3 up and 3 down: The Falcons are on an upward trend in Kirktober

What a sensational performance by the Atlanta Falcons, who are perhaps the most entertaining product in the league at the moment. I couldn't sleep, I couldn't eat, and my wife is sick of hearing about “those hawks.”

We begin to map the area we last explored many moons ago. Kirktober, Hodgefest and Rookiemania stole the show last night! Here are this week's three highs and lows.

Three up

Kirk Cousins

The Falcons' quarterback has continued to trend in the right direction, but last night Kirktober made his debut and it didn't disappoint.

Cousins ​​set a new franchise record with 509 yards rushing — on Matt Ryan's night, no less. He did this by including everyone. Kyle Pitts scored 7/8 times for 88 yards, Drake London rushed for 154 yards and a touchdown, and Darnell Mooney rushed for over 100 yards and had two touchdowns of his own. Additionally, Ray-Ray McCloud and KhaDarel Hodge combined for over 130 yards!

It was a great day for the entire passing offense. Everyone deserves credit, especially Zac Robinson, but Cousins ​​has shown and proven to everyone that the noise around him in the first quarter of the season was just that: noise.

KhaDarel Hodge

Hodge is what football is all about, the glue boys. Every winning team needs them, and they don't have to be stars; In fact, this is rarely the case. These are the guys who come in and play like every rep is their last; You can't afford to take any of it off. Hodge is the guy for this team.

After holding off preseason favorite Casey Washington, Hodge was quiet in the first three games, playing only on special teams. But in the last two games the ace has improved and was the spark the team needed. Drake London retired twice and Hodge came up big in both scenarios, but the overtime catch is something both he and Falcons fans will remember for a long time. It was beautiful to see the emotion Hodge showed after the game and to listen to him tell his story to everyone who didn't know. It couldn't have happened to a better guy.

Ruke Orhorhoro

The debut of the Falcons' 2024 second-round pick did not disappoint. Orhorhoro only played for 12 snaps, but he counted them all and recorded three tackles, one of which was a no-gain on the goal line next to legend Grady Jarrett. The pass-rush ability is still developing, but it's clear the rookie can make a real difference in the run game.

The defensive lineman was bursting with energy, and that could be the spark this veteran interior team needs. From here I expect Orhorhoro's workload to increase. He definitely deserved it after his first appearance.

JD Bertrand also showed a brave performance and delivered a lot of pop. Could Brandon Dorlus be the next to hear his name?

Three down

Execute offense

It was a tough ground game for the offense. Last night it didn't matter if it was Bijan Robinson or Tyler Allgeier. Neither of them could get much going. Bijan's vision isn't as sharp as it could be, and the running back doesn't trust himself. Part of this is due to teams' repeated desire to utilize the outside zone at all costs.

It's just not working and teams were able to wait for it and stop it because Atlanta didn't adapt. The attack line is blown up at the point of attack and cannot reach the second level. Taking a step back, I understand that I don't want to run a lot of indoor zones at Vita Vea, but something needs to change.

There are only 25 days left in Kirktober, and while it would be cool to watch him rack up 2,500 pass yards in the month, it would be unwise to count on it.

Run defense

On the other side of the ball, the story is similar. The run defense had no chance as Troy Andersen and Nate Landman were both out. Kaden Elliss is not a full-time inside linebacker. We saw promising plays from JD Bertrand, but we also saw rookie moments, as you would expect.

The most disappointing thing was on the defensive line. It felt like if there was one thing you could rely on this year, it was the strength and reliability of this group against the competition, but that's not what we saw. The addition of Orhorhoro was a nice boost, but the Falcons still need to adjust some of the snap counts for others.

Luckily, the team manages to get a mini-bye and Landman has the option to be activated from injured reserve, and Troy Andersen will likely be available as well. The duo will give the run defense a huge boost and we will finally see them playing together again.

Situational awareness

Not making that field goal before halftime was a big deal, and I can't explain the fear of a miss in that scenario. Koo had a mistake at the start of the game, so what? It's not shocking to see kickers miss a reset due to a penalty, and yes, he missed on the play the penalty occurred; He then also scored a 50-yard field goal before fourth down. Not trusting him in that scenario was downright strange, and while it worked, the Falcons had to take a few breaks so that decision didn't come back to haunt them.

Later, with less than two minutes left in the game, the Falcons start a run. It's another decision that makes no sense at all. There were other moments this season when the situational game control and decision-making were not up to par. These employees can learn from their mistakes; So far they have delivered counterattacks when necessary.

Your Atlanta Falcons are 2-0 in the division and 3-0 in the conference. Forget about winning on Friday; Have a victory weekend.