FRISCO, Texas — Nothing about the Atlanta Falcons can be taken lightly in 2024, and especially not the offensive attack that is now led by Kirk Cousins. It's a unit that can do a lot of damage both on the ground and in the air, and it's something the Dallas Cowboys' defense will find themselves tested by, time and again, in the Week 9 matchup.
Jourdan Lewis, the veteran cornerback who has been labeled as a/the tonesetter for the secondary, knows full well what they'll face on Sunday afternoon at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
"They do a lot of things well," said Lewis. "They can go vertical, they can do the intermediate stuff and they can do little option stuff. So when you have three guys that can do pretty much everything out there, it's kind of hard out there, and the guy that's getting the ball to them on time is definitely a challenge. It's going to be a good one and hopefully we can stop him."
Cousins and the Falcons average nearly 25 points per game through their first eight games, and they do it with a mix of Bijan Robinson and Tyler Allgier in the backfield — Robinson having the ability to break games wide open at any moment — along with a receiving corps headlined by Drake London, Darnell Mooney and Kyle Pitts (and also Robinson).
After all, Robinson is the third-most targeted receiver on the team, despite being RB1.
"This is positionless football right now [in Atlanta] because everybody can do everything," said Lewis. "They have some athletes out there that can move around and, when they get in space, they're dangerous. So I feel like this is one of the best offenses in the league right now and they're coming together and putting some games together."
It's a sentiment that Trevon Diggs agrees with, and wholeheartedly.
"They're a really good offense, and Kirk Cousins has been in the league forever," said the All-Pro cornerback. "They've got a lot of great weapons at wide receiver, and their running back is phenomenal. They throw the ball a lot, but they can run the ball, too. We've just got to do a good job of playing the calls that are called and get the job done."
Desperately trying to avoid letting the Washington Commanders and the Philadelphia Eagles create space in the NFC, it's paramount the Cowboys find a way in Atlanta to steal the win to make it a 4-4 record before returning to AT&T Stadium in Week 10 to face, guess who, the Eagles — while still searching for their first home win of the season.
But, first, it's about upsetting the red-hot Falcons on the road, and doing so would send a very real message that the Cowboys are, in fact, still locked in on trying to do something special this season.
