Oh come on, Falcons.

Despite getting a rare great performance from one of the league’s worst defenses, Atlanta screwed up so badly that head coach Raheem Morris and the rest of his staff will be defending the team’s $180 million quarterback investment for the foreseeable future.

Thanks to the selection of quarterback Michael Penix Jr. with the eighth overall pick in April’s draft, incumbent starter Kirk Cousins ​​will always be on the hot seat. The Heat turned up the heat once again after a miserable performance against the Chargers, where Cousins’ play directly led to the Falcons losing 17-13.

Cousins ​​was brought in to help stabilize this offense after a few years of terrible quarterback play, but it appears his limitations are becoming too great for the Falcons to overcome, putting them at a crossroads with their QB situation .

The Falcons had plenty of opportunities to beat the Chargers, who had just one offensive touchdown, were held to 187 yards of offense throughout the game, and had their second-worst performance in yards per play (4.1) and expected points added per drive scored (-1.34) this season. This was the Falcons defense’s best performance this season, and Atlanta still missed the chance. When the Falcons lose games in which they had such a defensive performance, something has gone terribly wrong on the other side of the ball – this time the blame clearly lies with the quarterback.

Cousins ​​threw four equally terrible interceptions over the course of the game. There was a pick 6, a weakly thrown ball when the Falcons were in position to score and an inaccurate throw that ended the game. Just miserable, terrible football that ruined any attempt to win.

After the game, Morris defended Cousins ​​and his play, saying that he got the Falcons to a point where they had a chance to win the division. That’s partly true — Cousins’ play in October helped the Falcons get an early lead in the NFC South. He was undoubtedly better than the combination of Desmond Ridder, Marcus Mariota and Taylor Heinecke over the past two years, which led to the Falcons sprinting to Cousins ​​in free agency for help.

However, due to the torn Achilles tendon he suffered last year, he has a much lower ceiling on his game and has turned the Falcons’ offense into an increasingly easier unit to defend. Due to Cousins’ immobility, Atlanta runs one of the lowest running plays in the league and often finds itself in situations where the Falcons run a stagnant passing game that doesn’t leave the defense guessing at all. They have one of the best rushing attacks in the league, led by Bijan Robinson and Tyler Allgeier, but they can’t maximize everything they bring to the table because they’re limited by Cousins’ limitations. In a game where the Falcons had never lost more than one possession, it’s baffling that they can’t reach into a bag of tricks and press a few simple buttons that don’t put Drake London in starting position for a rushing attack.

This is where things get dangerous for the Falcons. ESPN reported that Cousins’ future with the team was in doubt – which it was before to Cousins, who totally blew it against the Chargers. Penix is ​​the team’s and the Falcons’ plan for the future will Speed ​​up that process when Cousins ​​tanks at the end of the season. If they end up missing their shot at the playoffs, it’s not out of the realm of possibility that Penix will get significant snaps in games this season.

Of course, the fact that this is even on the table suggests that this experience is shaping up to be a failure. If the Falcons cut Cousins ​​after the season, they will have to deal with a $65 million salary cap hit, according to Spotrac, which will make building a quality team around Penix much more difficult than it already will inherently be.

This is a difficult situation for the Falcons, but it is glaring that Cousins ​​is actively preventing the offense from reaching its full potential.

Could a rookie quarterback do better? Probably not, realistically speaking. Still, the Falcons face a future in which the Penix era begins sooner than many expected.