Atlanta Falcons quarterback Kirk Cousins made his return to U.S. Bank Stadium to take on his old team, the Minnesota Vikings, on Sunday, December 8th, 2024. After spending the previous six seasons with the Vikes, Cousins opted to move on from Minnesota for Atlanta this past off-season, when he signed a four-year contract with the Falcons worth up to $180 million.
Though he received a warm ovation from Minnesota fans, the Vikings themselves were not as welcoming. The Falcons were defeated convincingly by a final score of 42-21. Even though the game was tied at 21 in the third quarter, the Vikings scored 21 unanswered points in the fourth quarter to seal the victory.
Cousins had an underwhelming day. While he threw for over 340 yards, he was held to zero touchdown passes and also turned the ball over twice. Before he could even be asked about his performance, the four-time Pro Bowler admitted that he was unhappy with the way things played out.
ONE HAND ARE YOU KIDDING ME @byronmurphy 😱😱
📺: @NFLonFOX pic.twitter.com/eWHDOUl3Mk
— Minnesota Vikings (@Vikings) December 8, 2024
“Disappointing day, today. Left plays out there and made mistakes at times,” Cousins said to start his post-game press conference. “It’s never going to be a perfect game, but you can certainly point to some different moments that were important that we didn’t capitalize. Now, we’ve got to look forward to what we have in front of us, and try to get healthy next week.”
Despite the loss, Cousins still had a lot of positive things to say about the Minnesota Vikings organization and its fans. He said that he had “gratitude” for the six years he spent in Minnesota and the people he got to work with during his tenure.
“I got to see some of them post-game, and I’m just grateful for the impact they’ve had on me,” Cousins explained. “It’s a great fan base, and I expected them to make it hostile. They did a good job of that.”
The Falcons have been streaky this season. After starting the year 1-2, they won five of their next six games, which put them in first place in the NFC South several weeks ago. However, the Falcons have now fallen out of that first-place spot following this game, which marked Atlanta’s fourth consecutive loss.
Up next, the Falcons travel to Las Vegas where they will take on the Raiders in a Monday Night Football game scheduled for 8:30 p.m. ET on December 16th. That could be a get-right game for Atlanta because the Raiders haven’t won a game since late September.
