A repeated question for Kirk Cousins during Atlanta's late-season slide was whether or not the quarterback was healthy. Cousins insisted he was healthy and the level of play would improve, with the Falcons finding a way to get back on track. This, painfully, isn't how things would play out with Cousins ending the season on the bench and Atlanta choking away their NFC South lead. Weeks after Atlanta's season had ended, Kirk Cousins would change his answer, blaming injuries for the failure at the end of the 2024 season.
This led to obvious frustration from Atlanta media and fans for Cousins making this statement when it benefitted the quarterback the most. The timing to admit an injury was when your level of play was hurting the team. The choice to hold onto your starting job over giving your team their best chance to win is a selfish one. This is to say nothing of how poorly this late injury news reflected on head coach Raheem Morris and Atlanta's training staff. A coach that had Kirk's back when it was time to bench the veteran had this loyalty repaid in the worst way.
Are injuries to blame for Kirk Cousins and Atlanta suffering a late-season collapse?
The answer to this question can only be truly known by Cousins and perhaps members of Atlanta's organization. It is worth noting, however, that Cousins was a completely different quarterback after the second game against New Orleans. The veteran's power fell off a cliff losing all ability to drive the ball to his targets inside tight windows. For the rest of the season it seemed the veteran could do little more than check the ball down or rainbow it to a wide open target.
Watching back the ugly performance that Cousins put on the field, it is impossible not to believe the quarterback's assertion that he played hurt for the rest of the season. It is rare to see a quarterback completely fall off a cliff in the middle of a season without a serious injury.
This is the same quarterback who was one of only two teams to beat a healthy Eagles squad. Cousins set Atlanta's single game passing record as well in an overtime win against Tampa Bay. Who the quarterback was at the end of the season wasn't anything close to the player in Minnesota or the one Atlanta watched the first half of the season. It is impossible not to believe Cousins was playing hurt, attempting to hold off the inevitable ascension of Michael Penix Jr.