ATLANTA — There are franchises that have earned the benefit of the doubt, franchises whose past success gives them the latitude to take big steps, try new strategies and go in bold new directions.
And then there are the Atlanta Falcons, where fan loyalty these days is only as long as the Falcons’ last series.
Atlanta made the biggest move of any team in the NFL last offseason, signing marquee free-agent quarterback Kirk Cousins, then spending a first-round draft pick on another quarterback and undergoing a complete philosophical makeover under new head coach Raheem Morris. Confidence was high, especially after a harmonious training camp.
And then the regular season started.
Atlanta lost its season opener to Pittsburgh 18-10 on Sunday in a move that once again had fans throwing their hands up in the air. Cousins threw two ugly interceptions, struggled to move the ball and effectively held the second half of what was a very winnable game until the final minutes.
“I was disappointed, definitely disappointed,” Cousins said after the game as Falcons owner Arthur Blank looked on. “You always go in there expecting to play at a high level and we didn’t play at our level today.”
After a training camp in which Cousins happily embraced the role of team dad, the game in Pittsburgh left Cousins looking like a father at the end of a disastrous family vacation — overwhelmed, pushed to his limits, making the wrong choices over and over again. Cousins finished the day with just 155 yards passing and 16 completions, two interceptions to one touchdown. And like the father at the end of that vacation, there is no respite, only a return to work.
“We’ve got to flush it out and understand that it’s a loss,” Cousins said. “You’ve got to move forward and look at each game as a standalone. That’s really where you go after a win or a loss. That’s where your mind has to go.”
“We know he needs to play better, there’s no doubt about that,” Morris said after the game. “He’s been in the league for a long time and I’m looking forward to [him] recovering from a bad game and a bad away game. I’m not too worried about that.”
For Cousins and the Falcons, the frustrating thing about a game like Sunday’s is that there’s no easy mistake or flaw to correct. The game plan was solid enough; the Falcons’ lone touchdown drive — on which Cousins was 7 of 7 for 82 yards passing — was evidence of that. But outside of that drive, the execution was flawed, and that’s something that can only be corrected at game speed, in game situations, with game intensity — not on the practice field.
“You’ve got to avoid critical mistakes,” Cousins said. “We always say that, but we’ve got to do it. I think if we do that and we control ourselves on down-and-distances, I think we showed today that we can be a productive offense. But if we hurt ourselves, it’s hard to overcome that.”
Pittsburgh wasn’t necessarily a guaranteed W; the pregame line was merely a field goal. But it was a humiliating L, both because Cousins didn’t perform as he should have and because the thousands of towel-waving Steelers fans turned Mercedes-Benz Stadium into Pittsburgh South. Losing is bad enough; losing when T.J. Watt begs are fans to stand up in your building? Yeah, that’s not good at all.
“I’ve seen so much and traveled so much where you don’t have good days, but you have to look at them all as learning experiences and learn from them,” Morris said. “And we have to go out there and find a way to fix that quickly and, you know, urgently.”
That urgency comes from the fact that this was the “easy” game of the season-opening trio. Next week, Atlanta heads to Philadelphia for Monday Night Football, and we’ll see if two negatives add up to a positive. Atlanta is 15-28 on Monday night; Cousins is 3-10. They’re either going to cancel each other out, or the Falcons are going to somehow lose twice in one night.
Next up, the Kansas City Chiefs come to Atlanta, which could mark the second straight home game where Atlanta fans are outvoted by their opponents — in this case, the Chiefs faithful and the local Swifties.
The margin for error was already small for Atlanta. Now it’s gone. An 0-3 start and the cries for change — like bringing in rookie Michael Penix Jr. for a look — will resound.
The truth is, it’s a long season, and the Falcons are playing in the NFC South, where the Panthers have somehow managed to nearly eliminate themselves. But it’s also a season where “decent” isn’t going to be nearly good enough. If you’re trying to overhaul your entire franchise, you might as well start by shedding your old “can’t-get-it-done” image.
