Here’s what Falcons quarterback Kirk Cousins had to say after the 26-24 win over the Saints on Sunday:
Opening statement: “I’ll start and then take any questions you have. It’s great to find a way to win in this league. After kind of a week of feeling awful about not finding a way last week, it’s great to do that this week. There’s a lot to fix. You come away saying I’m so glad we won. But I’m going to be voice-memoing on the way home to the coaches with some thoughts on how I’ve got to be better and how we’ve got to build on it. [It’s] a lot easier to give those voice memos after a win. I thought penalties were tough today to overcome at times on some drives where we were in the high red zone. Or in a place on the field where we felt we had some momentum and then got in some long yardage situations. I thought Tyler Allgeier ran the ball really well, and his third-down conversion was a big play in the game. I was pleased that we were better on third down. At least it felt that way. I haven’t seen the numbers but it felt like we were better on third down overall as a unit. Even on some of the conversions that we didn’t have, we still – completion, getting close to the sticks and giving ourselves a chance. Honestly, I felt like the final drive was really not good enough by me, by our offense, but (Younghoe) Koo made an unbelievable kick. We got the pass interference call and that was enough. But pleased with the complementary football that happened today to get us the win. Now we have a great chance to build on it and I can take any questions you have.”
On what he saw on the late-game throw to Darnell Mooney that resulted in defensive pass interference: “It was a double move, and so I threw it pretty early. I felt I should have thrown the ball further. I felt like Mooney could have run underneath and maybe it’s a walk-off, if you will. Although there was still a little time left. I was disappointed in myself that the ball ended up being underthrown. And he did a good job of coming back to it, and we got the PI call. Great route by him. Would have liked to put the ball out there further for him to be able to run underneath it.”
On whether there is a remedy for the penalties: “Until I can see them, it’s hard. I wasn’t sure on the touchdown that got called back what exactly happened. Because it didn’t feel like it was anything too unique. But I don’t get to see it until I can watch the film. A remedy would just be once we see what took place, we just have to make sure we don’t even give them that chance to call it.”
On when he thinks wide receivers start picking up tricks to try and draw pass interference calls and how nice it is to play with someone like Darnell Mooney who recognizes those things: “He’s a total pro. I mean, he’s at times -- his locker’s next to me, and he’s at times whether it’s the spring or now, I’ll ask a question, and when I hear his answers, I think, Whoa, the way you are taking care of your body, the way you’re thinking through situations like a quarterback, like whoa. At times he kind of keeps me on my toes because I think, man, if I don’t know my stuff, Moon is going to expose me here because he does. Not surprised that he would have an awareness of, hey, ball is underthrown. We’ve got a chance at a DPI here. That’s the kind of player he is to be very aware. I’ll go back to my role. I just don’t want to leave it in the ref’s hands, and I want to hit that in a perfect stride. Like we had the go ball earlier in the game in the third quarter, and that’s why I want to go watch it and see why the ball wasn’t further.”
On whether he is often as frustrated as he is today after a win: “I wouldn’t be if I played really well, we played really well. But, yeah, I do dislike this about myself that I have a standard that’s maybe unreachable and even after a win you feel like you’ve got to play better. I’ll still enjoy the win, believe me. Yeah, there’s just a lot we left out there.”
On whether he feels like the Falcons are a team of destiny and how difficult it is to get physically get ready for a game in four days versus the normal week: “It all depends on how beat up you are from going into the game or coming out of this game. I feel pretty good. It shouldn’t be too bad for me. Each guy is maybe a little different. It helps -- you got to remember that postgame Thursday, we do have ten days. And so, you kind of remind yourself to take the good with the bad too. The extra rest after this if we can get through Thursday, physically, you get more time to get caught up for guys. But I just find that in this league that’s the way these games tend to go is it’s just so close. It’s a play here, a play there. And you’ve got to find yourself on the winning side of as many of these as possible. But finding those inches is hard, but that’s the way this league is designed to be.”
On the offense generating yards but not scoring any touchdowns: “I’ll be pretty critical as I think through it. [I’m] just grateful to be able to have the critical evaluation after a win. So you’re grateful for the win, the outcome. It’s such an outcome-driven league. To have a win is a big deal. You never really stop going back and analyzing the performance and how to be better, win or lose.”
On the opportunity to go 2-0 in the division and over .500 with a win on Thursday night: “It’s a great opportunity for us. Home game, divisional opponent. [We] dug ourselves a hole starting 1-2. Now give ourselves a chance to go into a long weekend above .500. We know what’s out there for us. But so does our opponent. I expect it to be a hard-fought game like they all have been thus far.”
On whether he noticed the intensity of the rivalry: “I loved it. It was the fourth quarter we were a little bit backed up, and it was a TV time-out. And they were playing that song about you swag and surf, and the whole stadium was moving. I looked around, like, this is pretty sweet. And the [Dirty Birds] Nest especially -- I love the Nest. The Nest may be my favorite thing about being a Falcon. It’s awesome, the energy they bring. Yeah, you felt it today. We need to win and play at a level that will keep it that way all year long and into January. I can’t say enough about the environment today and the way our fans showed up. I was really, really pleased with the atmosphere we got to play in. It was a privilege.”
On the improvement of the pass protection over the last three weeks: “Yeah, I think so. I didn’t see how many attempts we had today, but usually whenever I felt anything, it was because I was going through a progression longer. So, I thought they did a good job. There was a lot of times where it was kind of one-on-ones across the board where they were rushing five. I was really pleased. And even the sack fumble today was really me holding onto the ball too long. Jake [Matthews] did a really good job. I’ve been very pleased with them.
On Kyle Pitts having two targets today: “It’s interesting. The under route I threw to him, I really shouldn’t have. [Marshon] Lattimore drove it. I should have gone over his head to Ray-Ray [McCloud III]. Then on the shallow cross to Kyle in man coverage, we had the incidental contact. That was one where it’s incomplete but had a chance there if their feet don’t get tripped up. Then there are other ones like the third down at midfield in the second quarter I threw to Drake [London]. It was incomplete. Looking back, I wish I had worked Kyle over his head on a deep corner route. So, there’s some plays out there where I come to the sideline and say hey, Kyle, I got to work you there. Then there’s other ones where I did work him and say, hey, I probably shouldn’t have forced it to you. It goes both ways, but just kind of always go where your reads take you. And sometimes it skews the number one way or another, and sometimes it’s balanced, and you have to go where they take you.”
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