ATLANTA — If Kirk Cousins plays to the standard the Falcons have for him and, in turn, the standard he has for himself, perhaps Atlanta beats the Los Angeles Chargers at Mercedes-Benz Stadium on Sunday.
Four interceptions tossed with no passing touchdowns scored won’t ever be a recipe for success, and it wasn’t for the Falcons in Week 13. They move to 6-6 on the year after dropping a 17-13 loss to the Chargers.
Looking at the box score, you’d never expect that final score, though, seeing as it was a game in which the Falcons actually outpaced the Chargers in total yardage, 350 to 187.
In the second half alone, the Falcons held possession for over 21 minutes, out-gaining the Chargers 222 yards to 42. Atlanta ran 50 plays to Los Angeles’ 17. The Falcons only scored six points, though, marking another performance in which the offense faltered and failed to score in the red area.
In the last three games, Cousins is on a skid unlike any his career as a 13-year veteran has seen. He has not thrown a touchdown pass since the third quarter of the Falcons’ win against the Cowboys nearly a month ago. Three games have passed since then, three consecutive losses no less. In the same time frame, Cousins has thrown six interceptions, accounted for four fumbles and the offense as a whole has scored just two touchdowns. They’ve been outscored 75-36 by the Saints, Broncos and Chargers.
The Falcons need more from Cousins, and they have a $180 million reason to expect more than the performance of the last three games, too.
Cousins, more than anyone, knows this.
“I look to myself and say, ‘I have to play better,'” Cousins said postgame. “It hurts when you feel like your defense played winning football. You feel like your special teams made big plays, too. I feel like the run game did a solid job. So, I gotta play better.
“You have to take responsibility and you go back and you have to watch it with a really critical eye and talk about, ‘OK. How can I make sure this never happens again.'”
Because its simple: For the Falcons to be the team they want to be, Cousins has to be better, more consistent. He has to take better care of the ball.
“We can’t go out and turn the ball over four times and go win a football game,” head coach Raheem Morris said after the loss.
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