Kurt, thanks for a TRULY objective look at Kirk, his abilities, and the offenses ability to work to his strengths. This was very insightful and shows that all of this doesn’t fall on Cousins.
As always, a very nuanced, fair, detailed and well thought out analysis. Once the decision was made to have Atlanta draft Penix, the benching of Cousins was a foregone conclusion. Cousins was undermined at every turn. Almost no play action. Being forced to run a formation, in the Pistol, that he'd never run before, the vast majority of the time. Almost never allowed to throw on 1st downs and only about 30%-40% on 2nd downs, in goal line situations (to suppress his touchdown passes), the offense routinely having to take their foot off of the gas, when they would get near the Red Zone. The play-calling was so vanilla and predictable (especially in the Red Zone), that it made preseason play-calling by other OCs, look innovative by comparison and the play-design, spacing and lack of separation by the receivers, was so bad, that it looked like there were 15 opposing defenders, to only 11 on Atlanta's offense. Also, the game plans, like leaving McGary 1-on-1, against Watt and then later using Pitts to help, when they signed an actual blocking tight end, in Woerner, were atrocious and indefensible, but I'm sure all of that will instantly change with Penix starting. All of a sudden, the play-calling, scheme and pass blocking will drastically improve, with receivers left wide open and the level of difficulty on reads and throws being ridiculously easy.
The Falcons did not give Kurt Cousins a front loaded $100 million in guarantees contract so that they could bench him before the end of the first season on that contract.
I don`t think it was a conspiracy, I just think it was a very poor job by the coaching staff and bad play calling/design. Also you can tell the last few weeks that Kurt is not driving the ball as good as he was in October I wonder if he aggravated that achilles.
A lot of excuses. Kirk historically does not provide much input into the offense. The offense was fine when they were 6-3 and he was throwing for 500 yards. Later half of the season, Falcons faced tougher defenses and Kirk struggled. Kirk is not the same guy physically and his confidence is now shot. That's why he was benched. It's not the scheme. Something happened to Kirk in that 2nd Saints game and its been downhill since. There is minimal velocity on his balls and he can't move quick enough for play action. Also his lack of mobility is why Bijan has to stay in for pass pro often. Stop blaming coaching for player's regression. This is the same guy that has less playoff wins than Blake Bortles.
@@Juganator Did you watch the video? Can't it be both cousins and the scheme? Especially as tape on the scheme accumulates throughout the season, the margin for error shrinks. I think not providing input to the offense as a veteran QB paid 100M simply shows that you don't care about winning at all costs, you're just there to do your job and get paid, hoping that a rookie OC gives you good plays, and if he doesn't then it's not your fault. That's not taking ownership for the success of your team.
So was the scheme working when Kirk was torching the Bucs for 500 yards and the team was 6-3? Sorry, but it's obvious Kirk's leg issues got exacerbated over the season, teams got film on how immobile he was and how predictable that made the offense, and then Kirk started pressing to make plays which led to some really awful decisions on his part. For example, most NFL teams run the ball close to 50% left or right. The Falcons? They run the ball close to 80% of the time to the right. Why would they do that? Because Kirk's leg is so bad that they don't want him pushing off from under center with his bad leg. He struggles to even make the hand off on outside zone. He literally missed a hand off in this game because the snap came out slightly high and he was too slow to get to Bijan. Because of Kirk's limitations the Falcons throw 90% of the time in shotgun, run 90% of the time when under center, and are running Pistol at an historic rate. The reason a lot of these plays Kurt is showing aren't open is because defenses know what the Falcons are running. They know Kirk is no threat with his legs, can't run boots, can't play action, and his arm will turn into a noodle if he isn't perfect with his mechanics. I've seen some folks in the media world wonder why Zac Robinson isn't running more play action. Kirk has always been a heavy play action guy, right? So why aren't you playing to his strengths? Because the dude literally can't do it. He can't get out from under center, fake the hand off, and then get deep into his drop and plant on that wrecked leg of his. Beyond that, his utter immobility means that defenses can do w/e the hell they want with bringing pressure. He's never escaping the pocket. In fact, what he does most nowadays is panic and fall down. Usually while fumbling the football once someone sneezes in his general direction. I just don't see how we're supposed to blame the offensive coordinator when he's got the millstone that is late-stage, post Achilles Kirk Cousins hanging around his neck. If not for excellent line play and Bijan this team might have 3 wins. The Falcons paid $100 mill for what they thought was a Rolls Royce and it ended up being a Ford Pinto. Kirk ain't the same guy he was back in Minnesota. Yeah, ZRob ain't KOC. He's a first year coordinator. Are there things he can work on and fix? Absolutely. Especially those awful jet sweeps on 3rd and short. But the problem in Atlanta has been Kirk Cousins. That's why he's going to be riding the bench Sunday. And I think people are going to be quite surprised how well this offense does with Penix. Just having a QB that can actually escape pressure and extend the plays a bit will be a huge boost.
I think you're exactly right. His physical limitations have really limited what they can run. After all that, if I see Penix in the pistol on Sunday, I'm going to lose it.
@SwoleFNR I know. Can't expect them to change the entire offense in a short week. Still, I'd settle for less. Please God let there be less. And play action from under center would be amazing.
@ i agree. But i watched like a 2 hr video of his season at Wash and their offense looked veerrrry similar to ZR’s. So he’s used to it and it’s already implemented i expect a heavy dose. Might get some RPOs added in there though.
I agree completely with what you said. It's hard to judge and offense and it's capabilities when the offense is having to be tailored to a quarterback's deficiencies. What someone has done in the past typically is a lot different after an injury. Kirk can't move very well at all. I also wonder if his mechanics are slightly different after the injury? You can't bear weight on the injured leg for about 3 months after the surgery. That leads to atrophy and maybe some weakness in that side. That may affect the velocity at which he's able to throw the ball. So I do believe that the offense was somewhat eclipse by what Kirk was able to do, not mentally, because I still believe he understands the game a football, but physically because of his limitations. I think that it may be a huge question mark for any other team that may want to pick him up. Also, if I see Michael just move outside the pocket tomorrow, I'll be happy!
Fantastic breakdown! It is surprising to me that these spacing issues were not addressed in training camp. Given that Raheem Morris emphasizes open communication and Zac Robinson is a first time coordinator, it seems that Kirk would have had plenty of opportunity to tell his receivers what leverage to play in certain situations, and to tell Zac that he just hates certain looks. To me this says kirk doesn't understand the nuances of route concept design in the way that older vets such as Brady, P Manning, Favre, and Warner did. If he understood, he would have addressed this over the summer. Also, playing in the preseason might have helped this because you get to see how your offense works against a greater variety of coverage shells. On the coaching side, I noticed that the second half offense was significantly worse. Given that Zac has a background in analytics it makes me think that he is paying too much attention to probabilities and not enough attention to what the defense is doing. I hope that in his second year he completely reevaluates his in game decision making apparatus.
The reason they were 6-3 and they can't be effective on offense now has to do with predictability. Zac Robinson hasn't adjusted. It took the league 9 games to figure out what he was doing and now there's a book on him. That feeds into these coverages. Yes, Kirk has played poorly, but this offensive scheme is a problem and a contributing factor
Simply fantastic! Thank you Kurt! Kirk Cousins is getting screwed in Atlanta by bad OC. Sux. Penix could possibly do better because of arm strength, but questionable.
Does Cousins often not move up in the pocket to give him some additional space & perhaps additional time to avoid the pressure and perhaps allow a receiver to come open? Some of these film replays looks like he stays back in a collapsing pocket to pressure that if he move up a little bit where space has been created since the initial wave of pressure would be behind him and it also appears he would at least have a better opportunity to throw the ball away rather than take a sack. Atlanta's O line simply can not hold of the pressure as a pass blocking unit.
Every QB in the league could use this excuse when they play bad even Desmond Ridder if that's the case. The problem is Kirk had so much more say so in this offense than any other QB would have because of who he is and the OC being new to the job. Zach Robinson always asked Kirk what he wanted to do during the game so there's no excuse honestly
How is it an excuse?? Quarterbacks aren't the only guys on offense. All eleven guys on offense plus the right play calls have to click. It seems that you don’t have a complete understanding of the concept of a team game.
Great breakdowns!! Poor designed routes are the real reason the offense is struggling! A subpar organization with subpar coaching. What a waste of great talent. So much potential. C'mon Atlanta...get yourselves a top OC to fix this!!
I wish the analysts at ESPN were as detailed and fair in their analysis. Kirk is absolutely getting railroaded when there is a lot of blame to go around from the OC to the o-line to the receivers running undisciplined routes.
Thanks for that 2nd great analysis of Falcon pass routes. They seem lacking. The other question though is, “Is Zac’s offensive scheme curtailed by what he knows are KC’s limitations this year due to the Achilles recovery?” If it is, then I would expect to see a significant improvement with Penix in this week. McFadden just predicted 4 TD passes in Penix’s debut. If the OC was being curtailed by KC, that’s the kind of explosive improvement I would expect. If it’s a one TD or one FG improvement on their 20 pt Game avg, I would think your theory of poor pass design - and of poor offensive scheme, in general - prevails.
Kurt, when starting in a new system should the QB conform to the system or should the coaching staff do what is comfortable for the QB. I see pros/cons in both. Just curious what you have seen happen more in your experience. Thanks.
Most offensive coordinators expect QB's to adapt to their system. The best OC's are divas which is why guys like Aaron Rogers end up adopting that mentality also.
I think if you get a QB you have to at least have some things that they are really good at… every coach has things they really like or have had success with so you have to find the balance, but always have to make sure the QB is comfortable enough with it to execute at a high level!
@@kurtwarnerqbc The best thing for Cousins' career, at this point, would be for him to be released and go to San Francisco or Miami and compete for a starting spot or go back to Minnesota (if they don't keep Darnold or McCarthy isn't ready), making league minimum. Unless Shanahan or McDaniel wind up coaching on different teams or someone like Klint Kubiak winds up getting a head coaching job, with the Jets and Rodgers retires. A very fluid situation to be sure!
I have heard stories that a lot of successful vet QBs are very vocal about which plays/concepts they like, and how they want their receivers to attack. After watching the video it seems like Cousins biggest failure was that he didn't address these issues over the summer. I understand it's Zac's job, but I honestly expect this kind of input from an expensive immobile vet. You aren't getting paid that much just to make the right throws on Sunday. You also have a responsibility as a problem solver during the week and in preseason, making sure that you have a plan that you are comfortable with. That's what separates Tom Brady for Kirk Cousins. Taking responsibility for team excellence.
Can it be both? We're going to blame 9 interceptions on play calling and not bad decision making or bad pal placement. This is what happened in Minnesota, people continue to take the blame off of Kirk, instead of just saying he's playing bad. Just because playmaking is bad doesn't mean he had to throw interceptions or fumble the football
@junt22 they didn't blame him but he's not worth 50 million dollars. He hasn't won anything. He won one playoff game in 6 years there and didn't even make the playoffs with a team that went to the NFC championship game the year before. Kirk does just enough to not get blamed for anything. Not the reason you lose but not the reason you win enough either. He had everything his first year with O'Connell and threw it short of the sticks on 4th and 8
@sabishiihito HOF QBs can gaslight people, too. We all saw the weak throws and the statue in the pocket. A HOF QB can't make me see differently. Plus, I'm 💯 sure the coaching staff has an entirely different take on the same film.
I appreciate the analysis, however, I would have liked to see analysis of the previous four games as well. The decision to bench cousins was not just based on this game.
11:00 The epitome of the season of what Kirk usually saw. "Cluttered", if I could use one word. So is this poor route running, poor WR coach, or ultimately the OC? I know Zac is first ever play caller, but this stuff reminds me of drawing in the dirt for pick up Sundays.
Great analysis. It reveals that the biggest problem Cousins had in this game is that his receivers just weren't open. In addition to the route schemes demanding too much time from Kirk (time he almost never has given the pass rush), we're seeing some pretty lazy route-running here. For example, at 11:29, where Mooney is running a stop route on the left, he never really tries to sell the go route. I'm 76, and I could have covered Mooney on that play. So we don't really know whether Cousins threw a bad ball way too wide for Mooney to catch it, or whether he saw the tight coverage and threw the ball away.
What confuses me about this whole thing is that if THIS was the scheme they were going to run why pay Kirk??? A guy who historically has NOT been good at making the types of throws they were asking of him this season…
Pure and simple … Kurt was a statue ..not his fault .. he was injured… you can’t run an offense around a QB that couldn’t even step up in a pocket … ever play the offense simple played run on the way to a spot … Kurt couldn’t move off that spot…. Luckily the falcons runs the ball really well . PENIX is absolutely going to be an upgrade if he just does his job … No way that 4-5 game stretch was on the OC or the offense.. it was purely Kurt’s ability
I agree. After watching him with the Vikes over the years he doesn’t seem to have the same zip on the ball. Maybe next year he’ll get more push off that Achilles.
There was a before week 10, and after week 10. You don't go from regaining zip and confidence one week, to nothing the next week without injury. I don't think it was just his achilles either, that shoulder/elbow injury. Kirk ain't done yet, he did better and worse than I ever thought this season in an offense designed and run for Penix, coming back from major injury. He'll have his choice of teams next season, "paid for by Falcons".
Look, your videos are nice and insightful. I feel like I always learn something about the game. But, you seem to always defend people being blamed for teams not performing. You did it with OC for Bills, and you are doing it here with Cousins. I mean, sure the scheme might not be perfect. But dude, it's super obvious that he's not playing well right now. He sails passes over or short of receivers. He throws interception when our guys are simply not open. He seems to be unable to move in the pocket and buy just a little time. And I think we can all agree that the offense with Penix looked FAR more fluid this Sunday..
Alot of the plays look like Zac was doing alot of plays to clear out the underneath for Kirk to get the underneath throws. Confirms to me that Zac was handicapped with how much of the playbook he could use. Look like he was trying to make it easy for Kirk to get quick throws out
actually they didn't use the middle of the field much lately, which is where they were successful. everything can't be run the ball and then bombs away
This is why Tom Brady is the best QB of all-time. I don’t doubt that the OC is growing into his role but when you have QB’s that don’t take control of the scheme and adapt to his strengths then we end up in a situation where fingers are being pointed. Brady went to Tampa with a new HC and Coordinator and took the reigns completely out of Bruce Arians hands and won the Super Bowl in his first year. Not saying Kirk should be that guy, but Jordan and Brady taught me that the GOAT’s don’t go into a new scheme just to take orders. There needs to be communication on both sides to tinker the scheme to be the best fit.
I think you are right, I love Kirk, huge fan and huge supporter. Wish he had a little more asshole in him at times, Robinson play calling g has been horrendous, he should have overruled Robinson more or called more of his own plays
You really think Leftwich was getting paid to do nothing in Tampa? People need to stop this foolishness thinking a QB is taking full control of the offense. QB isn't making route trees, or making run schemes, or making personnel packages 🤣
This analysis doesn't take in account that both the Falcons have been forced to fit their play calling around Kirk Cousins deficiencies, and defenses are challenging those deficiencies. Since Kirk is not throwing the vertical routes, they are calling less vertical routes in the progression, and defenses are playing aggressive on the shorter routes ran by WRs. Their pass rate over expectation and personnel usage shows that. You can even look back to weeks 1-4 on the route combinations ran vs. the route combinations over the last 6 games and it looks like a different scheme.
They're not FORCED to call bad plays that fail to put Cousins in a position to succeed. One might even argue that a good coach calls plays that allow his players to succeed rather than put them in a position to fail.
The Raiders game isn’t a good game to judge this offense on, it’s already been reported they’ve scaled it back to prevent Kirk from turning the ball over. Not saying the scheme is perfect but it was limited by Kirk. I would judge it by the use of Penix these next 3 games
Ok. So the scheme is the problem. Ok point taken. So why wasn't the "scheme" the problem when we were 6 - 3? The scheme can't be both the reason when he was looking good and also be the reason when he's looking bad. What changed?
I'm not buying it. Granted, there seems to be pressure on every play, but the defense is squeezing down because they don't think Kirk can attack downfield. You can make all the excuses you want, but Kirk, clearly, was immobile and was not making good throws.
Why would u call deeper route concepts as a coordinator, if u watch your old/struggling QB at practice not being able to make the throws. Sorry I cant blame an OC for 16Ints and 13Fumbles
Kirk cousin's will come back and torch us if we trade him Class act great qb Its not all his fault Run your routes correctly and catch the dam ball As always the birds throw it away and move on to whatever they can too soon There are NO shortcuts
Can’t wait for your Penix analysis!
Excellent analysis, Kurt. I appreciate the insight.
Appreciate your insight, Kurt. 👍
Kurt, thanks for a TRULY objective look at Kirk, his abilities, and the offenses ability to work to his strengths. This was very insightful and shows that all of this doesn’t fall on Cousins.
As always, a very nuanced, fair, detailed and well thought out analysis. Once the decision was made to have Atlanta draft Penix, the benching of Cousins was a foregone conclusion. Cousins was undermined at every turn. Almost no play action. Being forced to run a formation, in the Pistol, that he'd never run before, the vast majority of the time. Almost never allowed to throw on 1st downs and only about 30%-40% on 2nd downs, in goal line situations (to suppress his touchdown passes), the offense routinely having to take their foot off of the gas, when they would get near the Red Zone.
The play-calling was so vanilla and predictable (especially in the Red Zone), that it made preseason play-calling by other OCs, look innovative by comparison and the play-design, spacing and lack of separation by the receivers, was so bad, that it looked like there were 15 opposing defenders, to only 11 on Atlanta's offense. Also, the game plans, like leaving McGary 1-on-1, against Watt and then later using Pitts to help, when they signed an actual blocking tight end, in Woerner, were atrocious and indefensible, but I'm sure all of that will instantly change with Penix starting. All of a sudden, the play-calling, scheme and pass blocking will drastically improve, with receivers left wide open and the level of difficulty on reads and throws being ridiculously easy.
The Falcons did not give Kurt Cousins a front loaded $100 million in guarantees contract so that they could bench him before the end of the first season on that contract.
I don`t think it was a conspiracy, I just think it was a very poor job by the coaching staff and bad play calling/design. Also you can tell the last few weeks that Kurt is not driving the ball as good as he was in October I wonder if he aggravated that achilles.
A lot of excuses. Kirk historically does not provide much input into the offense. The offense was fine when they were 6-3 and he was throwing for 500 yards. Later half of the season, Falcons faced tougher defenses and Kirk struggled. Kirk is not the same guy physically and his confidence is now shot. That's why he was benched. It's not the scheme. Something happened to Kirk in that 2nd Saints game and its been downhill since. There is minimal velocity on his balls and he can't move quick enough for play action. Also his lack of mobility is why Bijan has to stay in for pass pro often.
Stop blaming coaching for player's regression. This is the same guy that has less playoff wins than Blake Bortles.
That would be evil 👿
@@Juganator Did you watch the video? Can't it be both cousins and the scheme? Especially as tape on the scheme accumulates throughout the season, the margin for error shrinks. I think not providing input to the offense as a veteran QB paid 100M simply shows that you don't care about winning at all costs, you're just there to do your job and get paid, hoping that a rookie OC gives you good plays, and if he doesn't then it's not your fault. That's not taking ownership for the success of your team.
So was the scheme working when Kirk was torching the Bucs for 500 yards and the team was 6-3? Sorry, but it's obvious Kirk's leg issues got exacerbated over the season, teams got film on how immobile he was and how predictable that made the offense, and then Kirk started pressing to make plays which led to some really awful decisions on his part.
For example, most NFL teams run the ball close to 50% left or right. The Falcons? They run the ball close to 80% of the time to the right. Why would they do that? Because Kirk's leg is so bad that they don't want him pushing off from under center with his bad leg. He struggles to even make the hand off on outside zone. He literally missed a hand off in this game because the snap came out slightly high and he was too slow to get to Bijan. Because of Kirk's limitations the Falcons throw 90% of the time in shotgun, run 90% of the time when under center, and are running Pistol at an historic rate. The reason a lot of these plays Kurt is showing aren't open is because defenses know what the Falcons are running. They know Kirk is no threat with his legs, can't run boots, can't play action, and his arm will turn into a noodle if he isn't perfect with his mechanics.
I've seen some folks in the media world wonder why Zac Robinson isn't running more play action. Kirk has always been a heavy play action guy, right? So why aren't you playing to his strengths? Because the dude literally can't do it. He can't get out from under center, fake the hand off, and then get deep into his drop and plant on that wrecked leg of his.
Beyond that, his utter immobility means that defenses can do w/e the hell they want with bringing pressure. He's never escaping the pocket. In fact, what he does most nowadays is panic and fall down. Usually while fumbling the football once someone sneezes in his general direction.
I just don't see how we're supposed to blame the offensive coordinator when he's got the millstone that is late-stage, post Achilles Kirk Cousins hanging around his neck. If not for excellent line play and Bijan this team might have 3 wins. The Falcons paid $100 mill for what they thought was a Rolls Royce and it ended up being a Ford Pinto. Kirk ain't the same guy he was back in Minnesota. Yeah, ZRob ain't KOC. He's a first year coordinator. Are there things he can work on and fix? Absolutely. Especially those awful jet sweeps on 3rd and short. But the problem in Atlanta has been Kirk Cousins. That's why he's going to be riding the bench Sunday. And I think people are going to be quite surprised how well this offense does with Penix. Just having a QB that can actually escape pressure and extend the plays a bit will be a huge boost.
I think you're exactly right. His physical limitations have really limited what they can run.
After all that, if I see Penix in the pistol on Sunday, I'm going to lose it.
@@JaRW7he will DEFINITELY be in pistol. A lot too. 🤷🏾♂️
@SwoleFNR I know. Can't expect them to change the entire offense in a short week. Still, I'd settle for less. Please God let there be less. And play action from under center would be amazing.
@ i agree. But i watched like a 2 hr video of his season at Wash and their offense looked veerrrry similar to ZR’s. So he’s used to it and it’s already implemented i expect a heavy dose. Might get some RPOs added in there though.
I agree completely with what you said. It's hard to judge and offense and it's capabilities when the offense is having to be tailored to a quarterback's deficiencies. What someone has done in the past typically is a lot different after an injury. Kirk can't move very well at all. I also wonder if his mechanics are slightly different after the injury? You can't bear weight on the injured leg for about 3 months after the surgery. That leads to atrophy and maybe some weakness in that side. That may affect the velocity at which he's able to throw the ball. So I do believe that the offense was somewhat eclipse by what Kirk was able to do, not mentally, because I still believe he understands the game a football, but physically because of his limitations. I think that it may be a huge question mark for any other team that may want to pick him up. Also, if I see Michael just move outside the pocket tomorrow, I'll be happy!
Fantastic breakdown! It is surprising to me that these spacing issues were not addressed in training camp. Given that Raheem Morris emphasizes open communication and Zac Robinson is a first time coordinator, it seems that Kirk would have had plenty of opportunity to tell his receivers what leverage to play in certain situations, and to tell Zac that he just hates certain looks. To me this says kirk doesn't understand the nuances of route concept design in the way that older vets such as Brady, P Manning, Favre, and Warner did. If he understood, he would have addressed this over the summer. Also, playing in the preseason might have helped this because you get to see how your offense works against a greater variety of coverage shells.
On the coaching side, I noticed that the second half offense was significantly worse. Given that Zac has a background in analytics it makes me think that he is paying too much attention to probabilities and not enough attention to what the defense is doing. I hope that in his second year he completely reevaluates his in game decision making apparatus.
It really sucks to see Kirk go so soon but I’m definitely ready to see what mpx has
I knew the scheme was subpar but this confirms it.
Watch what penix do wit this scheme
and thats why he was balling out. had 6 3 record. yeah ok buddy.
The scheme is what Kirk can do for now . Probably 1/3 of the offense of Zack. No mobility plays.
@@jamesabc372 Acting like Kirk can't run a single play action is absurd
The reason they were 6-3 and they can't be effective on offense now has to do with predictability. Zac Robinson hasn't adjusted. It took the league 9 games to figure out what he was doing and now there's a book on him. That feeds into these coverages. Yes, Kirk has played poorly, but this offensive scheme is a problem and a contributing factor
Simply fantastic! Thank you Kurt! Kirk Cousins is getting screwed in Atlanta by bad OC. Sux. Penix could possibly do better because of arm strength, but questionable.
Does Cousins often not move up in the pocket to give him some additional space & perhaps additional time to avoid the pressure and perhaps allow a receiver to come open? Some of these film replays looks like he stays back in a collapsing pocket to pressure that if he move up a little bit where space has been created since the initial wave of pressure would be behind him and it also appears he would at least have a better opportunity to throw the ball away rather than take a sack. Atlanta's O line simply can not hold of the pressure as a pass blocking unit.
@26:28 Ray Ray is wide open
Every QB in the league could use this excuse when they play bad even Desmond Ridder if that's the case. The problem is Kirk had so much more say so in this offense than any other QB would have because of who he is and the OC being new to the job. Zach Robinson always asked Kirk what he wanted to do during the game so there's no excuse honestly
How is it an excuse?? Quarterbacks aren't the only guys on offense. All eleven guys on offense plus the right play calls have to click. It seems that you don’t have a complete understanding of the concept of a team game.
This offense was made for Penix...they tried to put a square peg in a round hole
Great breakdowns!! Poor designed routes are the real reason the offense is struggling! A subpar organization with subpar coaching. What a waste of great talent. So much potential. C'mon Atlanta...get yourselves a top OC to fix this!!
Not if receivers' are not open.
the reason the receivers are not open is poorly designed routes by the OC. @@Paula-mv8im
Can't believe Warner isn't an offensive coordinator somewhere
I wish the analysts at ESPN were as detailed and fair in their analysis. Kirk is absolutely getting railroaded when there is a lot of blame to go around from the OC to the o-line to the receivers running undisciplined routes.
Thanks for that 2nd great analysis of Falcon pass routes. They seem lacking. The other question though is, “Is Zac’s offensive scheme curtailed by what he knows are KC’s limitations this year due to the Achilles recovery?”
If it is, then I would expect to see a significant improvement with Penix in this week. McFadden just predicted 4 TD passes in Penix’s debut. If the OC was being curtailed by KC, that’s the kind of explosive improvement I would expect. If it’s a one TD or one FG improvement on their 20 pt Game avg, I would think your theory of poor pass design - and of poor offensive scheme, in general - prevails.
So in other words Kirk's getting screwed by the Falcon's coaching. I'm sure an inexperienced rookie QB will do very well with this😂
Kurt, when starting in a new system should the QB conform to the system or should the coaching staff do what is comfortable for the QB. I see pros/cons in both. Just curious what you have seen happen more in your experience. Thanks.
Most offensive coordinators expect QB's to adapt to their system. The best OC's are divas which is why guys like Aaron Rogers end up adopting that mentality also.
I think if you get a QB you have to at least have some things that they are really good at… every coach has things they really like or have had success with so you have to find the balance, but always have to make sure the QB is comfortable enough with it to execute at a high level!
@ Thank you for the reply! I truly appreciate your time
@@kurtwarnerqbc The best thing for Cousins' career, at this point, would be for him to be released and go to San Francisco or Miami and compete for a starting spot or go back to Minnesota (if they don't keep Darnold or McCarthy isn't ready), making league minimum. Unless Shanahan or McDaniel wind up coaching on different teams or someone like Klint Kubiak winds up getting a head coaching job, with the Jets and Rodgers retires. A very fluid situation to be sure!
I have heard stories that a lot of successful vet QBs are very vocal about which plays/concepts they like, and how they want their receivers to attack. After watching the video it seems like Cousins biggest failure was that he didn't address these issues over the summer. I understand it's Zac's job, but I honestly expect this kind of input from an expensive immobile vet. You aren't getting paid that much just to make the right throws on Sunday. You also have a responsibility as a problem solver during the week and in preseason, making sure that you have a plan that you are comfortable with. That's what separates Tom Brady for Kirk Cousins. Taking responsibility for team excellence.
Can it be both? We're going to blame 9 interceptions on play calling and not bad decision making or bad pal placement.
This is what happened in Minnesota, people continue to take the blame off of Kirk, instead of just saying he's playing bad. Just because playmaking is bad doesn't mean he had to throw interceptions or fumble the football
@junt22 they didn't blame him but he's not worth 50 million dollars. He hasn't won anything. He won one playoff game in 6 years there and didn't even make the playoffs with a team that went to the NFC championship game the year before. Kirk does just enough to not get blamed for anything. Not the reason you lose but not the reason you win enough either. He had everything his first year with O'Connell and threw it short of the sticks on 4th and 8
You really going to argue with a HoF QB's take?? When did you get drafted into the NFL?
@@sabishiihito yeah because there are other hall of famers who say he's playing bad
@sabishiihito
HOF QBs can gaslight people, too. We all saw the weak throws and the statue in the pocket. A HOF QB can't make me see differently. Plus, I'm 💯 sure the coaching staff has an entirely different take on the same film.
Just concede you were scared after week 9, then we'll leave you alone when Sam get's bounced in the first round.
Very good 👍 according to this Penix will also struggle 🤷♂️ in a poor scheme like you outlined would a stronger arm be useful ? More zip on the ball ?
Kirk is cooked he couldn’t even hand the ball off right
Kurt explained everything except how Kirk is a statue and one dimensional lol. No scheme will work for a goal post in today's NFL
So there so reason why Penix could go out and throw TDs instead of INTs? 🙄 these do sound like excuses!
I appreciate the analysis, however, I would have liked to see analysis of the previous four games as well. The decision to bench cousins was not just based on this game.
11:00 The epitome of the season of what Kirk usually saw. "Cluttered", if I could use one word. So is this poor route running, poor WR coach, or ultimately the OC? I know Zac is first ever play caller, but this stuff reminds me of drawing in the dirt for pick up Sundays.
Great analysis. It reveals that the biggest problem Cousins had in this game is that his receivers just weren't open. In addition to the route schemes demanding too much time from Kirk (time he almost never has given the pass rush), we're seeing some pretty lazy route-running here. For example, at 11:29, where Mooney is running a stop route on the left, he never really tries to sell the go route. I'm 76, and I could have covered Mooney on that play. So we don't really know whether Cousins threw a bad ball way too wide for Mooney to catch it, or whether he saw the tight coverage and threw the ball away.
What confuses me about this whole thing is that if THIS was the scheme they were going to run why pay Kirk??? A guy who historically has NOT been good at making the types of throws they were asking of him this season…
If Penix works out, owners will see it as essentially cutting two years off his rookie contract.
I agree that scheme was not suited for him but I honestly think kirk is still injured which is why he has been running more pistol.
Penix will struggle even worse
TH-cam has more annoying ads than broadcast television
Been saying it all the while this playbook doesn't work for Kirk. The pistol formation and the routes are trash
If Penix is successful in the same scheme it will prove what the problem is. Oline/scheme or qb
Yep, if Penix does better than this, it can't really be the fault of the scheme.
Exactly... Well said 💯 %
It will likely prove they were running the offense for Penix, all along.
Merry Christmas, everyone. Jesus Christ is Lord!
Pure and simple … Kurt was a statue ..not his fault .. he was injured… you can’t run an offense around a QB that couldn’t even step up in a pocket … ever play the offense simple played run on the way to a spot … Kurt couldn’t move off that spot…. Luckily the falcons runs the ball really well . PENIX is absolutely going to be an upgrade if he just does his job …
No way that 4-5 game stretch was on the OC or the offense.. it was purely Kurt’s ability
I think part of it is kirk cannot drive the ball like he used to. He is a great qb. But perhaps its time.
I agree. After watching him with the Vikes over the years he doesn’t seem to have the same zip on the ball. Maybe next year he’ll get more push off that Achilles.
There was a before week 10, and after week 10. You don't go from regaining zip and confidence one week, to nothing the next week without injury. I don't think it was just his achilles either, that shoulder/elbow injury. Kirk ain't done yet, he did better and worse than I ever thought this season in an offense designed and run for Penix, coming back from major injury. He'll have his choice of teams next season, "paid for by Falcons".
Hey kurt. So i guess zac Robinson didn’t learn anything in 5 years under sean mcvay. Looking at film scheme is the most to blame
Look, your videos are nice and insightful. I feel like I always learn something about the game. But, you seem to always defend people being blamed for teams not performing. You did it with OC for Bills, and you are doing it here with Cousins.
I mean, sure the scheme might not be perfect. But dude, it's super obvious that he's not playing well right now. He sails passes over or short of receivers. He throws interception when our guys are simply not open. He seems to be unable to move in the pocket and buy just a little time. And I think we can all agree that the offense with Penix looked FAR more fluid this Sunday..
Alot of the plays look like Zac was doing alot of plays to clear out the underneath for Kirk to get the underneath throws. Confirms to me that Zac was handicapped with how much of the playbook he could use. Look like he was trying to make it easy for Kirk to get quick throws out
actually they didn't use the middle of the field much lately, which is where they were successful. everything can't be run the ball and then bombs away
This is why Tom Brady is the best QB of all-time. I don’t doubt that the OC is growing into his role but when you have QB’s that don’t take control of the scheme and adapt to his strengths then we end up in a situation where fingers are being pointed.
Brady went to Tampa with a new HC and Coordinator and took the reigns completely out of Bruce Arians hands and won the Super Bowl in his first year.
Not saying Kirk should be that guy, but Jordan and Brady taught me that the GOAT’s don’t go into a new scheme just to take orders. There needs to be communication on both sides to tinker the scheme to be the best fit.
I think you are right, I love Kirk, huge fan and huge supporter. Wish he had a little more asshole in him at times, Robinson play calling g has been horrendous, he should have overruled Robinson more or called more of his own plays
You really think Leftwich was getting paid to do nothing in Tampa? People need to stop this foolishness thinking a QB is taking full control of the offense. QB isn't making route trees, or making run schemes, or making personnel packages 🤣
This was the same muddied up offensive looks when Arthur Smith was head coach. So, who's pushing these crapy offensive play calls?
Great job Kurt! Atlanta needs you to run their offense.
bonehead pitts 19:00
This analysis doesn't take in account that both the Falcons have been forced to fit their play calling around Kirk Cousins deficiencies, and defenses are challenging those deficiencies. Since Kirk is not throwing the vertical routes, they are calling less vertical routes in the progression, and defenses are playing aggressive on the shorter routes ran by WRs.
Their pass rate over expectation and personnel usage shows that. You can even look back to weeks 1-4 on the route combinations ran vs. the route combinations over the last 6 games and it looks like a different scheme.
They're not FORCED to call bad plays that fail to put Cousins in a position to succeed. One might even argue that a good coach calls plays that allow his players to succeed rather than put them in a position to fail.
The Raiders game isn’t a good game to judge this offense on, it’s already been reported they’ve scaled it back to prevent Kirk from turning the ball over. Not saying the scheme is perfect but it was limited by Kirk. I would judge it by the use of Penix these next 3 games
Ok. So the scheme is the problem. Ok point taken. So why wasn't the "scheme" the problem when we were 6 - 3? The scheme can't be both the reason when he was looking good and also be the reason when he's looking bad. What changed?
I'm not buying it. Granted, there seems to be pressure on every play, but the defense is squeezing down because they don't think Kirk can attack downfield. You can make all the excuses you want, but Kirk, clearly, was immobile and was not making good throws.
Why would u call deeper route concepts as a coordinator, if u watch your old/struggling QB at practice not being able to make the throws. Sorry I cant blame an OC for 16Ints and 13Fumbles
I blame Justin Jefferson... 😅He definitely made Kirk's job quite a bit easier than it is now.
Yeah...he'd adjust his routes to help out his QB and would catch the damn ball.
All of what he is saying is dumb because how was he lighting it up at the beginning of the season and now he’s ass it makes no sense
Kirk sucks and hes done robbing franchises
Kirk cousin's will come back and torch us if we trade him
Class act great qb
Its not all his fault
Run your routes correctly and catch the dam ball
As always the birds throw it away and move on to whatever they can too soon
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