Vikings 42, Falcons 21
KIRK COUSINS: Disappointing day today. You know, left plays out there, made mistakes at times. It's never going to be a perfect game, but could certainly point to some different moments that were important that we didn't capitalize, and now we have to look forward to what we still have in front of us and try to get healthy this next week, get to Vegas, and try to find a way to win there. Then see if we can string it together in the last stretch of the season, but certainly disappointing day today.
Those are my thoughts. Take any questions you have.
Q. The turnovers and penalties, how do you all try to eliminate those moving forward to help you all out and play better?
KIRK COUSINS: Yeah, the penalties are hard for me to say. You know, I would have to kind of go back and watch each one to understand why they're happening. During the game it happens so fast.
I think certainly the first turnover was one that I can correct. Whether it's throw it away, whether it's move forward, play off schedule, avoid a sack, whatever you have to do, but don't need to force the ball in that window.
Then second one was tough. I would have liked to have put the ball more to the inside. They brought a good pressure, and I thought something made a good play.
Q. You all got it tied up 21-21. Okay, now let's make a push here, but then things kind of went sideways.
KIRK COUSINS: Yeah, I was encouraged when we were 21-21. Felt good about it. But the next time we got the ball back it was 35-21, and it had a little bit of a different tenor to the game at that point.
Q. What was your emotions coming back here today?
KIRK COUSINS: Just the gratitude for the six years I spend here and the people I got to work with, and I got to see some of the them post-game. I'm just grateful for the impact they've had on me.
Q. What's your take on the fan reaction when you came out of the tunnel? What did you expect, and how do you feel about it?
KIRK COUSINS: It's a great fan base, and I expected them to make it hostile, and they did a good job of that.
Q. You all are not in first place anymore. How do you try to move forward here with four games to go?
KIRK COUSINS: Just play your schedule. Focus one week at a time, one day at a time, and just try to have great habits on your way to getting ready to play Vegas.
When you take it one day at a time, we'll just have to get to the end of the run and see where we stand on January 5th or 6th, whatever it is. Until then, you just have to play out your schedule the best you can and see where it leads you.
Q. I saw you and Kevin O'Connell talking a little bit on the field. What did he say to you?
KIRK COUSINS: Yeah, he just said he was grateful for me. I said the same. He's a great coach and is doing a great job this year.
Q. (Indiscernible) -- it's week to week, and you were saying this team was winning games. How difficult does that become when you haven't won in a month and you're not playing the way you want to play?
KIRK COUSINS: Yeah, it's never easy. In pro football you get tested, and we're there right now. But, as you said, win or lose, you kind of have to be able to apply the same process each week and get better, get better.
Whether you are winning or losing, you have to find a way to always continuously improve, and essential that's important this week.
Q. Raheem said he thought you played better this week than you did last week. How do you analyze how you are playing right now?
KIRK COUSINS: Last week was a low bar (laughing), but I felt better today. Felt more like myself. Felt more like myself today.
Q. Do you allow yourself to measure yourself up against what Sam is doing knowing that he just replaced you a year ago?
KIRK COUSINS: Sam has played great, had a great year, did a great job today. I'm happy for him and the way he's playing and the way those guys are rolling.
Q. You have 500 yards of total offense. Usually that's a pretty good sign. (Indiscernible)
KIRK COUSINS: Yeah, I think it's finishing drives with touchdowns instead of field goals. I think it's trying to avoid the penalties. I think it's trying to eliminate those turnovers.
The game is always about points, and so you have to come away with points more than yards. Yards are an indicator, but got to turn them into points.
Q. On the outside looking in, the temptation would be to say 6 and 25 are the real Falcons, or are the (indiscernible) the real Falcons? Where do you land on that question?
KIRK COUSINS: I think you just play your schedule, and you begin to feel like it's a week-to-week league. When you are playing well, you usually aren't as good as people are telling you when they're patting you on the back, and if you are in a rut, you're usually not as bad as people kind of leaving you for dead.
The reality is usually somewhere in the middle. We just have to keep playing and see where the dust settles when we get to January.
Q. I know it's always said that quarterbacks get too much of the credit and too much of the blame, but as you look at your play recently, how do you feel like you're contributing to the team's efforts?
KIRK COUSINS: I would love to be playing with a lot more production, and it's been disappointing the last four weeks to not a have a touchdown pass. I would like that to be different.
I hope that we can in the last stretch here of the season turn that around.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports