Ravens have problems against Raiders, Vikings win over 49ers
Prince Grimes analyzes all the ups and downs of the second week of the 2024 NFL season.
Sport in Seriousness
PHILADELPHIA – Gentle, confident, controlled.
That’s how Atlanta Falcons left tackle Jake Matthews described quarterback Kirk Cousins during his team’s game-winning drive in the final two minutes of their 22-21 comeback victory over the Philadelphia Eagles on “Monday Night Football.”
“He didn’t bat an eyelid,” Matthews said.
Cousins acted like he was on the practice field.
“You could tell he had been there before,” said Matthews, an 11-year veteran who began his career as a blocker for Matt Ryan in Atlanta.
Still, it was an unfamiliar result in familiar surroundings for Cousins - he has played against the Eagles 12 times as a professional (record: 7-5), including eight at Lincoln Financial Field. It was his 14th “MNF” game, and for a player with a less-than-rosy prime-time reputation, the game under the lights was another opportunity to show why he earned $100 million guaranteed by the Falcons as a free agent this season despite a torn Achilles tendon.
Cousins is now 4-1 in his last five “MNF” appearances. After a stroke of luck when Eagles running back Saquon Barkley dropped a completely free pass on third down, giving the Falcons an extra 40 seconds to overcome a six-point deficit, Cousins drove the Falcons 70 yards in six plays, hitting wideout Drake London for a 7-yard touchdown that tied the game.
“Kirk made some great throws,” said cornerback Darius Slay, who was beaten by London on his way to the front right pylon and scored the winning point. “I have to take my hat off to him.”
Younghoe Koo’s 48-yard extra point made the difference – the 15-yard penalty was due to London’s unsportsmanlike conduct.
“A clear demeanor,” London said of Cousins. “He knows what he’s doing. We trust him. Wherever he puts the ball, we have to catch it.”
Cousins finished the game 20 of 29 passing for 241 yards passing and two touchdowns. Although doubts arose about whether he had recovered from the Achilles injury that ended his season last year after he played nearly every snap out of the shotgun or pistol formation in the first week’s loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers, Cousins seemed to move around with ease, taking snaps under center — including the first three of the game — and executing play-action.
The game’s decisive drive began at the Falcons’ 30-yard line with 1:39 left. Cousins hit tight end Kyle Pitts for an 11-yard gain to open the series. He then connected with Darnell Mooney on nearly identical out routes to the left sideline for gains of 21 and 26 yards, respectively. Three plays later, London was celebrating (exaggerated).
“It reminds you of doing the two-minute drills in practice when everything is going right,” Matthews said. “It’s easier said than done, but to translate that into the game and make it go so smoothly is a testament to how well we prepared. We were ready for the moment.”
Coming back from a deficit on the road in one of the toughest environments in the league strengthens our resolve and grit, Cousins said. “That’s an ability we’ll have to rely on as the year progresses.”
“That’s NFL football, you know, and we have to get used to it and get comfortable with it because that’s how these games usually go,” Cousins said, “and the more battle-tested we are and the more we have those moments, the better prepared I think we are for what’s coming.”
But the victory at “MNF” didn’t mean anything special to him.
“I just try to go out and play the best football I can, whether it’s Sunday afternoon or, you know, a night game, no matter what day of the week it is,” Cousins said.
“Winning in the postseason is what matters,” said head coach Raheem Morris, who earned his first midseason win as head coach of the Falcons.
“We’re a long way from that,” Morris said. “We’ve got to go out here and try to put ourselves in a position where we can get into those competitive moments so we can show those things. We haven’t shown that yet. We’ve shown it by showing we can go to somebody else’s stadium and win a game, and we show we can win in a two-minute drive, and that’s important for us to figure that out.”
At the team hotel on Sunday night, Cousins happened to run into Nick Foles — who was honored Monday for his Super Bowl heroics and served as the team’s honorary captain — and his parents. He hadn’t seen Foles’ parents since he and Foles were freshmen at Michigan State University in 2007.
As Cousins reflected on the past 17 years, many memories – and gratitude – came flooding back.
“I was kind of reminded of that when he was being honored tonight and said to him at the coin toss, ‘You know, it worked out.’ It worked out for both of us,” Cousins said of Foles, who later transferred to the University of Arizona. “And so (Sunday night and Monday) I was thinking a little bit about our journeys.
“So, playing here tonight brought back a lot of memories of my journey and it was fun to win.”
