ATLANTA — With their leading receiver out of the lineup, the Atlanta Falcons were going to need a little extra help from backup quarterback Kirk Cousins against the Miami Dolphins.
They didn’t get it.
The 37-year-old Cousins, who filled in for the injured Michael Penix Jr. after the Falcons announced earlier in the day that the second-year pro had been ruled out due to injury, was at the controls for a brutal offensive performance by the home team Sunday afternoon at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
Atlanta totaled 213 yards and fell to 3-4 with a 34-10 loss to the Dolphins (2-6), who snapped a three-game skid as Miami quarterback Tua Tagovailoa came out of a funk by throwing a season-high four touchdown passes after being picked off three times in in each of his past two games.
Atlanta’s lone touchdown came while trailing 34-3 with just more than five minutes left in a nearly empty stadium — which might have been just as well, considering the Falcons were booed on their way to the locker room at halftime.
“It was not one thing,” said Cousins, who was 21-of-31 passing for 173 yards, 76 of which came in the fourth quarter. “You just feel like there were a lot of different phases that just weren’t consistently good enough. You have to stack plays together. And I felt like we we didn’t stack plays together to be able to put a drive together to go down the field and get points.”
Drake London, the Falcons’ top target out wide in the passing game, was a late-week scratch with a hip injury, and the decision to sit Penix was also made late in the week. Falcons coach Raheem Morris had thought the starting quarterback would be ready to go Wednesday after he practiced with a bone bruise to his left knee after getting hurt during a 20-10 road loss to the San Francisco 49ers last weekend.
The team held off announcing a decision until Sunday to give Penix a chance to heal, but Morris said Cousins, a four-time Pro Bowl selection who has been a starter for most of his 14-year NFL career, had plenty of first-team snaps during the week.
“It’s tough to discuss anybody’s play when you go out and play that way,” Atlanta’s second-year head coach said in reference to the team’s performance as a whole. “It was bad across the board, and it starts with us, and it’s something that we’ve got to fix all together, and we’ve got to go get those things done this week.”
Cousins led the Falcons to a field goal on their second possession that cut the Dolphins’ lead to 7-3, a 43-yard drive that was highlighted by a 24-yard completion to tight end Kyle Pitts, whose game-high nine catches totaled 59 yards.
The other seven drives before Atlanta’s lone touchdown resulted in four punts, two failed fourth-down conversion attempts and a fumble in the end zone by running back Bijan Robinson, who finished with nine carries for 25 yards and three catches for 23 yards. Robinson has a combined 140 offensive yards on 32 touches (an average of 4.3) in the two games since totaling 238 on 25 (9.52) in Atlanta’s 24-14 home win against the Buffalo Bills on Oct. 13.
The Dolphins outgained the Falcons 141-45 in rushing yardage.
“We were trying to keep them one-dimensional,” Miami coach Mike McDaniel said, adding that defensive game plan was set before he knew Cousins would start. “It was a priority regardless of the quarterback.”
It was Cousins’ first start since Atlanta visited the Las Vegas Raiders last Dec. 16, a game the Falcons won 15-9 despite Cousins finishing 11-for-17 for 117 yards with a touchdown and an interception that night. Penix, the No. 8 overall pick of last year’s draft, took over for the Falcons’ final three games last season and remained on top of the depth chart heading into this year.
“Certainly, the final result, no one can say it was great,” Cousins said. “But I felt comfortable in terms of feeling the rush and recognizing coverages and making quick decisions. Managing the game felt comfortable.”
Penix is still considered day to day, meaning Cousins will enter another game week uncertain about whether he will be the starter. Atlanta visits the New England Patriots (6-2) next Sunday.
“Pretty similar to every other week,” Cousins said. “In everything you do, you are thinking about, ‘If I’m going to go, how do I get ready for this? How do I do this?’ And then you just react to what ends up happening.”
Cousins appeared to have miscommunications with receivers on two passes, one intended for Darnell Mooney and another for David Sills V. Both plays were on third down and ended drives.
“We certainly have to be better than we were today,” Cousins said. “And, you know, those are the things we have to do the second half of this season. As we go back tomorrow and watch the tape and talk about it, we’ve got to kind of work through all that.”
While the Falcons were without their starting quarterback, the Dolphins played on with Tagovailoa, who was added to the injury report before the game with an illness but showed no signs of being limited as he finished 20-of-26 for 205 yards with touchdowns to De’Von Achane, Ollie Gordon II, Malik Washington and Jaylen Waddle.
It was especially impressive after he woke up with with his left eye swollen shut, putting his status for the game in question.
“Probably one of the worst experiences I’ve had in terms of waking up and having that on a game day,” said Tagovailoa, who explained the team’s medical staff addressed the issue with antibiotics and he wore a visor on his helmet for more protection.
“It was different,” Tagovailoa said. “I can’t remember the last time I played with a visor outside of high school.”
Miami’s coaches and players have little time to get ready for their next game with the Baltimore Ravens (2-5) visiting Hard Rock Stadium on Thursday night — but in contrast to Atlanta’s next steps, the Dolphins are at least coming off a win.
“I mean, they went out and smashed us today,”Morris said. “They had a bead on what we’re doing defensively. Had a bead on what we were doing on special teams. They did a nice job today. We did not.”