6 Defining Atlanta Falcons storylines heading into team's 2024 bye week

The Atlanta Falcons sit at 6-5 and two games ahead of the Buccaneers for first place in the division, but the product shown on the field the last two weeks does not leave much optimism for fans to indulge in. Luckily the Falcons head into Week 12 with a bye, and have two weeks to get healthy, and they really need it.

Through 11 games there's been a lot of good, but there has also been a lot of bad. It's been a very up-and-down season, let's take a look back at the season thus far.

Kirk Cousins

Kirk Cousins' discourse is all over the place. He currently has 2,807 yards, 17 touchdowns, nine interceptions, a 68.1%, and a 96.6 passer rating. He is third in yards, seventh in touchdowns, 10th in completion percentage, and 13th in passer rating. He's been good, but it hasn't all been good. Only four quarterbacks in the NFL have more interceptions than him this season, and his 11 total turnovers are tied for third-most in the NFL.

Cousins has gained a reputation in the NFL for playing his best football in October, a month that has since been christened "Kirktober", and Kirktober 2024 certainly lived up to its hype. Kirk registered 10 touchdowns, 1,242 yards, just three interceptions, a 71.1 comp%, and a 109.0 passer rating as the Falcons went 3-1.

Since that span Cousins has thrown just three touchdowns (in three games) and two interceptions. However, it would be disingenuous to say Cousins has been flat-out bad. He's had two nasty interceptions in the last two games, the one against the Saints essentially losing the game, but outside of those throws he has not been bad.

Against the Saints, he threw some beautiful balls. Midway through the 2nd quarter Cousins took a snap from the Saints' 33-yard line. He fakes the hand-off to Tyler Allgeier, and then stands tall in a collapsing pocket. He throws a beauty of a ball to Darnell Mooney who has Alontae Taylor draped all over him. He puts the ball in the perfect spot for Mooney, and it goes for a 32-yard strike. This is why counting stats are not the be-all, end-all because Cousins was one yard shy of a touchdown, which Bijan Robinson ended up running in four plays later.

Later in that same game, Cousins threw an absolute dime of a ball for Kyle Pitts on a third-and-long where Pitts mossed Alontae Taylor and came down with the ball.

Against the Broncos prior to the interception Cousins started the game 15/16 passing. The Falcons first drive stalled out due to penalties (something the Falcons really need to address going forward). On the second drive Cousins had a beautiful tear-drop pass to Bijan Robinson on third-and-long which perfectly fell into his hands. Later in the game Cousins threw a perfect strike on 4th down to Drake London for a huge gain.

Kirk Cousins overall has played more good football than he has bad. He is not the problem nor the reason the Falcons have dropped the last two games. Heading into the last seven games of the season, Falcons fans should still trust Cousins' ability to win enough games to win the NFC South.