Kirk Cousins’ problems are nearing boiling point as the Falcons cruised past the weak Raiders on “Monday Night Football.”

The 36-year-old Cousins ​​looked like a shell of his gunslinger self, going 11 for 17 for just 112 yards with a touchdown and an interception in the 15-9 win, with head coach Raheem Morris calling out the veteran after the game.

“He has to play better and obviously you have to go back, you have to look at everything,” the Falcons’ first-year head coach told reporters. “But he wants to play better. He has to play better. We have to find a way to get him to play better.”w

Cousins ​​has thrown seven interceptions in his last three games, second-most in the NFL behind only Jameis Winston (eight), whom the Browns benched on Sunday.

Despite the scathing assessment of his current starting quarterback, Morris didn’t say Cousins ​​was in danger of losing his job to rookie Michael Penix Jr., whom Atlanta surprisingly selected eighth overall out of Washington in this year’s NFL draft.

When asked if Penix would start in Week 16 against the Giants, Morris gave a cryptic answer.

“We have everyone on our roster for a reason, we need to get a lot better,” Morris said. “Things like this are always talked about, it’s the nature of football. Our mentality is to find a way to win the next game.”

Cousins ​​has the sixth-worst quarterback rating in the NFL since Week 8 and leads the NFL in interceptions thrown.

Cousins ​​is in the first year of a four-year, $180 million contract that includes $100 million guaranteed.

He agreed with Morris’ comments after Monday’s game.

“I think the last few weeks I would say I need to play better,” Cousins ​​said. “Raheem says it, but it states the obvious and every week you kind of go through your process and plan to go out and play the best you can. And so this week will be no different.”

The decision to bench Cousins ​​is complicated because it would throw Penix directly into a playoff race since they are one game behind the Buccaneers in the NFC South and own the tiebreaker.

In theory, thanks to the structure of the deal, Atlanta could get rid of the back half of this deal after the second year.

NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport previously reported that Falcons leadership expected Cousins ​​to bounce back from poor performances, but that patience appears to be running out given Morris’ recent comments.

“They believe he’ll bounce back, they believe he’ll be resilient,” Rapoport said of the Falcons and Cousins. “They want to rally around cousins.”

Atlanta began the 2024 season with Super Bowl aspirations after acquiring Cousins, but he hasn’t looked the same since he returned from a torn Achilles tendon he suffered with the Vikings last year.