The man behind the most viral moments in Washington Commanders franchise history — Atlanta Falcons quarterback Kirk Cousins — now finds himself in a much different position than he’s been in for the majority of his 14 seasons in the NFL.
That’s standing on the sidelines and holding a clipboard.
Cousins, who played for Washington for the first 6 years of his career and was the starter for the last 3 of those, was benched late in the 2024 season with the Falcons in favor of rookie first round pick Michael Penix Jr. and has remained there through the start of the 2025 regular season.
With the Falcons hosting the Commanders in Week 4, there’s a more-than-outside chance that Cousins could see his way into the game if Atlanta’s struggles on offense continue.
In a stunning, 30-0 loss to the lowly Carolina Panthers in Week 3, Falcons head coach Raheem Morris actually pulled Penix in favor of Cousins late in the game, although Morris downplayed that move as more of a result of being at the end of a blowout.
Still, it gives the Commander something extra to prepare for as they try to improve to 3-1 and stare down a stretch of 4 highly winnable games in a row against the Falcons, Los Angeles Rams, Chicago Bears and Dallas Cowboys.
“Last week’s big Atlanta problem was taken to another level on Sunday, when Michael Penix Jr. completed just 18 of 36 passes and threw two interceptions in a shutout loss to the lowly Panthers,” Bleacher Report’s Brad Gagnon wrote on September 26. ” … Now, fans are questioning how much longer the coaching staff will stick with Penix. The offense ranks second lowest in the league, and upcoming matchups with Washington and Buffalo appear challenging.”
Nightmare Scenario for Cousins in Atlanta
In a pretty clear cut case of something being too good to be true, Cousins jumped at the opportunity to sign a 4-year, $180 million contract with the Falcons in March 2024 as he was coming off a torn Achilles tendon suffered in 2023 while playing for the Minnesota Vikings.
Just one month later, the Falcons made the bewildering decision to draft a quarterback in the first round when they took Penix at No. 8 overall and blindsided Cousins, who will have approximately $411 million in career earnings when his current contract runs out. The Falcons stumbled to an 8-9 finish in 2024 and haven’t had a winning season since 2017.
Cousins Started NFL Career With Washington
Washington selected Cousins in the fourth round (No. 102 overall) out of Michigan State in the 2012 NFL draft — the same year Washington selected quarterback Robert Griffin III at No. 2 overall.
Cousins eventually took the starting job for good from Griffin in 2015 and led the Commanders to a playoff appearance in his first season as a starter and back-to-back winning seasons in 2015 and 2016 — the last winning seasons for the Commanders before 2024.
Cousins also was responsible for one of the most viral NFL moments, ever, with the Commanders in 2015 after he rallied his team to a win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers after trailing 24-0 in the second quarter and screamed “You like that?!” at a group of reporters after the game.
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