ATLANTA (AP) — The Falcons were going to need a little extra help from backup quarterback Kirk Cousins against the Miami Dolphins with their leading receiver out of the lineup. They didn't get it.
Cousins, replacing the injured Michael Penix Jr., was at the controls for a brutal offensive performance on Sunday. Atlanta totaled 213 yards and fell to 3-4 with a 34-10 loss to the Dolphins. The Falcons' lone touchdown while came trailing 34-3 with just over five minutes left in a nearly empty Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
“It was not one thing,” said Cousins, who was 21 of 31 for 173 yards, 76 of which came in the fourth quarter. “You just feel like there were a lot of different phases that just weren’t consistently good enough. You have to stack plays together. And I felt like we we didn’t stack plays together to be able to put a drive together to go down the field and get points.”
Drake London, the Falcons' top option in the passing game, was a late-week scratch with a hip injury. The decision to sit Penix was also made late in the week; Falcons coach Raheem Morris had thought Penix would be ready to go Wednesday after he practiced with a bone bruise to his left knee.
The team held the decision to Sunday to give Penix a chance to heal, but Morris said Cousins had plenty of first-team reps during the week.
“It's tough to discuss anybody’s play when you go out and play that way (as a team),” Morris said. “It was bad across the board, and it starts with us, and it’s something that we've got to fix all together, and we got to go get those things done this week.”
Cousins led the Falcons to a field goal on their second possession that cut the Dolphins' lead to 7-3, a 43-yard drive that was highlighted by a 24-yard completion to Kyle Pitts.
The other seven drives before Atlanta's lone touchdown resulted in four punts, two failed fourth downs and a fumble in the end zone by Bijan Robinson.
It was the 37-year-old Cousins' first start since last Dec. 16 against the Raiders. Penix, then a rookie, took over for the Falcons' final three games of last season.
“Certainly, the final result, no one can say it was great,” Cousins said. “But I felt comfortable in terms of feeling the rush and recognizing coverages and making quick decisions. Managing the game felt comfortable.”
Penix is still considered day to day, meaning Cousins will enter the week of preparation for the Falcons' game at New England uncertain about whether he will be the starter.
“(It should be) pretty similar to every other week,” Cousins said. “In everything you do, you are thinking about, if I’m going to go, how do I get ready for this? How do I do this? And then you just react to what ends up happening.”
Cousins appeared to have miscommunications with receivers on two passes, one intended for Darnell Mooney, and another for David Sills V. Both plays were on third down and ended drives.
“We certainly have to be better than we were today,” Cousins said. “And, you know, those are the things we have to do the second half of this season. As we go back tomorrow and watch the tape and talk about it, we got to kind of work through all that.”
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