Falcons doing falcony things

[57jacket]

Wow. What a disaster. O and D. I'm really surprised. The D hs been the weakest, but the O has been good. Both stunk today.

 

[awbuzz]

What happened to the D?

They played like butter left in the car in July... Soft and sloppy

 

[devcon]

Using the Paul Johnson rocket toss against Minnesota to great effect.

 

[Thwg777]

Cousins completes his first pass to a Vikings player in over a year. Unfortunately, it was as a Falcon.

 

[GTThor]

They suck
Arthur Blank is a terrible owner
All he cares about is making crazy fans happy.
We missed on hiring a good HC.
They signed a washed up QB to a deal that was ridiculous.
The GM is bad also.
Kyle Pitts is a bust.
Drake London is slow.
And we didn’t need another RB when he drafted Robinson.
It’s frustrating.
This is all on the owner.
It’s his fault.

 

[awbuzz]

Pitts catching ability seems to be in the pits.

 

[GTThor]

Pitts catching ability seems to be in the pits.

Huge disappointment
He was ruined when he got destroyed against UGA his last year in college.
He is scared to death now.

But they made him the highest TE draft pick ever.
Just go ahead and release him.

 

[57jacket]

Although the offense is turning the ball over at a terrible rate, the biggest weaknesses on this team are the defense, and red zone offense.

 

[slugboy]

Although the offense is turning the ball over at a terrible rate, the biggest weaknesses on this team are the defense, and red zone offense.

Kirk Cousins is about the 20th ranked team in QBR. The Falcons are about 8th in turnover giveaways. They're top ten in yards per game, but about 20th in points per game (which is more important). They're below average in offense, defense, and special teams.

Even before the last four games, you could see that something was wrong with the offense, and a lot of it is Cousins.

 

[Golden Tornadoes]

So how does Cousins go from throwing for 509 yards and 4 TDs in Week 5 to not being able to move the ball at all in Week 14 vs the terrible Raiders? And now they want to start Penix?

 

[slugboy]

So how does Cousins go from throwing for 509 yards and 4 TDs in Week 5 to not being able to move the ball at all in Week 14 vs the terrible Raiders? And now they want to start Penix?

It’s clear as day if you watched any of his games.

Cousins didn’t fully recover from his Achilles rupture, and it may have gotten worse in the last six weeks. The offensive coordinator schemed around it, but he’s immobile in the pocket and isn’t even mobile enough to go under center or run play action (which was what he was always best at)

He started throwing puff ball passes to his receivers and getting picked. He can’t push off—his passes are all upper-body.

Once defenses figured out how limited his options were, he was dead meat.

 

[Golden Tornadoes]

It’s clear as day if you watched any of his games.

Cousins didn’t fully recover from his Achilles rupture, and it may have gotten worse in the last six weeks. The offensive coordinator schemed around it, but he’s immobile in the pocket and isn’t even mobile enough to go under center or run play action (which was what he was always best at)

He started throwing puff ball passes to his receivers and getting picked. He can’t push off—his passes are all upper-body.

Once defenses figured out how limited his options were, he was dead meat.

So, then the question must be asked, if he hasn't fully recovered, who in the medical staff signed off on his physical? Why didn't any of the scouts notice his decline in arm strength? Who decided that Cousins was worth the amount of money the Falcons threw at him? What's worse is when you factor in that the Falcons were guilty of tampering before the free agent moratorium period began; so not only did they sign a broken QB, but they also lost draft picks in doing so!

 

[kg01]

So, then the question must be asked, if he hasn't fully recovered, who in the medical staff signed off on his physical? Why didn't any of the scouts notice his decline in arm strength? Who decided that Cousins was worth the amount of money the Falcons threw at him? What's worse is when you factor in that the Falcons were guilty of tampering before the free agent moratorium period began; so not only did they sign a broken QB, but they also lost draft picks in doing so!

Ooh, ooh, I'll toss more logs on. If they knew he wasn't fully healthy, why not sprinkle the rookie in throughout the year so he's not fresh out the box in crunchtime? There's no room for error now.

 

[Golden Tornadoes]

Ooh, ooh, I'll toss more logs on. If they knew he wasn't fully healthy, why not sprinkle the rookie in throughout the year so he's not fresh out the box in crunchtime? There's no room for error now.

Just to add to your add on, the pressure they have just placed on Penix is enormous. The Falcons just benched their prized free agent addition who was touted as the “missing piece”. Now you’re throwing your rookie QB into the fire and he HAS to succeed. Instead of addressing the glaring holes on defense or in the WR room, you use your 1st rounder on a QB many didn’t think would be selected until the late first or early second round. If he fails, you’ve not only blown through a ton of money on a bad QB, you will have failed to address holes on your roster with a high pick and instead used in on a “shaky” QB.

There’s so much more riding on this decision than simply benching a QB for the rookie. The GM could have egg all over his face at the end of the season. Just another reason why the Falcons should never be trusted with offseason moves.

 

[slugboy]

Just to add to your add on, the pressure they have just placed on Penix is enormous. The Falcons just benched their prized free agent addition who was touted as the “missing piece”. Now you’re throwing your rookie QB into the fire and he HAS to succeed. Instead of addressing the glaring holes on defense or in the WR room, you use your 1st rounder on a QB many didn’t think would be selected until the late first or early second round. If he fails, you’ve not only blown through a ton of money on a bad QB, you will have failed to address holes on your roster with a high pick and instead used in on a “shaky” QB.

There’s so much more riding on this decision than simply benching a QB for the rookie. The GM could have egg all over his face at the end of the season. Just another reason why the Falcons should never be trusted with offseason moves.

Alright, I’ll answer

1. Cousins was in high demand. He was probably the #1 free agent, even with the injury. He was a top 10 QB
2. Of the Falcons hadn’t tampered, someone else who was tampering would have gotten him
3. Everyone knew he was recovering from a ruptured Achilles. The medical exam wouldn’t tell you anything; everyone was betting on a recovery by the start of the season, including the other teams that wanted to sign him
4. Drafting Penix was arguable. But, even if you thought Cousins would be great this year, having an option for when he was 39 made sense
5. The Falcons knew he wasn’t healthy by camp—no preseason reps, no play action, and a bad game to open against Pittsburgh
6. Even with that, he seemed to be healing up. Until the last six games, he had five great. It was the defense that held the Falcons back
7. He “fell off a cliff” in the last six weeks. His passing got weaker, and doubts crept into his head

I think the Falcons should have held him out as injured after New Orleans instead of benching him now.

 

[awbuzz]

$100M guaranteed will salve the mental wounds, except as a competitor, Cousins will be distraught even though publicly he will not show it.

 

[Golden Tornadoes]

So ESPN has come out with an article basically saying that the Falcons have mishandled this situation so poorly that they will not be able to trade Cousins and instead will release him before his $10M roster bonus is due in March. The Falcons paid $100M guaranteed to a QB who played 14 games for them and has one of the highest interception totals this year. Amazing how bad the Falcons screw up free agency year after year. So much for a 4 year contract.

Falcons expected to cut Cousins before $10M due

Kirk Cousins' divorce from the Falcons is expected to be finalized before his $10 million roster bonus is due March 17.

www.espn.com

 

[GTThor]

So ESPN has come out with an article basically saying that the Falcons have mishandled this situation so poorly that they will not be able to trade Cousins and instead will release him before his $10M roster bonus is due in March. The Falcons paid $100M guaranteed to a QB who played 14 games for them and has one of the highest interception totals this year. Amazing how bad the Falcons screw up free agency year after year. So much for a 4 year contract.

Falcons expected to cut Cousins before $10M due

Kirk Cousins' divorce from the Falcons is expected to be finalized before his $10 million roster bonus is due March 17.

www.espn.com

This falls on the GM. He should be fired.

 

[kg01]

So ESPN has come out with an article basically saying that the Falcons have mishandled this situation so poorly that they will not be able to trade Cousins and instead will release him before his $10M roster bonus is due in March. The Falcons paid $100M guaranteed to a QB who played 14 games for them and has one of the highest interception totals this year. Amazing how bad the Falcons screw up free agency year after year. So much for a 4 year contract.

Falcons expected to cut Cousins before $10M due

Kirk Cousins' divorce from the Falcons is expected to be finalized before his $10 million roster bonus is due March 17.

www.espn.com

Hey, if you gonna F up, may as well be elite at it.

 

[King2b]

Hey, if you gonna F up, may as well be elite at it.

Are you suggesting they make a head coaching change and hire a certain out of work DC whose dream job is in Atlanta?