Kirk Cousins leads Atlanta Falcons past Tampa Bay Buccaneers

TAMPA, Fla. — Kirk Cousins asked Atlanta Falcons coach Raheem Morris if he could speak to the entire team last Tuesday. Morris gave him time Friday and Cousins talked to the players coming off a lackluster loss to the Seattle Seahawks in Week 7.

“This league beats you up and it tests you every day and it just kicks you down and you’ve got to get back up,” Cousins said Sunday in his postgame news conference. “And sometimes I need to encourage myself. And when I was encouraging myself, I thought, ‘You know what? Maybe somebody else could use this, too.'”

The Falcons responded with a 31-26 win over the division rival Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sunday here at Raymond James Stadium. Safety Jessie Bates III said afterward Cousins’ words, which were kept private, were particularly influential. Atlanta is now 4-0 in the NFC South with two victories over the Bucs, their main competitor for division supremacy.

Cousins, in particular, had a big day. The veteran quarterback was 23-of-29 passing for 276 yards and four touchdowns. He continued his mastery over Tampa, following a Falcons-record 509-yard performance against the Bucs in Week 5. Cousins is just the fourth quarterback in NFL history with 750 passing yards and eight passing touchdowns against a single opponent in a season, joining Dan Marino, Joe Montana and Y.A. Tittle.

Cousins found tight end Kyle Pitts for two touchdowns and wide receiver Darnell Mooney and running back Bijan Robinson for one apiece. He was the first Falcons quarterback to throw for three touchdown passes in a first half since Matt Ryan in 2020.

This weekend also marked one year since Cousins tore his right Achilles in Week 8 of 2023 when he was playing with the Minnesota Vikings. Atlanta signed Cousins in the offseason to a four-year, $180 million contract. Cousins said he thought about that milestone earlier this week.

Cousins, not known for being particularly fleet of foot even before the injury, felt well enough that he took off for a 13-yard scramble in the fourth quarter on a drive that helped ice the game for the Falcons.

“As a player, I want to do more of that,” Cousins said. “I’ve always said to my coaches, ‘I can do some of that.’ I don’t do it enough.”

Morris said seeing Cousins make that run made him want to “throw a pool party.”

“He looked like Patrick Mahomes out there,” Morris joked.

After the victory, Cousins didn’t give a speech. Bates, who had a forced fumble and an interception, said Cousins did dance in the locker room, perhaps reprising his “Kirko Chainz” character.

For road games, the Falcons have taken on the motto of a lyric from a song by Atlanta rapper Bankroll Fresh that says, “walk in your trap and take over your trap.” It basically means to go into someone else’s house and take it over.

“We’re enjoying winning and we had the music playing, and I was just going to soak in that for a minute,” Cousins said. “And it was kind of celebrating with the guys. … It was about going on the road and going into someone’s trap and then take over the trap.”