Kirk Cousins Is A Sitting Duck?
September 5th, 2024
Oh, for an edge rusher!
Yeah, Joe is obsessed with the newfound love #NFLMedia has for Atlanta quarterback Kirk Cousins.
One thing that irks Joe about this sudden Cousins infatuation by those who type about the NFL for a living is the very same folks used to roundly mock and giggle about how Cousins couldn’t win a big game. Cousins had better talent in Minnesota than he has in Atlanta, and now almost overnight those same media types are praising Cousins like he’s the second coming of John Elway.
And this is fully overlooking how Cousins, 36, is coming off a major leg injury.
Buried under the Cousins stroking by Ben Solak of BSPN, who made the case that Cousins ought to be in the running for NFL MVP (!) was this nugget: Cousins wasn’t mobile. He might be even less so now.
As a lifetime pocket passer who will have an even lower scramble rate coming off that injury …
That’s a great point, Cousins will be as mobile as a mailbox, a nearly stationary target and absolutely vulnerable to an edge rush.
Then Joe looks at the Bucs roster and sees how the team is fully anchored to hope at edge rusher. It makes Joe just want to cry.
It sort of feels like every other kid got a cool toy to hand out for a Secret Santa project but you were given a pair of socks by mom to give as a present.
September 5th, 2024 at 11:07 am
It doesn’t matter that we have no pass rush… Cousins has to face 15 other games with other team’s pass rushes……one of them may take him out.
September 5th, 2024 at 11:07 am
I always thought Cousins was underrated, a lot of people talked about him as if he was a step above a journey man which seemed crazy to me, then the falcons signed him and the entire media world did a 180 on him, hyping his addition to the falcons like it was Rodgers to the Jets 2.0.
I’ll never understand media talking heads, nor do i want to.
September 5th, 2024 at 11:11 am
Well, the Steelers are known for having a good pass rush, so we’ll see how their first game goes.
September 5th, 2024 at 11:15 am
Joe….socks are under appreciated and are really needed especially if it gets cold.
I think the Bucs will be fine, just like a new pair of socks. How many new shiny toys break after the first time using it.
September 5th, 2024 at 11:16 am
Pressure up the middle, Joe! Remember what Brady was like once he got pressured up the middle. With Kancey and Vea that’s what should happen.
September 5th, 2024 at 11:27 am
When there is pressure up the middle; if you can’t at the very least move the pocket then it’s going to be a long game. The majority of the NFL has moved on from pocket passers.
September 5th, 2024 at 11:31 am
This Bucs team thrives on being the underdog. Frankly, it scares me a bit when the expectations are high, especially on Baker. He’s always rallied around that dog mentality. Us against the world stuff. Cousins to Atlanta and the subsequent slobbering from the media is exactly what this team needed coming off a third divisional crown in a row. They avoid being the hunted, and get to keep the hungry edge thanks to the disrespect.
September 5th, 2024 at 11:53 am
Penix will be the starter before Halloween. Book it.
September 5th, 2024 at 12:09 pm
You stole Joe’s thunder. 🙂
September 5th, 2024 at 12:11 pm
If Cousins can’t cut it then they better start prepping a 3rd team QB. The Falcons spent a first round pick on a player who had 2 knee surgeries in college. And missed 2 more seasons with shoulder injuries. That’s 4 out of 6 seasons he Sat ! I’d hope my QB could play more than 33 percent of the time. On the other hand he must have a hell of a lot of talent for a team to invest in him like the Falcons have.
September 5th, 2024 at 12:12 pm
Sounding like Cousins could be a sitting duck in the pocket.
Also agree with Fred McNeil. Penix is going to end up starting for the Falcons. The media being all in on the Falcons will need to switch their QB infatuation quickly.
September 5th, 2024 at 12:14 pm
Which is why Joe has a chunk of cash on the Steelers this weekend.
September 5th, 2024 at 12:35 pm
I agree about Penix. But do not forget that we have a couple of players that know him very well. He is darn good.
September 5th, 2024 at 12:38 pm
Finally someone said it and now we know why they drafted a quarterback with their first pick! Their not going to am nfc championship much less winning the division with a rookie quarterback but don’t tell major networks it’s possible he could get injured especially week 1 playing a Steelers defense
September 5th, 2024 at 1:32 pm
Joe, we have Yaya. Why can’t he be a feared pass rusher this season? Why can’t he get 15 sacks? He’s got Vea pushing the pocket, and Kancey, no reason he can’t be that guy you’re craving. I believe he’ll do it.
September 5th, 2024 at 1:43 pm
I don’t watch or listen to national sports talk shows when it comes to Buccaneers.
September 5th, 2024 at 1:52 pm
“Cousins will be as mobile as a mailbox, a nearly stationary target and absolutely vulnerable to an edge rush.”
==========
Where have I heard all the talk about how an old, immobile QB, isn’t going to be able to get it done.
Anywho, Brady was coming to a team that had a good QB in Winston.
Kirk, meanwhile, is nowhere in Brady’s league, but is going to a team that had the worst, or 2nd worst QB in fall of football.
If Kirk has just a middling Baker Mayfield type of season, they should easily get them at least 2 or 3 more wins, and they already won 7 games. No idea how people think upgrading the most important position in sports, from the worst talent in the game, isn’t going to pay off huge. Even if Kirk is washed up, which I don’t think at all is the case, Penix is still a huge upgrade over Ridder.
September 5th, 2024 at 2:29 pm
For a stationary pocket passer, I would argue pressure up the middle in his face is more important anyway. Vea and Kancey will do just fine. If Diaby stays healthy… I’m not concerned. Of course wish we had a beast on the edge to add to the aforementioned but we go with what we got and I’m satisfied until I’m not.
September 5th, 2024 at 2:40 pm
“Penix will be the starter before Halloween.
You stole Joe’s thunder. 🙂”
Hey, now Joe. Again please tell us, How many lightning bolts did the Falcons “Guarantee” for the Cousins name on his 4-year contract? Wish, you would share where that house is for their Halloween candy.
September 5th, 2024 at 3:38 pm
Love YaYa but he, like any other unproven pass rusher, is not a double-digit sack guy until he’s a double digit sack guy.
Joe doesn’t believe in banking on hope. Never have. Never will.
September 5th, 2024 at 4:56 pm
I get the desire for a “proven” edge rusher. The Bucs MAY have a good edge rusher but it’s as yet unproven.
What the Bucs do have is the best INTERIOR rush in the league!!! Not just Vita who has slimmed down and appears to be remotivated! Calijah could and should really blow up this season if he’s healthy.
I posit that if these two blow up the center of the Falcons line and force Cousins out of the pocket BAD things are going to happen to the Falcons, as in sack, sack fumbles and INTs.
September 5th, 2024 at 6:28 pm
I just don’t think Cousins makes it past game 6
September 5th, 2024 at 7:35 pm
Potential fuels hope I guess. I see the potential for Yaya to have double-digit sacks this year. I am a fan not an analyst. I judge based on intangibles added to information in many situations. l do ok to well on average.
Go Bucs!
September 5th, 2024 at 10:22 pm
if an edge rusher is guaranteed to defeat a pocket passer, but most teams dont use pure pocket passers at all, then what defeats a mobile qb?
September 5th, 2024 at 11:05 pm
matthew a veal Says:
September 5th, 2024 at 10:22 pm
if an edge rusher is guaranteed to defeat a pocket passer, but most teams dont use pure pocket passers at all, then what defeats a mobile qb?
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Brooks showed the world how you shutdown Vick – all you need is a 1st ballot HOF LB to shadow them.
Thankfully the current Bucs have their, should be, first ballow HOF LB in David. Although White, with his 4.4 speed, also excelled at the role.
Going to be something the first time we see Britt trying to spy on a 4.4 QB – suddenly people will start to understand what life is like with a slow MLB.
September 6th, 2024 at 12:28 am
The Falcons have a talented roster, they were a 7 win team with a terrible QB in Desmond Ritter. They now have a pretty good accomplished QB with Cousins.
He is a dramatic improvement at the QB position, I can understand why all the prognosticators are on board with the Falcons.
The games are played on the field, we shall see how it pans out.