<img alt="NFL: SEP 08 Steelers at Falcons" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/raXxl_m2Ukf49tkhiL_0TSlw8bc=/0x0:5230x3487/1310x873/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/73578327/2170398549.0.jpg">
Photo by Rich von Biberstein/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
With questions about their starting quarterback’s health and dependence on offensive formations, the pressure has already started to heat up in Atlanta. Any player returning from tearing their Achilles is going to need time to re-acclimate to the speed of the game. When that player is a 36-year-old quarterback who is positioned as the solution to a team’s most crippling issue over the last two seasons, expectations will be instantly increased and the grace period won’t last long. The grace period for Kirk Cousins felt over by the second half, where the Falcons’ offense was once again constrained by their quarterback’s glaring limitations.
A familiar sight was taking place for the Atlanta Falcons, with the offense completely overwhelmed by the opposition because of its quarterback’s deficiencies, along with an offensive line being thoroughly dominated by Pittsburgh’s ferocious front. The pass protection breakdowns weren’t solely because of Kaleb McGary being overmatched against T.J. Watt. Matthew Bergeron and Drew Dalman were both responsible for the pocket collapsing on several occasions. While the poor pass blocking was costly, it was evident Cousins never looked comfortable, even when operating in a clean pocket.
Rigid and Jittery
Those are the two words to label Cousins’ debut as a Falcon. The only times he showed much movement was on his touchdown pass to Kyle Pitts, and then admirably fighting for the loose ball on the botched snap where Ross Dwelley motioned into the snap. Besides those two plays, Cousins barely moved.
He was looking to get the ball out as quickly as possible. There were rarely any moments where he surveyed the field and attempted to make impressive throws, the kind we know he is capable of. Some of it can be attributed to the dominance of Watt, Cam Heyward, and the rest of Pittsburgh’s front. The rest of it has to be placed on Cousins for playing frightened.
On both interceptions, he throws the ball into passing windows that never existed. There were moments that with better pocket presence, he could have adjusted his feet to get situated and pass the ball to his playmakers. Instead, he remained static in the pocket and forced passes that would go down as unacceptable decisions. The lack of movement, constant urge to get the ball out immediately, and formation usage have many questioning Cousins’ health.
Per ESPN’s Marc Raimondi, Cousins was under center one time. He primarily operated in the shotgun or pistol, which is reminiscent of how the Bengals used Joe Burrow, as he was recovering from a strained calf during the first month of the season. That offense was predictable and lackluster during that period. The Falcons were exactly that against Pittsburgh.
Cousins didn’t attempt a pass over 20 yards. Despite having an average depth of target of seven yards, according to Pro Football Focus, the four-time Pro Bowler was too keen to get the ball out underneath instead of standing firm and trying to make more intermediate throws. On 2nd and 13 in the red zone on the first drive, Cousins could have connected with Ray-Ray McCloud III for a touchdown with more patience. Instead, he threw the ball into the ground because his first read wasn’t there, and gave up on the play. There was a frequent occurrence where he got the ball out just to get it out, failing to get the ball to his top pass catchers and putting the ball in dangerous areas in the middle of the area, where he was punished.
Watching his footwork raises further questions about his health. Dr. Jeff Mueller highlighted Cousins protecting his stance by not driving through on his right foot when dropping back. That led to throws with minimal to no velocity, where passes were behind receivers such as what should have been a routine third-down conversion to Darnell Mooney, as the ball was placed on the inside shoulder instead of leading him toward the sideline on a corner route.
That allowed Donte Jackson to make a play on the ball. Even on a simple underneath pass to McCloud III on the final drive of the game, he didn’t put enough air on the throw to lead the receiver out of bounds. Those plays encapsulate his overall inability to make routine completions, which has made everyone question his health, and the way the coaching staff operated primarily using two formations without much personnel variance.
Coaching Confusion
The most notable stat about the Falcons’ offense coming out of Sunday came from how they relied on using shotgun and pistol. Per ESPN Stats & Info, they ran 96% of their plays out of those two formations. That is an alarming amount, especially when facing one of the top defenses in the league. In the process of doing that, they didn’t call play action once.
As SB Nation’s Doug Farrar emphasized in his recent piece, Cousins was outstanding when operating in play action concepts. Removing that from the game plan is only going to increase speculation about Cousins not being healthy.
Zac Robinson did have positive moments, from how efficient the Falcons were on perimeter runs and dialing up well-timed screens. What ultimately went wrong was not having enough answers to run quick game to help Cousins get more comfortable. That coincided with the bizarre decision to not provide McGary enough support against Watt. Deciding Pitts was a suitable option to chip only boosted Watt’s pursuit of terrorizing his game plan. It’s completely understandable to be critical of Pitts for his abysmal effort as a blocker not only in pass protection but as a run blocker as well.
That said, Charlie Woerner as an in-line tight end or Tyler Allgeier out of the backfield would have been significantly better options to contain one of the NFL’s best defensive players. Between the formation usage, removal of play action, and not showing urgency to prevent Watt from dominating, the coaching staff made its share of questionable moves and brutal mistakes.
Moving Forward
The Falcons can only hope Cousins shakes off the rust and gets more comfortable in the pocket to end the speculation about his health. That will be pivotal going into a daunting four game stretch against four highly-regarded, aggressive defensive minds. Vic Fangio, Steve Spagnuolo, Dennis Allen, and Todd Bowles have built their careers off making quarterbacks uncomfortable with clever pressure designs and coverage disguises. They know how to bring the worst out of their opponents. Robinson is going to have to bring new concepts and more variance in these matchups for the offense to be more productive.
They have to run more play action to create more space in the middle of the field. Cousins struggled to throw outside the numbers on the few times he attempted it against Pittsburgh. If Drake London is going to be a central part of the game plan, which will be a priority for Raheem Morris, there needs to be more openings across the middle of the field to turn those digs, slants, and crossing routes into big plays.
An inability to design plays to schematically open space played right into Pittsburgh’s hands. While none of the next four opponents have a safety with the range of Minkah Fitzpatrick, defenses are going to dial in on condensing the field to force Cousins into making throws outside the numbers or tight windows in the middle of the field. That could be a problem, considering the lack of velocity on his passes last Sunday.
Utilizing more bunch sets and pre-snap motion could prove to be a more effective strategy. Those condensed splits are one of Sean McVay’s biggest components in the passing game. After working under him for several years, Robinson will look to implement some of what he learned from one of the NFL’s true offensive masterminds. What he must do before anything else is help make Cousins more comfortable. In the process of doing that, the franchise quarterback has to quickly get up to speed and start moving his feet more in the pocket to make clean throws.
Lacking athletic athleticism doesn’t mean you can’t maneuver in the pocket to evade pressure and make sharp decisions as a quarterback. A lack of mobility shouldn’t prevent Cousins from being decisive and accurate with his passes. What can prevent him is a lack of belief in his body, or the terrifying possibility that being a high-level quarterback again at 36 years old can’t happen in the short term of possibly ever following such a devastating injury. It’s on Cousins and the coaching staff to prove that opening game overreactions are still prevalent and not warranted, and that they are ready to compete against the top teams.
<img alt="NFL: SEP 08 Steelers at Falcons" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/raXxl_m2Ukf49tkhiL_0TSlw8bc=/0x0:5230x3487/1310x873/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/73578327/2170398549.0.jpg">
Photo by Rich von Biberstein/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
With questions about their starting quarterback’s health and dependence on offensive formations, the pressure has already started to heat up in Atlanta. Any player returning from tearing their Achilles is going to need time to re-acclimate to the speed of the game. When that player is a 36-year-old quarterback who is positioned as the solution to a team’s most crippling issue over the last two seasons, expectations will be instantly increased and the grace period won’t last long. The grace period for Kirk Cousins felt over by the second half, where the Falcons’ offense was once again constrained by their quarterback’s glaring limitations.
A familiar sight was taking place for the Atlanta Falcons, with the offense completely overwhelmed by the opposition because of its quarterback’s deficiencies, along with an offensive line being thoroughly dominated by Pittsburgh’s ferocious front. The pass protection breakdowns weren’t solely because of Kaleb McGary being overmatched against T.J. Watt. Matthew Bergeron and Drew Dalman were both responsible for the pocket collapsing on several occasions. While the poor pass blocking was costly, it was evident Cousins never looked comfortable, even when operating in a clean pocket.
Rigid and Jittery
Those are the two words to label Cousins’ debut as a Falcon. The only times he showed much movement was on his touchdown pass to Kyle Pitts, and then admirably fighting for the loose ball on the botched snap where Ross Dwelley motioned into the snap. Besides those two plays, Cousins barely moved.
He was looking to get the ball out as quickly as possible. There were rarely any moments where he surveyed the field and attempted to make impressive throws, the kind we know he is capable of. Some of it can be attributed to the dominance of Watt, Cam Heyward, and the rest of Pittsburgh’s front. The rest of it has to be placed on Cousins for playing frightened.
On both interceptions, he throws the ball into passing windows that never existed. There were moments that with better pocket presence, he could have adjusted his feet to get situated and pass the ball to his playmakers. Instead, he remained static in the pocket and forced passes that would go down as unacceptable decisions. The lack of movement, constant urge to get the ball out immediately, and formation usage have many questioning Cousins’ health.
Per ESPN’s Marc Raimondi, Cousins was under center one time. He primarily operated in the shotgun or pistol, which is reminiscent of how the Bengals used Joe Burrow, as he was recovering from a strained calf during the first month of the season. That offense was predictable and lackluster during that period. The Falcons were exactly that against Pittsburgh.
Cousins didn’t attempt a pass over 20 yards. Despite having an average depth of target of seven yards, according to Pro Football Focus, the four-time Pro Bowler was too keen to get the ball out underneath instead of standing firm and trying to make more intermediate throws. On 2nd and 13 in the red zone on the first drive, Cousins could have connected with Ray-Ray McCloud III for a touchdown with more patience. Instead, he threw the ball into the ground because his first read wasn’t there, and gave up on the play. There was a frequent occurrence where he got the ball out just to get it out, failing to get the ball to his top pass catchers and putting the ball in dangerous areas in the middle of the area, where he was punished.
Watching his footwork raises further questions about his health. Dr. Jeff Mueller highlighted Cousins protecting his stance by not driving through on his right foot when dropping back. That led to throws with minimal to no velocity, where passes were behind receivers such as what should have been a routine third-down conversion to Darnell Mooney, as the ball was placed on the inside shoulder instead of leading him toward the sideline on a corner route.
That allowed Donte Jackson to make a play on the ball. Even on a simple underneath pass to McCloud III on the final drive of the game, he didn’t put enough air on the throw to lead the receiver out of bounds. Those plays encapsulate his overall inability to make routine completions, which has made everyone question his health, and the way the coaching staff operated primarily using two formations without much personnel variance.
Coaching Confusion
The most notable stat about the Falcons’ offense coming out of Sunday came from how they relied on using shotgun and pistol. Per ESPN Stats & Info, they ran 96% of their plays out of those two formations. That is an alarming amount, especially when facing one of the top defenses in the league. In the process of doing that, they didn’t call play action once.
As SB Nation’s Doug Farrar emphasized in his recent piece, Cousins was outstanding when operating in play action concepts. Removing that from the game plan is only going to increase speculation about Cousins not being healthy.
Zac Robinson did have positive moments, from how efficient the Falcons were on perimeter runs and dialing up well-timed screens. What ultimately went wrong was not having enough answers to run quick game to help Cousins get more comfortable. That coincided with the bizarre decision to not provide McGary enough support against Watt. Deciding Pitts was a suitable option to chip only boosted Watt’s pursuit of terrorizing his game plan. It’s completely understandable to be critical of Pitts for his abysmal effort as a blocker not only in pass protection but as a run blocker as well.
That said, Charlie Woerner as an in-line tight end or Tyler Allgeier out of the backfield would have been significantly better options to contain one of the NFL’s best defensive players. Between the formation usage, removal of play action, and not showing urgency to prevent Watt from dominating, the coaching staff made its share of questionable moves and brutal mistakes.
Moving Forward
The Falcons can only hope Cousins shakes off the rust and gets more comfortable in the pocket to end the speculation about his health. That will be pivotal going into a daunting four game stretch against four highly-regarded, aggressive defensive minds. Vic Fangio, Steve Spagnuolo, Dennis Allen, and Todd Bowles have built their careers off making quarterbacks uncomfortable with clever pressure designs and coverage disguises. They know how to bring the worst out of their opponents. Robinson is going to have to bring new concepts and more variance in these matchups for the offense to be more productive.
They have to run more play action to create more space in the middle of the field. Cousins struggled to throw outside the numbers on the few times he attempted it against Pittsburgh. If Drake London is going to be a central part of the game plan, which will be a priority for Raheem Morris, there needs to be more openings across the middle of the field to turn those digs, slants, and crossing routes into big plays.
An inability to design plays to schematically open space played right into Pittsburgh’s hands. While none of the next four opponents have a safety with the range of Minkah Fitzpatrick, defenses are going to dial in on condensing the field to force Cousins into making throws outside the numbers or tight windows in the middle of the field. That could be a problem, considering the lack of velocity on his passes last Sunday.
Utilizing more bunch sets and pre-snap motion could prove to be a more effective strategy. Those condensed splits are one of Sean McVay’s biggest components in the passing game. After working under him for several years, Robinson will look to implement some of what he learned from one of the NFL’s true offensive masterminds. What he must do before anything else is help make Cousins more comfortable. In the process of doing that, the franchise quarterback has to quickly get up to speed and start moving his feet more in the pocket to make clean throws.
Lacking athletic athleticism doesn’t mean you can’t maneuver in the pocket to evade pressure and make sharp decisions as a quarterback. A lack of mobility shouldn’t prevent Cousins from being decisive and accurate with his passes. What can prevent him is a lack of belief in his body, or the terrifying possibility that being a high-level quarterback again at 36 years old can’t happen in the short term of possibly ever following such a devastating injury. It’s on Cousins and the coaching staff to prove that opening game overreactions are still prevalent and not warranted, and that they are ready to compete against the top teams.
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