what all his team can do. And Minnesota fans aren’t sitting around watching their favorite team continue to play Cousins instead of giving a young, exciting, and intriguing quarterback like Penix a fair chance on Sunday.
Because it’s not like Penix could really be doing much worse for the Falcons than Cousins has in recent weeks. Heck, maybe the Washington Huskies QB legend might be capable of shocking some folks and getting a win? I don’t know. It’s worth considering.
