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    • Kirk Cousins ​​​​defies skeptics, sparks Falcons comeback at last minute
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    Kirk Cousins ​​​​defies skeptics, sparks Falcons comeback at last minute

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    PHILADELPHIA – Smooth, confident, in control.

    That’s how Atlanta Falcons left tackle Jake Matthews described quarterback Kirk Cousins ​​during the team’s game-winning drive in the final two minutes of the team’s 22-21 comeback win over the Philadelphia Eagles on “Monday Night Football.”

    “He didn’t blink,” Matthews said.

    Cousins ​​pretended he was on the practice field.

    “You could tell he’d been there before,” said Matthews, an 11-year veteran who began his career blocking for Matt Ryan in Atlanta.

    It was still an unfamiliar outcome for Cousins ​​in familiar surroundings—he’s now faced the Eagles 12 times as a pro (7-5 ​​record), eight of them at Lincoln Financial Field. It was his 14th “MNF” game, and for a player with a less-than-stellar reputation in primetime, playing under the spotlight was another chance to show why he deserved $100 million in guarantees from the Falcons as a free agent this offseason despite coming off a torn Achilles tendon.

    Cousins ​​is now 4-1 in his last five “MNF” appearances. After a stroke of luck when Eagles running back Saquon Barkley dropped a wide-open third-down pass to give the Falcons 40 extra seconds to erase a six-point deficit, Cousins ​​drove the Falcons 70 yards in six plays. He hit wideout Drake London for a 7-yard touchdown that tied the game.

    “Kirk threw a great game,” said cornerback Darius Slay, who was beaten by London on a route to the front right cone for the crucial score. “You’ve got to take your hat off to him.”

    Younghoe Koo’s 48-yard extra point – the 15-yard penalty was a result of London’s unsportsmanlike conduct penalty – was the difference.

    “Straight composure,” London said of Cousins. “He knows what he’s doing. We trust him. Wherever he puts the ball, we’ve got to catch it.”

    Cousins ​​finished 20 of 29 with 241 passing yards and two touchdowns. Though he faced skepticism about whether he had fully recovered from his season-ending Achilles injury last year after taking nearly every snap out of shotgun or pistol formations in the Week 1 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers, Cousins ​​appeared comfortable moving around, taking snaps under center — including the first three of the game — and executing play-action.

    The game’s pivotal drive began at the Falcons’ 30-yard line with 1:39 remaining. Cousins ​​hit tight end Kyle Pitts for an 11-yard gain to open the series. He then connected with Darnell Mooney on nearly identical out routes down the left sideline for pickups of 21 and 26 yards, respectively. Three plays later, London was celebrating (too much).

    “It reminds you that you’re practicing, you’re doing the two-minute drill, everything’s clicking,” Matthews said. “It’s easier said than done, but to carry that over into the game, you make it go so smoothly, it’s a testament to how we prepared. We were ready for the moment.”

    Cousins ​​said coming from behind to face one of the toughest teams in the league builds determination and grit, and that “we’ve got to push further this year.”

    “That’s just the way it is in the NFL, you know, and we just have to get used to it and get comfortable with it because that’s the way these games go,” Cousins ​​said, “and the more we get tested and have those moments, the more prepared we’ll be for what’s ahead of us.”

    But winning on “MNF” meant nothing special to him.

    “I just try to play the best football I can, whether it’s a Sunday afternoon game or an evening game, whatever day of the week it is,” Cousins ​​said.

    Winning in the postseason is what matters, said head coach Raheem Morris, who recorded his first non-interim victory as head coach of the Falcons.

    “We’re a long way from that point,” Morris said. “We’ve got to go out here and try to put ourselves in a position to get into those competitive moments, where we can show those things. We haven’t shown that yet. We’ve shown it (in) we’ve shown that we can go into someone else’s stadium and win a game, and we’ve shown that we can win in two minutes, and that’s a big thing for us to find out.”

    At the team hotel Sunday night, Cousins ​​ran into Nick Foles — who was honored Monday for his Super Bowl heroics and his role as honorary captain of the team — and his parents. He hadn’t seen Foles’ parents since he and Foles were freshmen at Michigan State University in 2007.

    Thinking back over the past 17 years brought back many memories – and gratitude – for Cousins.

    “I was kind of reminded of it when he was honored tonight, and I said to him at the coin toss, ‘You know, it worked out.’ It worked out for both of us,” said Cousins ​​of Foles, who later transferred to the University of Arizona. “And so I was kind of thinking (Sunday night and Monday) about our travels.

    “So, playing here tonight brought back a lot of memories from my trip, and it was a nice way to win.”

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