Weekend Reflections: Falcons sure could use the money wasted on Kirk Cousins

What I think about some things I saw over the weekend. …

The chatter is about Parker Romo missing the extra-point attempt that would have tied the game in the fourth quarter at New England on Sunday. He’s the second Falcons kicker to cost them this season. I’ve already knocked team decision-makers for botching the position.

Quarterback Kirk Cousins is the bigger issue for the Falcons, and he didn’t even play against the Patriots.

And that’s the point.

The Falcons are using by far the largest portion of their salary cap space (14.3%) on a player who won’t see the field unless there’s an emergency.

The damage from that blunder is trickling down to the rest of the roster. The front office could have used much of that cap space to shore up other needs. As we’ve seen during their three-game losing streak, the Falcons (3-5) have plenty of them.

The play on the offensive line has become an emergency. The defense is soft in the middle against the run. The depth is lacking along both lines. It’s harder to build it when the cap hit for the backup quarterback is $40 million.

Per Spotrac, the median cap hit for veteran No. 2 quarterbacks is about $3 million. If the Falcons had a good backup making a salary closer to the median instead of Cousins, they potentially would be saving about $35 million in cap space.

They could do a lot with that money.

Without Cousins on the books, the Falcons might have re-signed center Drew Dalman to keep him off the market. Then Dalman’s replacement, Ryan Neuzil, could be a depth player. More cap space could mean another good interior defensive lineman. The Falcons might not have to blitz so much to get pressure on the quarterback if they had another productive veteran in the pass-rush rotation.

The offensive line play is one reason the Falcons haven’t generated an effective rushing attack for three weeks in a row (another reason is that play-caller Zac Robinson apparently is allergic to inside runs). The pass protection has become leakier, too.

The group’s depth took a hit in August when starting right tackle Kaleb McGary suffered a season-ending knee injury. The situation worsened Sunday when guard Matthew Bergeron left the game for good in the first half. Then guard Chris Lindstrom went down in the fourth quarter.

It’s hard to build good offensive line depth in the NFL. Teams can take chances on linemen late in the draft and develop them into passable backups or pay a premium for decent veterans. The Falcons haven’t done the former and couldn’t do the latter even if they wanted to because of the massive cap hit for the backup QB.

The Falcons signed Cousins for four years and $180 million — with $100 million guaranteed — and got less than a season of below-average play from him. That mistake will be less costly if Michael Penix Jr. quickly becomes a good starter. Even if that happens, the Falcons still had to get a lot right with draft picks and bargain-bin free agents to compensate for the wasted cap space on the backup QB.

The Falcons are supposed to be a playoff team. That’s what coach Raheem Morris said after they beat the Bills. The Falcons have lost three consecutive games since then, as their weaknesses become harder to mask. Now they are three games behind Tampa Bay (6-2) and 1½ games behind Carolina (5-4) in the NFC South.

If only the Falcons weren’t using so much of their cap space on a backup quarterback. The final gut punch: Cousins wasn’t even good in that role when he got the chance against the Dolphins.

Georgia Tech is still in thick of ACC race

Georgia Tech picked a bad time for its worst defensive performance of the season. The Yellow Jackets couldn’t stop North Carolina State’s short-handed offense on Saturday night in Raleigh. Now, Tech no longer controls its destiny for the ACC championship game.

Only Virginia (5-0) can still do that (nonconference games don’t count in the standings). If the Jackets (4-1) win out, they’ll still need help to make the title game. They are one of five ACC teams with one conference loss.

The good news for Tech is two of those teams are guaranteed to finish with at least two ACC losses. Tech can make Pitt (5-1) one of them by beating the Panthers at home Nov. 22. Louisville (4-1) is at SMU (4-1) on the same date.

So, if the Jackets win out, they’ll be one of no more than three one-loss teams. Duke (4-1) is another. In the case of a three-way tie for second, the first tiebreaker is winning percentage against common opponents.

Among the current one-loss ACC teams, I see the Jackets as having the best chance of winning out. SMU and Louisville still must face each other. Duke hosts Virginia two Saturdays from now.

Pitt is the main obstacle for Tech. The Panthers are a good team that can put up a lot of points (35.9 per game versus power-conference opponents). Tech’s other remaining opponent, Boston College (0-5), is a bad team that doesn’t score many points (20.8 per game versus power-conference teams).

To be assured of making the ACC title game, the Jackets must beat those two teams and get favorable results from a lot of other games. They could have made it simple by winning out. Tech still has a chance to make it to Charlotte the harder way.

Freddie Freeman wins another World Series

There’s no use rehashing the drama surrounding Freddie Freeman’s departure from the Braves after the 2021 season. In the end, Freeman chose to sign with the Dodgers. Now he’s won back-to-back World Series championships.

The Dodgers beat the Blue Jays in Game 7 early Sunday morning. That makes three rings for Freeman, who won the 2021 title with the Braves. Per Baseball Reference, Freeman joins Bill Skowron and Keith Hernandez as full-time first basemen to win a World Series title with two teams during MLB’s integration era (since 1947).

Freeman is on track for the Baseball Hall of Fame. When he left the Braves, I figured he needed five more good seasons to make it there. In four seasons with the Dodgers (614 games), he’s produced 21.2 bWAR. That ranks 11th among qualified hitters during that time.

Freeman, 36, is on the downside of his career. The 3.5 wins above replacement he produced in 2024 were his fewest for a full season since 2019. Freeman’s got two years left on his contract. If he produces 6.0 WAR over those years, then he’ll have 70.2 for his career with a seven-year peak of 39.5.

The average Hall of Fame first baseman compiled 65.0 career WAR with a seven-year peak of 42.0 WAR. The chances are good that Freeman will be in the Hall of Fame one day. He played his best years with the Braves, but already has two rings and counting with the juggernaut Dodgers.

But before you blast the Braves for (maybe) letting Freeman walk in free agency, consider his replacement. Matt Olson’s 20.8 WAR for the past four seasons rank 13th. Olson is more than four years younger than Freeman, and his eight-year contract is for the same amount ($162 million).

Whether Braves chairman Terry McGuirk will put those savings back into player payroll is another matter.

Auburn fired Hugh Freeze

Huge Freeze is out after 34 games at Auburn. His predecessor, Bryan Harsin, lasted 21 games. The Tigers once thought they were too good for Gus Malzahn, who isn’t looking so bad, in retrospect.

Auburn is going to have a tough time hiring a top candidate during this cycle. Two better SEC programs, LSU and Florida, also are looking for coaches. Big Ten heavyweight Penn State also has an opening. Auburn might have to compete with Arkansas for a head coach, too.

Firing two coaches in a row after short stays shouldn’t hurt Auburn’s case. Harsin’s hasty exit can be chalked up to a poor cultural fit. Freeze was 6-16 in the SEC. No coach should expect to survive a stretch like that at Auburn.

Hiring Freeze was not an inspired move by Auburn. He came with heavy personal baggage from two stops and a resume that included no SEC jobs since 2015. Auburn made a big mistake by hiring Harsin. Its solution was hoping Freeze could win bigger there than he did at Ole Miss many years ago.

It didn’t work. Now scrutiny will turn to Auburn athletic director John Cohen, who hired Freeze. He’ll have stiff competition during his latest search for a football coach.

This time, the better choice for Cohen is finding a young coach on the rise rather than a retread with a name everyone knows for many of the wrong reasons.

My Weekend Predictions were 6-5

I remain stuck in a purgatory of mediocrity. I’ve had the same record for four weeks in a row picking games against the spread. It’s been my record for seven of 10 weeks.