• Among the best when the game is in the balance: Kirk Cousins has committed only one turnover-worthy play with 2 minutes or less to go in the fourth quarter all year.
• Close, late contests have allowed Cousins to thrive: In a game where the score differential is three points or fewer and no more than 60 seconds are left in the fourth quarter, Cousins’ 60.3 PFF passing grade ranks second in the NFL.
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Estimated Reading Time: 4 minutes
As the Atlanta Falcons stared down a 30-27 deficit with 1:21 remaining in their fifth game of the 2024 season, pressure was palpable. Atlanta’s defense had gotten the requisite stop against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers‘ offense, but no timeouts remained. With no margin for error, quarterback Kirk Cousins and company would need to pull off one more remarkable comeback in a high-octane divisional game.
Cousins grabbed his pixie dust and did just that, leading Atlanta 46 yards down the field and into kicker Younghoe Koo’s range to knot things up. And in overtime, the magic never stopped, as the quarterback completed three straight passes — including a 45-yard strike to KhaDarel Hodge that won the contest altogether.
In the early going of his first season in Atlanta, Cousins has already developed a penchant for late-game heroics. He’s led three game-winning drives (two in primetime, no less) after posting none all of last year. Quite frankly, all three have been inextricably linked in changing the narrative of Falcons football from a team that surrenders late leads to one that stakes them. And as PFF data asserts, there haven’t been many better quarterbacks this year in those fingernail-biting, close-game situations than Cousins.
With 1 minute or less remaining in a matchup, the Falcons’ new $180 million man has been excellent, especially relative to his peers. In a game where the score differential is three points or fewer and no more than 60 seconds are left in the fourth quarter, Cousins’ 60.3 PFF passing grade ranks second in the NFL. Similarly, his 66.0 passing grade places fourth when the scoreboard margin widens to seven points with no more than 1 minute left. Those numbers may seem low by conventional PFF grading standards, but they are actually very good given the difficulty of the context.
Kirk Cousins' 2024 PFF Game Grades
Cousins’ superhuman act hasn’t only manifested itself during the final minute of a game, either. The 36-year-old has also been terrific as the clock strikes the last 2-minute warning: Cousins’ passing grades when in a seven-point game or a three-point game and that little time left are both top-11 among all quarterbacks.
Particularly intriguing is that one can almost see the cape develop on Cousins as the fourth quarter endures. The signal-caller hasn’t been superb in the final frame of games — his 59.4 PFF passing grade sits only 19th — but he slots ninth among all quarterbacks in passing grade inside of 2 minutes, then fifth with only 1 minute left.
Maybe most impressive is that Cousins has committed just one turnover-worthy play with 2 minutes left in the fourth quarter all year, and none with only 1 minute to go. Unlike most of his peers in those circumstances, the Falcons star has had considerably more opportunities to make a mistake. Cousins’ 27 dropbacks inside of 2 minutes in the fourth quarter are the most in the NFL by nine, and his 18 inside of 1 minute to go are double that of second place.
Against the Buccaneers on Thursday Night Football, Cousins was exceptional all evening, especially as the spotlight magnified. In the fourth quarter, Cousins completed 11 of his 17 attempts for 101 yards and a touchdown, tossing a big-time throw but committing a turnover-worthy play (an interception on fourth-and-15 on a play that was already unlikely to be converted). His metrics in the fourth quarter and overtime culminated in an 83.5 passing grade, Cousins’ highest in his new uniform and best since tearing his Achilles last season.
It hasn’t all been perfect for the Falcons’ upstart offense this season, which has struggled to give its primary playmakers adequate reps and find regular rhythm. But what has worked rather consistently is Cousins thriving in a game’s most dire moments — a very encouraging signal for a hopeful playoff team that should only improve throughout the year.
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