Ten points is not what Raheem Morris and Kirk Cousins had in mind for their opening act with the Atlanta Falcons.
Even with a backup quarterback at the controls for the Pittsburgh Steelers, there was never an evident comfort zone for the Falcons and Morris in the regular-season opener Sunday.
“We turned the ball over in the second half, hitting people in the face and some of the things of that nature. We can’t do that,” Morris said after the 18-10 loss. “We’ve got to play better all across the board – some of the blocking, some of the protection, being comfortable. All those things come into play.”
Morris said frustration from wide receiver Drake London and tight end Kyle Pitts won’t be charted as negatives, but competitors “wanting to make a difference.”
Cousins debuted for the Falcons and was intercepted twice and sacked twice. Pitts scored the Falcons’ only touchdown — a 12-yard reception — and had three catches for 26 yards. London caught two passes for 15 yards.
“All these things are the same. They’re all learning episodes. They’re all learning opportunities,” Morris said. “Whether you win, whether you lose, they’re all the same for us coaches, right? You’ve got to learn from wins, you’ve got to learn from losses, and we will certainly learn from this loss.”
Atlanta led 10-9 at halftime but didn’t score in the final 30 minutes.
Morris wasn’t ready to offer a grade on any individual performance postgame. He said Cousins not being comfortable in the pocket isn’t entirely a Falcons’ issue.
“You know, it’s the Pittsburgh Steelers. They’re a good defense. You got T.J. Watt out there, you’ve got [Alex] Highsmith out there. You’ve got a bunch of good cover guys. You’ve got a bunch of good guys across the board. Maybe he didn’t get comfortable. Those are things you have to evaluate when look at the tape. We’ve got to get comfortable, and we’ve got to do it with an urgent manner.”
The Falcons play the Philadelphia Eagles on Monday night, an environment Cousins knows well from his days with the Minnesota Vikings and Washington.
He’ll do a self-scout on Sunday night and get ready to turn the page to Philly.
“I’ll watch it pretty quick here to try to start to unpack what took place. Probably send a couple of voice memos to coaches just to kind of give some thoughts that I have, off the cuff, after I watch it. Maybe they converse back, and we just kind of start to begin that analysis,” Cousins said.
“But it’s a process that will go through tomorrow. I never really sleep great after games regardless, win or loss. You just have to move forward now, and that’s the mental, physical, emotional toughness of playing in the NFL you’ve got to have. You have to move forward and play your best football next week regardless of what happened today.”
If the Falcons are looking for positives, they can start with their 36-year-old quarterback’s last outing against the Eagles.
In Week 2 last season with the Vikings, Cousins threw four touchdown passes and completed 31 of 44 attempts for 364 yards in a 34-28 loss at Philadelphia.
–Field Level Media
