Falcons Leaders Fires Back: Kirk Cousins Passionate Response to…

The internet tells me that Cris Collinsworth isn’t a very popular NFL analyst. However, I’m going to reference one phrase he said years ago that’s stuck with me.

“We know nothing about the NFL before Thanksgiving.”

It’s an interesting theory. Obviously, winning divisional matchups for tiebreaker purposes in September and October is important. Furthermore, it’s highly unlikely a team that starts 2-9 will be able to turn things around enough to make a playoff push.

But there’s something to be said about Collinsworth’s point. While the first 12 weeks of the NFL schedule does matter, how a team is playing down the stretch after Thanksgiving is far more important.

It’s hard to believe, but the Atlanta Falcons just played their last game before Thanksgiving. And there was nothing good about it, as they suffered an embarrassing 38-6 defeat to the previously 5-5 Denver Broncos.

The next time the Falcons will play a game, it will already be Dec. 1. The Falcons are off in Week 12 with their bye week. So, they have six weeks left to correct what went woefully wrong Sunday before the playoffs. They have even less time if they still expect to cruise to the NFC South crown.

Falcons quarterback Kirk Cousins spoke only generally about the corrections the team will make during the bye. But he stressed the mindset that his team needs to find for the stretch run.

“Each game is its own entity. That applies when you win and play well and it applies when you lose and play poorly,” Cousins told reporters after Sunday’s loss. “There has to be this ability, and it can be difficult mentally and emotionally, but there has to be this ability to separate each game from the previous one, from the next one, and just go play that game regardless of what has transpired.

“When you start to bring in the previous game, the high of the previous game or the low, sometimes that can set you back either way. So, to just keep go playing these last six games one at a time is what you have to do. It can be easier said than done, but that’s what you have to do every week.”

Interestingly, this response from Cousins came after he received a question about dealing with complacency. It’s hard to imagine the Falcons needing to deal with complacency after a 32-point loss. But at the end of October, the Falcons were sitting pretty in the NFC South after they completed a sweep of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Even after Sunday, the Falcons still sit 1.5 games ahead of the Buccaneers. Atlanta also holds the tiebreaker, so it’s essentially a 2.0-game lead.

But the Buccaneers could pull within 1.5 games (in the standings) during Atlanta’s bye. Then in the final six weeks, the Buccaneers will have five games against opponents with losing records.

Meanwhile, the Falcons face the Los Angeles Chargers, Minnesota Vikings and Washington Commanders in December. All three of those teams are outplaying their preseason expectations.

If the Falcons don’t find the mindset Cousins talked about Sunday, the NFC South can still get interesting this season.