Kirk Cousins on Falcons’ thrilling OT win over Bucs: ‘I got home at 2:30 a.m.’

Cousins joined Colin Cowherd on Friday’s edition of “The Herd” to provide insight into Atlanta’s big win and how he and his teammates celebrated the win that moved them to 3-2 on the season and to first place in the NFC South.

“I got home last night about 2:30 in the morning,” Cousins said with a laugh. “It was a long but fun evening. Now we have a long weekend to rest, and then I will be hoisted onto my couch while everyone else plays football.”

Cousins finished the game with 509 passing yards, four passing touchdowns, one interception and a 114.8 passer rating while completing 72.4% of his passes. Atlanta took over at its own 20-yard line with 1:14 remaining in the fourth quarter and no timeouts. After the Falcons spiked the ball with one second left, they got into position for kicker Younghoe Koo to attempt the tying 52-yard field goal as time expired. Koo sent things to overtime – and Atlanta had the upper hand.

Cousins broke his mindset on that last-ditch drive in the fourth quarter.

“You trust your training and you go back to your process,” he said. “When Koo is the kicker, you know you have some grace on how far you have to go to get that field goal. We’re pretty well coached in those situations where the ball has to be out of bounds or into the end zone and when we have to clock, so that was well executed.

“The referees have gotten a lot better at getting people to clock the ball quickly. I think maybe two or three years ago the referee took too long and we wouldn’t have had any chance. Kudos to them for their kindness to have that dialed in where he just touches the ball, allowing us to operate quickly.”

Kirk Cousins goes through the Falcons’ two-minute drill

Cousins has totaled 1,373 passing yards, eight passing touchdowns, five interceptions and a 93.7 passer rating this season while completing 67.2% of his passes. Cousins signed a four-year, $180 million deal ($100 million guaranteed) with Atlanta in March after his 2023 campaign with Minnesota was cut short after eight games due to a torn Achilles tendon.

Cousins, 36, explained how he is feeling increasingly comfortable after the injury as the season progresses.

“It had less to do with the Achilles… (and) more to do with the fact that I hadn’t played since Week 8 of last year,” Cousins said. “I had been wearing a red jersey in training all those months and I didn’t play a preseason game. There was just a lot of simulated things that weren’t real. To be back in the fire for the first time I think the last few weeks have been an improvement every week, and I think we took a big step forward last night.

“The challenge now is, can we continue to maintain that standard as we move forward? I felt a different level of anticipation and playing fast last night – that’s kind of my old self again. I felt like we were on our way there.” , but we hadn’t really closed the gap it felt until last night.”

Cousins, a 13-year NFL veteran, also said he enjoys playing with Atlanta’s young offensive playmakers, including running back Bijan Robinson (22 years old), wide receiver Drake London (23) and tight end Kyle Pitts (23) .

Atlanta opened the regular season with an 18-10 loss at home to Pittsburgh, which did not score a touchdown. The Falcons then defeated Philadelphia on the road to take a 22-21 lead with 34 seconds left in the fourth quarter. After a 22-17 loss at home to Kansas City, in which the Falcons turned the ball over on downs at the Chiefs’ 16-yard line with 51 seconds left in the fourth quarter, Atlanta defeated rival New Orleans, with Koo making a go- go made. ahead, 58-yard field goal with two seconds left in the fourth quarter.

Cousins & Co. has a challenge against division rival Carolina in Week 6 (4:25 p.m. ET on FOX and the FOX Sports app).

TO FOLLOW Follow your favorites to personalize your FOX Sports experience

(Want great stories straight to your inbox? Create or log in to your FOX Sports account, follow competitions, teams and players and receive a personalized daily newsletter.)

TO FOLLOW Follow your favorites to personalize your FOX Sports experience