Can Kirk Cousins Reclaim Some Of That Magic From 2024?

TAMPA – The Atlanta Falcons are heading south to take on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Week 15 looking to throw a wrench into their division rival’s season.

“You never want to be in this spot. But really, the job is to go out and play spoiler right now,” Falcons head coach Raheem Morris said Monday. “You've got a Tampa Bay Buccaneers team on Thursday that we've got a lot of respect for, that we love to play. That's always a highly competitive football game. I expect no different. I love the fact that our guys get to get back on the grass and go out there and take another shot at it.”

The Falcons Podcast: Spotify | Apple Pods | WATCH

With the chance at the postseason and any shot at snapping their streak of seasons without a winning record having evaporated, they will not have much else to play for down the stretch. Regardless, any chance to twist the knife of a rival will always be relished.

What will it take for the Falcons to play spoiler?

WHAT IS THE PLAN TO CONTAIN BAKER MAYFIELD?

The Buccaneers have a strong defense and several viable weapons that the Falcons must get a hold on this Thursday night, but the head of the snake is under center.

Baker Mayfield has thrown for 2,722 yards, 20 touchdowns, and six interceptions. He has added 285 rushing yards, and it is that ability to extend plays which makes him so dangerous. It burned the Falcons in Week 1, and they have to be sound defensively if they want to contain him this week.

“The quarterback is, he's Houdini,” Jeff Ulbrich said about Mayfield. “You watch him against some of the best defensive lines in this league, you feel like he's corralled, he's down, he's sacked, and all of a sudden, not only does he get out of the most impossible situations, then he makes a play.”

This Falcons’ pass rush will come into this game having really found their groove, having picked up 27 sacks in their last six games. On top of that, they have been able to start generating similar amounts of pressure without needing to send additional blitzers.

ARE THE FALCONS UP TO THE CHALLENGE IN THE SECONDARY?

When healthy, Tampa Bay has one of the top wide receiver rooms in the NFL. Unfortunately for the Falcons, this unit will be expected to be at full strength in this game. This unit will present Atlanta with a tough challenge.

With Mike Evans, Chris Godwin, Emeka Egbuka, and Jalen McMillan, this unit runs very deep.

“The receiver corps, it's a very unique situation because obviously they have a ton of talent from a receiver standpoint,” Jeff Ulbrich said after Tuesday’s practice. “But because Mike [Evans] has not played a ton this year, and he's been out from time to time, [Emeka Egbuka] has taken a lot of those roles. And he's been featured in ways that, in the past, they featured Mike Evans.”

With Evans coming back, and Godwin continuing to round into form, Thursday night will be a difficult test for a Falcons secondary that has regressed a bit in recent weeks.

IS THIS THE WEEK THAT DARNELL MOONEY FIGURES IT OUT?

The Falcons’ wide receiver corps has repeatedly fallen short this season, but a lot of those shortcomings come back to the injury to Drake London (who will be out again on Thursday night) and the struggles of Darnell Mooney.

Despite the prolonged absence of London, Mooney has been unable to take on a larger role in this offense. He has 22 receptions for 329 yards and a touchdown, but just six of those catches for 105 yards have come over this three game stretch as the top option.

What happens next for the Atlanta Falcons? Don't miss out on any news and analysis! Take a second, sign up for our free newsletter, and get breaking Falcons news delivered to your inbox daily!

As a unit, the receiver room has been turned over several times over, with the most recent addition coming earlier this week.

Making things a bit more difficult, Tampa’s Jamel Dean has not allowed a touchdown in 839 consecutive coverage snaps (2nd-longest streak among cornerbacks). He has allowed 4.5 yards per target, a 39.1% completion percentage, and a 26.1 passer rating, all of which are the lowest marks in the league (min. 40 targets).

Thursday will be another difficult test, but will this finally be the week he takes off?

CAN THE FALCONS RUN THE BALL?

The Falcons need to run the football on Thursday if they want to give themselves their best shot at pulling out a win. When these two teams met in Week 1, the Falcons managed just 69 yards on the ground, and Thursday night will be a difficult challenge.

This offensive line has played together on 74.4% of the team’s snaps this season, but the results have not been what the team was hoping for. They have created just 0.8 yards before contact per carry, the fifth-worst mark in the NFL.

When rushing outside of tackles, Jake Matthews and Elijah Wilkinson, the Falcons' yards before contact decreases to 0.6 (4th-fewest), despite running outside at the highest rate of any offense since at least 2016 (74.5%). That compares to their interior, where they have created nearly double the yardage before contact.

Now, they match up with a Buccaneers defense that allows just 3.4 yards per carry (10th lowest) and does not allow successful runs outside the tackles (3.9 yards per outside rush, 3rd-fewest).

The New Orleans Saints were able to find some success against this unit last Sunday, running for 139 yards on 32 carries. If the Falcons can generate a ground game like that, they should have a good chance to come out on top in this game.

WILL THE FALCONS WITHSTAND THE TAMPA BLITZ?

Tampa Bay loves to blitz its opponents, having sent extra bodies on 34.1% of its opportunities (5th-highest in the NFL). This has helped them create pressure on an NFL-leading 52.0% of their blitzes and generate a league-leading 46 unblocked pressures.

“Yeah, I think you always are looking at what kind of blitzes are coming, when they're occurring, what are the plays that match up within your scheme based on first down, second down, third down, to make sure that you do have sound answers,” he said. “That's the biggest thing, is making sure you have sound answers for the players and making sure that you have quick element throws and those types of things, and the protection is always – overrides everything, and so you're clipping through a number of blitzes at this part of the year.”

Kirk Cousins has been sacked six times in his three starts, but this will be a unique challenge for him.

CAN KIRK COUSINS RECLAIM SOME OF THAT MAGIC FROM 2024?

Kirk Cousins had an up-and-down 2024 first season with the Falcons, but his pair of games against the Buccaneers were works of masterclass.

What happens next for the Atlanta Falcons? Don't miss out on any news and analysis! Take a second, sign up for our free newsletter, and get breaking Falcons news delivered to your inbox daily!

He was named the NFC Offensive Player of the Week for his outstanding Week 5 performance. Cousins completed 42 of his 58 passes for 509 yards, 4 touchdowns, and an interception in the wild, comeback win over Tampa Bay. The veteran struck again just a few weeks later with an efficient 23-of-29 performance where he threw for 276 yards and four touchdowns.

The Falcons will not have anything to play for this season, but Cousins reclaiming a little bit of magic could help them play some spoiler in Week 15.