AT THE STEELERS GAME IN ATLANTA, IT’S MEL BLOUNT, LYNN SWANN AND JEROME BETTIS…(PHOTO BY MARLON MARTIN)
ATLANTA—The Pittsburgh Steelers traveled to Mercedes-Benz Stadium to face the Atlanta Falcons, Sept. 8. But reading the opinions of a few members of the Pittsburgh media pool, you would’ve thought they were alumni of Vinnie Boom-Boom High School in Stone Mountain High School in Stone Mountain, Georgia.
I recently wrote that Atlanta was going to regret the 180-million-dollar “welfare” check that Falcons owner Arthur Blank bestowed on QB Kirk Cousins in the offseason. At the same time, folks were running around ridiculing the bargain basement prices that the Steelers paid to retain the services of Russell Wilson and Justin Fields.
So far, is Kirk Cousins really appearing to be the Falcons version of a genuine 180-million-dollar quarterback? As Homey the clown used to say: “I don’t think so.”
I am positive that Kirk Cousins was not the choice of the Falcons Head Coach Raheem Morris. If so, why did the Falcons draft QB Michael Penix?
If monsieur Cousins was a QB in the Steelers QB room, at best he would be behind Russell Wilson and Justin Fields. Hell, he might not even beat out Kyle Allen as the third QB. Hmm, I wonder what excuses the media are going to try to conjure up now for Kirk Cousins. Falcons owner Arthur Blank has the appropriate surname because it appears that he handed Cousins a check and allowed Kirk fill in the “blanks.” Did Mr. Blank’s mind go blank by making such a foolish and ill-advised decision? That costly error in judgment may result in the ultimate case of buyer’s remorse for “the dirty birds.” Even the beginning of Kirk Cousins’ career had questionable entitlement decisions made for Mr. Cousins’ benefit. In the 2012 NFL Draft, Washington Commanders (formerly the Redskins) Head Coach Mike Shanahan drafted Robert Griffin III in the first round. Shanahan also drafted Kirk Cousins in the fourth round. RGIII was the first overall pick in that year’s draft and was also the 2011 Heisman Trophy winner. However, as we all know, the specter of Kirk Cousins was always looming during the entire tenure of RGIII. From the beginning, Cousins was waiting in the wings to take over for RGIII. At the end of the day, the switch in QBs was blamed on the multiple injuries suffered by Griffin. Many pundits even said that the football IQ of Robert Griffin III was far less than the football intelligence of Kirk Cousins, even though RGIII had won the Heisman, ha! Eventually, Cousins was elevated to the “first chair” in Washington and his spin machine has been purring smoothly ever since.
From the Commanders to the Vikings to the Falcons, all of these teams have a glaring common denominator: Kirk Cousins got paid, paid, and more paid. After the Steelers/Falcons game had concluded, the Pittsburgh writers sounded more as if they were covering and rooting for “the dirty birds.” Their criticism of Cousins was lukewarm at best. Yet, some of the boys from “Yinzer Blvd” were offering scathing criticism of Steeler QB Justin Fields writing things like, “the Steelers could not score a touchdown.”
Yes, that is true. But they scored 18 points. Andrew Vasquez posted the following: “To say the least, Justin Fields looked uninspired on Sunday. His rushing ability was as advertised, he protected the football (barely), but he didn’t do enough to help the Steelers put a single touchdown on the board.”
Vasquez, are you for real? Less than minute before the first half was over, the Falcons scored a “garbage” touchdown giving them a 10-6 lead. Fields then led the Steelers down the field to score a field goal with almost no time on the clock to close out the half and cut the deficit to 10-9. The Falcons scored zilch in the second half. If Justin Fields played uninspired, then Kirk Cousins played “tired.”
However, Fields was a bargain-basement acquisition for the Steelers. On the flip side of the coin, Kirk Cousins, the 180-million-dollar man under center for Atlanta, could only muster up 10 points and a lone touchdown which Atlanta scored as the result of a blown defensive coverage! Did Kirk Cousins perform as well as advertised? As far as I am concerned, when Atlanta signed Kirk Cousins, they got scammed, scammed and more scammed. Who got the better QB deal, was it the dirty birds or the men of steel? Folks were running around saying that “they hoped that Steelers running back Jaylen Warren remained injured.” That is devious, dark, demonic, stinkin’ thinkin’, and yellow, yellow, yellow journalism. When Steelers punter Cameron Johnston was injured, my heart, as well as the hearts of those around me in the press box, went out to that young man and his family. Instead of praying for Jaylen Warren and his family, folks are wishing him ill will because they have a player that they prefer to start instead of him. That is perverted and sick reporting.
Remember a few years ago, kicker Chris Boswell was having a sort of difficult time? Remember, that’s’ when Steelers Head Coach Mike Tomlin stuck with Boswell when all of the fly-by-night yinzer fans were ready to throw him on the scrap heap. Now they are anointing him with a “crown of pewter.” If I were Chris Boswell, I would tell all of them where to go.