Kirk Cousins Dramatically Alters Night with Late TD Drive

What They're Saying

Cousins to ESPN's Lisa Salters after the game: "I didn't feel like I was sharp enough today, accurate enough. I gotta be better. But that last drive hopefully can give us a boost going into next week. ... There's a lot of new, and it takes time. I was pleased with the way we finished tonight, but there's still so much to be better with.

2024 Fantasy Football Impact

Cousins was right. He spent most of the game looking like a player still knocking off rust and getting used to his new team. But he looked sharp on the final scoring drive and totaled 166 passing yards in the second half.

The Manning brothers and Matt Ryan agreed during the telecast that 2-minute drill can often be an easier time for the QB to operate because it strips the plan down to the most familiar routes and concepts. That certainly tracked with how Atlanta's pass offense operated in Week 2.

For the game, though, Cousins did avoid turnovers and took just one sack. He fumbled once, but Atlanta got it back. And there was at least one throw that probably should have been picked.

It was ultimately an improvement over his opener, though not enough to make Cousins an attractive fantasy starter for a Week 3 home date with Kansas City.

Atlanta follows that with home matchups with the Saints and Bucs before a visit to Carolina. So this stretch could tell us quite a bit about Cousins' fantasy viability the rest of the way.