The 2025 season has been a truly wild ride for the Atlanta Falcons, who have been among the NFL’s least predictable teams. In Week 3, they took a 30-0 trouncing against the woeful Carolina Panthers before bouncing back the following week with a 34-27 win over an NFC Championship side in the Washington Commanders. They then beat the AFC runner-up in the Buffalo Bills.
Atlanta’s roller coaster season took yet another twist last weekend, when quarterback Michael Penix Jr. went down with a bone bruise late in the game. He ended up finishing the game and has expressed hope that he’ll be able to participate in Sunday’s clash against the Miami Dolphins, but he’s been limited all week and has officially been listed as questionable, per ESPN’s Adam Schefter. Thankfully, the Falcons have one of the league’s most experienced backups in Kirk Cousins.
Cousins started the first 14 games of the 2024 season before getting benched in favor of Penix. When he played, he wasn’t great, completing 66.9% of his passes for 3,508 yards, 18 touchdowns, and a league-leading 16 interceptions, but 159 career starts and four Pro Bowl appearances is much better than most teams can ask for out of their backup quarterbacks. Wide receiver Drake London and tight end Kyle Pitts, who have both been somewhat fantasy-viable this season with Penix as the quarterback, were also solid with Cousins under center. Pitts averaged 7.7 FPTS per game last season and 10.75 so far in 2025, but was TE15 in both seasons. London, meanwhile, was WR5 last season and is WR17 so far in 2025, averaging 17.7 FPTS per game in 2024 and 16.5 so far. It’s worth noting that I’m using total fantasy points, not points per game, with the rankings, so Atlanta players will be systematically under-valued since it has already had its bye.
Both players should have at least FLEX consideration regardless of which quarterback is under center. If anything, Pitts might especially benefit from Cousins starting, given that he’s most effective in between the numbers and on the right side of the field. This season, 67.0% of Penix’s throws have targeted those zones, while 74.5% of Cousins’ targets were thrown to Pitts’ wheel house. London would probably rather have Penix under center, given that he’s been more effective on targets up the middle and down the left sideline. Though Pitts didn’t produce as much last season with Cousins, he’s genuinely improved, posting 0.3 more yards of separation per reception this season than last, per NFL’s Next Gen Stats, and he’s arguably gotten unlucky not to have racked up more yards because he hasn’t been as elusive after the catch.
The Dolphins have allowed the fifth-fewest fantasy points to wide receivers and the 10th-most to tight ends by DraftKings’ scoring, but that isn’t a result of ability; their secondary has produced the fewest expected points added overall and had the league’s third-worst coverage grades, according to Pro Football Focus. While top corner Rasul Douglas is okay, there’s a huge drop-off in coverage ability between him and Miami’s other starting outside corner, Jack Jones. But in the last two weeks, Douglas has mostly lined up on the right, so he’s more likely to take snaps against London. Pitts can line up all over the field and take advantage of Miami’s lack of depth among coverage defenders.
