Kirk Cousins epic night illustrates why Atlanta drafting Penix was a mistake

If you're an Atlanta Falcons player or fan, Thursday night was a great moment. Kirk Cousins put on a show in an instant classic of a divisional matchup between the Bucs and Falcons. Cousins set the franchise single-game passing record and did so without a single empty calorie. Atlanta needed every last bullet from Cousins to take out Baker Mayfield and a relentless Bucs offense.

Perhaps the one Atlanta Falcon who shouldn't be happy about Thursday's result, Michael Penix Jr. This performance has ended any serious discussions about how soon Penix could be put into the lineup. Washed quarterbacks don't pass for 509 yards and carry their teams to wins in this fashion. All of the noise about Cousins being over the hill and unable to win in prime time has been quieted.

Kirk Cousins' epic performance has Atlanta Falcons draft decisions looking even more suspect

It was a game perfectly illustrating the frustration with selecting Penix in the first-round. This isn't to say Penix won't prove to be a franchise quarterback or that Cousins wasn't the right answer. Rather it is pointing out that the Falcons aren't a team with the luxury of spending a top-ten draft pick on a bench player.

Terry Fontenot has proven to be well below average when it comes to finding impact players on the second and third days of the draft. Atlanta's chance to add an impact pass rusher or add help to the defensive line was in round one when the team couldn't miss.

Kirk Cousins putting on his cape and bailing out an Atlanta defense that couldn't touch Baker Mayfield only put this further on display. The Falcons attempted to have the best of both worlds by signing Cousins and drafting who they believe to be their future in Penix.

Appearing to forget having a great quarterback doesn't matter if your defense makes the opposing quarterback look like an MVP each week. That has been the case for the Falcons thus far with the team unable to mount any type of pass rush unless Matthew Judon makes something happen.

What Thursday night's Herculean effort from Cousins showed is both how great the veteran is capable of being and how far this Atlanta defense still has to go. Being so incapable of rushing the passer in big spots is a red flag. One that is going to keep this team from living up to their full potential and could bring heat on GM Terry Fontenot for the inability to fix the obvious.