Kirk Cousins had the Atlanta Falcons at 6-3 and had dominated the Tampa Bay Buccaneers twice. While it hadn’t all been pretty, he was a popular man in Atlanta and seemed to be putting early season struggles and his recovery from an Achilles injury behind him, even if his performances were a bit up-and-down. That big money deal was going to work out.
Five weeks later, the Falcons are 7-7, Cousins was mired in a stretch where he threw just one touchdown against nine interceptions and fumbled repeatedly, and the veteran quarterback is benched and on his way out of Atlanta.