It is the JR Sportbree show here with you coast to coast on the Infinity Sports Network. I'm coming to you live from Atlanta, Georgia where a major decision has been made.
Kirk Cousins has been benched from Michael Pennix Jr. We'll talk about that more in a second as this news just broke about 10 or 15 minutes ago. I'm in Atlanta, Georgia. Thank you to our super producer and host, Ryan Hickey in New York City.
Thank you for hanging out. This show gets started every weekday at 6 p.m Eastern, 3 Pacific. You can always listen on the free Odyssey app, your local Infinity Sports Network affiliate, Sirius XM channel 158. And if you got a smart speaker, ask the speaker to play the Infinity Sports Network. We're going to be hanging out with you for one more hour and we've discussed a lot. The NBA cup is underway. You got Milwaukee, Oklahoma City. They're playing a close game right now, but there are a lot of people looking at the Falcons.
What the hell are they doing? We're going to talk about it right now. Hey, by the way, thank you so much to Carl Dukes from right here in Atlanta, Georgia. About two hours ago, he joined us 92-9 the game. You can also hear Carl on the Infinity Sports Network here Sunday mornings talking to the country.
And we just had this conversation. What the hell do the Falcons do with Kirk Cousins? We got our answer.
They told Kirk Cousins, take a seat. We don't need you. Damn, we're going to talk about it some more. The phone lines open. If you want to give me a holler, you can 855-212-4227 is the number.
That's 855-212-4227. You can find me online. I am everywhere at JR Sport Brief that is at JR Sport Brief all over the place on social media of the Atlanta Falcons releasing this statement and not too long ago. Let me go ahead and read it to you. Yes, I can read.
I'm literate. Here we go from head coach Rahim Morris. This is what he said a few minutes ago and the team decided to put out its own statement. After review, we have made the decision Michael Pennix will be the Atlanta Falcons starting quarterback moving forward. This was a football decision and we are fully focused on preparing the team for Sunday's game against the New York Giants. Let's keep in mind last night all of America had a chance and an opportunity to watch Justin who and what exactly Kirk Cousins is at this stage of his career against the Las Vegas Raiders, which happened to be the worst damn team in the NFL.
I don't think there's no damn debate there. The Falcons they barely beat them. They beat them 15 to 9.
They did not trust Kirk Cousins to throw the football against one of the worst teams in the league. The Falcons. Yeah, they beat the Raiders, but they ended a four game losing streak.
This season has been mediocre by every stretch of the imagination. The Falcons have a record of seven and seven. There's still one game behind Tampa Bay.
So really think about this. The Falcons think so much or so little of Kirk Cousins that they're basically throwing a rookie quarterback into the stretch run while they are still trying to compete for a playoff spot. Now, look, I'm not going to sit here and be naive. Falcons ain't winning no championship, but you would think after sticking through Kirk Cousins over the past several games, he has thrown eight interceptions. In the last four games before yesterday, damn it, Kirk Cousins threw another interception yesterday. Good for him. He threw a touchdown to Drake London early in the game, but this has been bad for Kirk Cousins. And so I'm saying to myself, why wait until now? Kirk Cousins had to look bad against the worst team in the league.
Well, damn it. The New York Giants are just as bad. And you're really going to put your stock into Pennix Junior to take you the rest of the way. I think you either pull the plug a couple of weeks ago or you ride out Kirk Cousins the rest of the way. The rest of the Falcons schedule looks like this. They have the New York Giants coming up next. They go to DC to take on the commanders. And then they have the Carolina Panthers. The last time we saw Michael Pennix Junior play legitimate football, he was in college for Washington in the championship game. This is crazy.
I want you to listen. Raheem Morris spoke to the media earlier today and he was asked specifically who will be the Falcons starting quarterback when they take on the New York Giants on Sunday. Listen to what Raheem Morris had to say in response. I mean, we just got back, man.
We still got to go through all that process like we always do. Obviously, getting back late last night, getting a big time win. We talked about it last night, Zach. You know, there's no secret. We didn't play well enough at the quarterback position and we got to find ways to play better.
So, you know, all those things that go over the course of the week and we got to do what's ever best to win versus the Giants. Piggy, he sounds like me when I come back from Vegas. Hey, listen, I just came back from Vegas.
Give me a few days. I can't think. That's what he sounds like. Was he making an excuse earlier today? Buying time?
Buying time is exactly right. Don't look at me. Don't talk to me. Don't question me. I'm still hung over. Well, at least they won.
So maybe not as light in the pockets. But is that something? Is that something that you said? Well, thankfully, I don't go to Vegas, so. Oh, OK. No, weren't we in Vegas together a few years ago? Yes, we were for work. So I was on my best behavior. But when you came back, no excuses?
No excuses. No, not that trip. Piggy, I don't remember what happened when I came back. Piggy, to be honest, outside of being outside and all that, walking in Vegas, I don't remember much.
I didn't do much outside of being outside. I remember taking photos with the the Raider Freaks and that's it. That's right. The gorilla paid us a visit. And who else?
The gorilla and the guy with the spikes. Yeah. Who have their own business cards. Go figure. Yeah.
Yeah. Does he sell insurance? No, for real, though, the gorilla man sells insurance.
He does. You mean, I guess now in Vegas? I mean, look, that's a good place to sell insurance. A lot of accidents.
Why not? Premiums are high. And I need to be a lawyer. Well, I got to go to school for that in Vegas, right?
Well, any anywhere I got to I got to go to school to be a lawyer anywhere. I like a license. Technically. Yes, yes. But the level of schooling may, you know, may differ. Listen, I know a guy who knows a guy. Get me a license.
Not worried about it. That might be what Kirk Cousins is doing any day now. Well, he got enough money. He doesn't need the work, right? You know, he's not going to go into real estate.
No, I don't think he needs to. He made so much money. Well, he dresses like it.
You know, he could dress like an insurance salesman and blend right in. He always he gets nothing wrong with T.J. Maxx. And that we said he go shopping.
That I think Kmart or Kohl's Kohl's because Kohl's cash. That's right. God bless him, man. That's I got.
I respect Iris. You don't need that. You got a lot of money.
You don't need to spend it. Clothes is clothes. If it's clean, your ass is clean. Your clothes is clean.
Problem solved, right? Who cares at all? These guys wasting money on dumb ass clothes. Has he seen Kyle Kuzma? Like, I don't know.
He's not inspired by Deebo Samuel. No. What?
Wearing a leather skirt to work? I don't think so. No, no, thanks.
Help display. Yeah. This is this is why Kirk Cousins is a likable guy. And now as they play the New York Giants, we're going to get so many shots of Kirk Cousins looking miserable on the sidelines. Is he going to be? No, he's going to coach up Pentax, right? He's not going to look miserable. He's not look sad. He's not going to walk off the field. He's going to be right there coaching them up, right?
I would think so. That's the kind of guy that he seems to be. Good guy. He was swag surfing. He goes, he shops at Kohl's. Of course he is.
Man, how far things have fallen in such a short amount of time. I know. He shouldn't have swag surfed.
You shouldn't have did it. Now he's going to be a joke. He might already be a joke. Well, Raheem Morris didn't have answers about the the New York Giants and who was going to start. Raheem Morris was also asked, does Kirk Cousins in a general sense still give the Falcons the best chance to succeed?
Listen to Raheem. You know, Mark, that's a that's a loaded question. You know, obviously coming off of last night, you know, we played pretty well across the board. Like we talked about, we had the hot hat of the running game. We didn't play particularly well at the quarterback position.
We didn't play well yesterday at that spot. I like to be open and honest and clear about those things. And, you know, it's always going to be those question marks. Always going to be those question marks when it comes to the head coach, when it comes to the quarterback.
And you got to be really transparent about it. And we got to play better. And I think that's the thing that's got to be put out there, that we got to play better. That's the thing that's got to be addressed. That's the thing that's got to happen in order for us to find ways to win versus our next opponent, which is the New York Football Giants.
Yeah, that's that's a coach saying a lot of nothing. Kirk Cousins has thrown the most interceptions in the season by a Falcons player since Matt Ryan in 2015. Kirk Cousins has 16 interceptions on the season. Damn. Five straight games that Kirk Cousins has thrown in interception long streak of his career. Damn.
And so this is what it boils down to. The Atlanta Falcons decided to give him one hundred and eighty million dollars. Give him a four year deal. Of course, they can cut it up. These contracts are worth the paper that they're written on, even if they still use paper.
Everything's digital now. But then they drafted Michael Pennix Jr. number eight overall in the draft this year. And there were a lot of questions like, why the hell would you do that? I looked at the move and I said, hey, if you are so confident in Kirk Cousins, why didn't you get this guy some help? Well, we found out the answer. Maybe they weren't so damn confident.
I don't know. The Falcons is going to look like geniuses only if Pennix works out. People like myself who looked at the move to draft him won't say as much if they have success. But imagine you draft Pennix and he doesn't work. And you're on a hook with this money for Kirk Cousins and he doesn't work. Michael Pennix Jr. 37 and eight. As a college football quarterback across the schools, but damn.
If this don't work. This could get ugly. The Falcons know how to cause controversy, I'll tell you that much. Raheem Morris in conclusion, he was asked today, is there a downside? What's the worst damn thing that could happen if you put Pennix on the field? Listen to coach.
Not necessarily a downside, Zach. You just kind of envision something when you plan and you go about making your plans and how you want to move forward. And like we talked about right from the beginning, right? We talked about bringing in Kirk, give us immediate chance to win. And then we talked about going out and finding a young quarterback that's going to take it to the future because we didn't want to have that gap between the Matt Ryan and then to the next person that we turned it over to who happened to be Kirk. Didn't want to have that gap again.
And that was always things you want to think about. So it's just the initial plan and how you want to go about your business and how you want things to happen. So like you could never say there's a downfall to turning it over to somebody that you put a lot of investment into, somebody that you brought in here, somebody you've done some things with, somebody said nothing but the right thing since they've been here. So I never want to pit this thing versus Pennix and why you don't want to do something like that, Zach. Just being really smart and cautious in how we go about our business.
Hickey, if I talk real fast and I say things like this and I talk about there's no downside, then I sound smart, but I'm just saying a bunch of stuff. That's what Rahim Morris did. His statement that was released this evening by the Atlanta Falcons, much more succinct. Hey, we're going with Michael Pennix Jr. He gives us the best chance he's going to be our quarterback moving forward.
So do not expect for Pennix to get pulled. He's going to get a chance against New York. He's going to get a chance against Washington. He's going to get a chance to finish the season up against Carolina. And in all things considered, you would think if they make the postseason because, hey, if the Falcons were actually playing worth a damn, they would win two, maybe out of the two out of the three games here. They're going to go to the postseason.
Are we going to see Michael Pennix Jr. in the postseason? There's no guarantee there. There's not even a guarantee that they catch the Tampa Bay Buccaneers or one game in front of them in the NFC South. The Falcons made their bet and now they got to lie down in it.
And let me tell you something, this controversy does not stop now. This is going to be an off season of controversy because we know the Falcons ain't winning no damn Super Bowl. If they get into the postseason, ain't advancing far. This is going to drag on for the next five to six months. It may drag on further than that because the financial ramifications of having Kirk Cousins on the team, they just going to cut him. They just going to drop him. They just going to say see and see a latest sayonara after one year, not even a full season. The Falcons, this is what they got to live with.
And they gave themselves a storyline until the beginning of next season. It's kind of bad, kind of sad. 8-5-5, 2-1-2, 42-27. That's 8-5-5, 2-1-2, 42-27. I would not have made this decision right now. They really got to think Kirk Cousins is cooked. And Kirk Cousins, his confidence has to be cooked. He has to be feeling like the you know what right now. And not in a good way either.
It's the JR sport re-show here with you coast to coast on the Infinity Sports Network. Do you think the Falcons made the right decision? Should Michael Panics Jr. start the rest of the way for the Falcons or is this too little and too late? I don't think it's too late.
I just think if they were going to do this, they should have did it weeks ago and not now. Maybe Michael Panics Jr. is the key. But what are y'all winning? Do they think they suck?
Do they believe, hey, we might as well give them experience? We're going to find out there was no more experienced quarterback coming out of school, out of the draft, no more ready prepared quarterback than Michael Panics Jr. and out of Falcons are going to find out this is a you know what show and it ain't pretty. Welcome to the Falcons land, okay? It's the JR sport re-show here with you coast to coast on the Infinity Sports Network 855-212-4227.
That's 855-212-4227. Michael Panics Jr. is going to start for the Atlanta Falcons moving forward. Kirk Cousins. How do you like that?
It's been found to sit on the bench. Did the Falcons screw that up? I'm gonna get to your calls on the other side.
You're locked in. It's the JR sport re-show coast to coast on the Infinity Sports Network. You're listening to the JR sport brief. It is the JR sport re-show here with you coast to coast on the Infinity Sports Network 855-212-4227.
That's 855-212-4227. The Atlanta Falcons announced last hour that Michael Panics Jr. is now taking over as the quarterback. And Kirk Cousins? Oh, he's been benched.
Simple as that. You think about Kirk Cousins, most interceptions thrown this season. He leads the NFL with 16. Baker Mayfield is next at 14.
Ironically, they lead the division ahead of the Falcons. Geno Smith is next. The hurt Geno Smith at 13. And then Kirk Cousins.
Hickey, this is some company that Kirk doesn't want to be a part of, but he is. Jameis Winston is next at 12. Benched. Will Levis also has 12 interceptions. Benched.
Kirk Cousins leads the pack with 16. Benched. That's it. Bad company.
Seeing a trend there, huh? You turn the ball over, you don't get to play. You sit down. Have a seat.
Damn. I don't like the timing of it. I'm fine with it. I don't mind it. But if you were gonna, I didn't agree with pulling the trigger a couple of weeks ago. I think you give Kirk the benefit of the doubt.
But if you were gonna do it, I wouldn't do it now. They really think he's done. They think he's cooked. 855-212-4227. That's 855-212-4227. Get to your calls here. What do you think about Kirk Cousins being benched? And then I'm gonna tell you about a quarterback. He's trying to leave high school to go back to the pros.
I will explain. Wayne is calling from New Mexico. Wayne, you're on the JR Sportbreeze show.
What's up? Hey, Wayne, you're live on the radio. Wayne is no longer live on the radio. Icky, did he get abducted by one of them drones? That's probably what happened, right? Well, yeah, I think they got their own problems out there in New Mexico, drone-wise. Is that where Area 51 is or is that Arizona? Oh, no, I think that might be New Mexico. You're right. Drones right now, at least in New Jersey. Wayne should be safe from the drones in Jersey, but again. He got abducted by aliens in New Mexico.
Possibly, which is a shame. That's fine. Seemed like a nice guy. Oh, well, we'll see if he calls back. 855-212-4227.
That's 855-212-4227. Should Michael Penix Jr. be getting this opportunity from the Falcons? We haven't seen him play. I haven't seen this guy since he lost the national championship playing for Washington. And by the way, he ain't look good in that game. I think his draft stock, I know for a guy who was selected eighth overall, I think he would have been a little bit higher if he had won the national championship, all things considered. That's just me. I know you got Caleb Williams there.
OK, but I get it. We got Jayden Daniels. This man is leading Washington into the postseason. We got Bo Nix, who's lightened it up as well. We have not seen Michael Penix Jr. Not yet.
855-212-4227. We're going to see him on Sunday against the Giants. And if he doesn't look good against the Giants, then, well, we'll see him take on Washington. That'll be fun, right? Little Penix Jr. Jayden Daniels.
That should be interesting. Chris is calling from Wisconsin. You're on the JR sport. We show us up, Chris. How you doing? I'm excellent. What's on your mind? You know, I'm thinking with the timing of this, I agree they probably have done it earlier, but I think at some point they realize Kirk's not going to be the guy going forward and they don't want to go into the 2025 draft having no idea what their quarterback looks like.
Oh, my God. You think you think this these last three? Well, I mean, it's reasonable if you have the Falcons to say screw the rest of this year.
You ain't winning nothing. You think that they would go ahead and just get another QB? I don't think they would get another QB, but they want to be going totally blind into it.
Well, OK, touche. I agree, Chris. I think even outside of that, you know, Penix will get an opportunity and a chance, you know, heading into the off season, having a full off season and going through training camp and whatnot. And thank you, Chris, for calling from Wisconsin.
What's going to be interesting is over these next several days. What do you do with Kirk Cousins? You cutting this guy? You just gave him one hundred and eighty guaranteed to know he hasn't seen all that money yet.
Are you just going to eat it? Let's keep in mind, you know, Penix Junior, this guy is a first round pick. They're going to have and this was certainly a concern when they drafted him. We know about the option years on the back end of a deal. Well, you got to worry about that now because we're actually going to see Penix because we have not seen sustained success with Kirk Cousins in an ideal world. The Falcons wouldn't see Penix. They would have success with Kirk Cousins and then they'd have to think about, well, what are we doing on a fourth year option? What are we doing on the fifth year option? How much longer do we want Penix to sit out here collecting checks on the bench? And we got this guy as an insurance policy. Well, dammit, the Falcons had to break it sooner than what they expected or what they wanted.
You know, I would thought I would have thought that we would have saw Penix Junior. Due to injury. It's a Kirk Cousins.
Not due to poor play. Now is Kirk Cousins? Is his leg worn out? Is he cooked? Is he?
We don't know. Is that why he can't drive the ball down the field? Is that why he's rushing decisions? Is that why he leads the NFL in interceptions? Does Kirk Cousins not trust his body? It's a possibility.
Only Kirk Cousins knows, but he ain't going to tell us. 855-212-4227. That's 855-212-4227. I think it's too late.
If you want to do it, I think it's too late. Ted is here from Illinois. You're on the JR Sport. Will you show us up, Ted? Not much.
Good to talk to you guys again. I look more at the Michael Penix position on this. I believe it's a bad timing for him because now he could lose confidence. Yeah, he could go out there and light it up.
But like you guys said already, they're not going to the Super Bowl. You could give him a little bit more time, let him get more comfortable in the system, learn. Plus, he's watching another guy in front of him get the chain pulled on him real quick. So he's seeing that short leash on the guy ahead of him. He's probably going to think about that for him.
And he could go out and damage his confidence. So I kind of look at it more from his perspective than necessarily Kirk Cousins. Kirk Cousins has been around a while.
So he can rebound, but it doesn't look like it. Are you saying the Falcons are just quitting on the season to see what the quarterback in the season is? No, I honestly believe Rahim Morris. I'm a Rams fan.
I love Rahim. But I don't think it's the right decision based on the young guy. Look at the quarterbacks in the league now that have success and don't get me wrong. There's there's some that come in early.
Jayden Daniels is going to sit back for a year. They do really well. OK, all right. Well, thank you for calling from Illinois. Appreciate you, man. You're welcome. Keep up the good work.
Thank you so much. Yeah. Yeah.
This is this is a tough one. Because it's not like the Falcons are just they can still make the postseason. And maybe this is best case scenario. I mean, you know what? I'm thinking this through as we go through and I take your calls.
Is this is this not OK? If you think about this, Falcons ain't going nowhere. We've seen what Kirk Cousins can do recently and that stink. And so if you throw Pennix out there, throw him to the wolves, what's the worst that can happen? He stinks and then you talk about, oh, he's a rookie, he's going to stink.
OK, we'll live with it. They're going to rely on a run game as well. That's why they feel confident in doing this. Let's keep in mind just last night we saw what they did on the floor, on the ground. Bijan Robinson rushed for one hundred and twenty five yards. Algier went for another forty three himself. They split the case between those those two guys.
I think the Falcons are going to try to protect them the best way possible. I hope that Kyle Pitts can actually find out what a football is. Hickey, how is the guy six foot six and can't catch a ball in the middle of the field? Am I missing something? No, it should defy logic.
And unfortunately, you're not wrong. Like did the water in Florida screw him up? Like, I don't understand why he stinks a six foot six tight end that could play. He's a basketball player out there. What the hell is his problem?
Nobody knows. He has passes from Kyle Trask. Yeah, that's what I'm saying.
Is that the problem? Maybe you should bring Kyle Trask back? He had one good year with Matt Ryan and he fell to the toilet. Maybe you need to bring Matt Ryan back.
Forget college. Oh, my God. Kyle Pitts, I don't know. Does he like football?
I don't know. Anyway, maybe Michael Pennix could solve him and maybe the Falcons are just like, you know what? Screw the postseason and screw this. Screw that. Let's just see what we got with the guy. And if he can help take us to the postseason, then God bless him.
Even more experience and even more something to build on. So it sucks for the fans, though, really. The fans have been clamoring for Pennix Junior.
And they had to wait. And now they throw them out there and now this is the middle of a potential, I don't want to say playoff run, but I'm trying to battle it out to get into the playoffs. Well, this just stinks all the way around. Welcome to the welcome to the Falcons. Picky, at least they're not the Jets, right? At least they're not the Jets or the Raiders or the Raiders, the Browns or the Browns.
Am I missing anybody? Jaguars. Definitely not the Jaguars.
Good thing for that. The Saints, I would say. Oh, yeah. You'd rather be the Falcons and the Saints. Oh, yeah, absolutely. Don't tell that to Saints fans.
They get mad at you. Yeah. Yeah, the Falcons got they got options.
Look at the bright side. They got they have a quarterback and they don't got to draft one because they did it this year. It's the JR Sport Reshow here with you coast to coast on the Infinity Sports Network. 855-212-4227.
That's 855-212-4227. We'll get some more of your calls. I did tell you that there is a quarterback.
He was in high school this year. Now he's trying to go back to the NFL. I'll explain on the other side of the break. I'll get some more of your calls.
855-212-4227. And of course, we're going to talk about a few things that took place this day in sports history. You're listening to the JR Sport Brief.
It is the JR Sport Reshow here with you coast to coast on the Infinity Sports Network. Man, we talked about Kirk Cousins getting benched from Michael Pennix Jr. Pennix Jr., according to Raheem Morris and the Falcons, is going to start the rest of the way. There are three games left for the Atlanta Falcons. The first game is against the New York Giants. So it looks like Pennix is going to lead the way unless he gets hurt or he really, really stinks.
And then this is the point where you really look bad. If you got a yo-yo back and forth, it's like the Falcons are really looking a little bit more towards development and then winning and seeing what they got in Pennix. And the reality is they know they ain't winning nothing, so might as well throw them out there now, I guess, right? Well, I wasn't in favor of benching Cousins weeks ago, but just doing this after yesterday, uh, I would, I would still, Hickey, I sound crazy for saying every game I'd wait. I would still wait until the Giants game and then I'd bench them.
That's it. Like it's the Giants. I guess they looked so bad yesterday. They got, they have zero confidence in the guy, obviously, right? I mean, again, the Raiders defense rights should be there for the taking, for an offense of this magnitude where you're healthy.
You ran the, like you ran the ball well and you couldn't throw the ball off of that, that like you're not going to do against the Raiders. What are we doing? Yeah. Why wait? Yeah, I was wrong, Hickey.
We should have threw Pennix out there to sink a swim a while ago. I was wrong. I'll admit it. Hey, we're going to find out something else.
How about this? Did you see Teddy Bridgewater wants to come back to the NFL? Do you see that Hickey?
I saw the headline, but I did not look into it, especially since you were teasing it. Does he mean coaching? No, Teddy Bridgewater wants to come back and play in the NFL for people who are unfamiliar. Teddy Bridgewater retired last year after being a backup for the Detroit Lions. And he has played all over the damn NFL.
We've seen him start for the Dolphins and Saints Broncos. He's been all over the place. Well, he went back to school. He went back to his high school and became the coach, Miami Northwestern.
They finished with a record of 12 and two. And not only did Teddy Bridgewater just show up and just show up, they ended up winning the state title in all of Florida. And so the Teddy Bridgewater, after winning a state championship, he wants to come back to the NFL.
This is what he said. He says, that's the plan. He says, my team, as in the high school, knows that's the plan.
We wanted to win a state championship. And then me coach goes back to the league to see what happens and then come back in February in the off season, continue coaching high school football. We'll see how it plays out. Now, would anybody be shocked just given his experience? You want to talk about a backup? Teddy Bridgewater is still only 32 years old. He's the one who retired. I mean, he could be a backup on it.
Damn it. He could be. He might be the Falcons backup next season. Wow. I think he's 32. Yeah, he's only 32.
And Teddy Bridgewater disappears, comes back, goes through a crap season as the Falcons back up and then goes back in February to coach his team in 2026. Like what type of world is this? Pretty cool though, isn't it? Right?
Especially for the high school kids. Imagine that, like seeing your coach on an NFL sideline. That's pretty cool. And my coach is better than yours. Right? And not many coaches in Florida, I think, can argue against that.
Yeah, that'd be cool. Hey, good luck to Teddy Bridgewater. That's a lot of fun. It's so good to see so many coaches. And we talked about Michael Vick, you know, coaching at Norfolk State, getting that job today. It's good, man.
It's fun. 855-212-4227. Lee is calling from Cincinnati. You're on the JR Sportbree show. Go ahead, Lee. Hey, JR.
Thanks for taking my call. I just want to say, what I think the Falcons are doing is terrible. They've got a shot at the playoffs, but by changing course, they're going to have to do it themselves. But by changing quarterbacks this late in the game, just these few games left, there's no way they're going to be able to have any continuity or consistency on their offense. They're just throwing in the towel. They're saying, look, we've got a shot, but we don't care. We're just going to cash it in for the rest of the year.
That's what I think they're saying. I think it's a terrible decision to do it right now. Okay.
Thank you, Lee, for calling from Cincinnati. Yeah, I don't necessarily agree with the timing of right now. I'm not going to say that they're waving the towel in because Kirk Cousins has been ass. Like, that's what it is.
I mean, I guess I could say and make the point for the opposite. They're trying to inject some life into the team. Maybe if they were throwing the towel in because there's nothing to play for, they would keep rolling Kirk Cousins out there. But for what? To throw more interceptions?
To extend his league leading 16 and beyond? Like, that's throwing a towel in. Come on.
Yeah, it's showing some life. I just think it's too late. I wouldn't have made the decision now. I got stuck with Kirk for one more game.
Well, at least let him suck. Hickey, I would have done it at halftime, man, but we'll see what happens. Let's see. Oh, man.
Wow. And he's doing it at home too, Hickey. That's the, that's good. The fans will be behind him. There'll be some, there'll be some juice.
He's playing at home. What do you, I was just going to ask, what do you think that fan or the stadium juice will be like? Ready. Ready. They wanted it for a while. They've wanted it for a while. They're going to be ready.
They'll be ready for it. What was the last home game? Was it the chargers?
Oh my God. It's like two weeks. I feel like the Falcons have been going for like two weeks. Right. They played the Vikings last week.
Obviously the Raiders last night. Yeah. That's two games. Yeah. Yeah.
It was the chargers on Sunday. Yep. So, yeah, I think you're right. You probably anticipate a night and day crowd. The fans have been Hickey. Maybe I go, maybe I go to that game. Wow. Pennix is getting JR out of the house to go to a game, to go be with a crowd. Maybe.
That's when you know you got some pool. Come on, why not? Probably not. I don't know. Probably not. It's vacation, right?
No. But that's exactly the best time. You can go and not to, you know, keep up as much with the other games going on.
You're not talking about that on Monday. Yeah. If I go to the game, I got to put on pants. Okay.
Well, not necessarily. You're going to wear shorts to the game on a credential. I got to put on pants. I was just going to say it. Never. I'm never mind. You buy a ticket and I got to put on pants and not drink like eight beers. I don't want to do that. Or you could buy a ticket. How expensive you're being.
You're right. Nine by the ticket. I can get a ticket, get a ticket.
You can go shirtless if you want to. No, I'm not doing that now. I know exactly what I know. A bunch of people ask Hickey.
I know, I know who that is. So you get a ticket. Maybe I'll get a ticket. Maybe I'll get a ticket.
Get a ticket. Maybe on the house because you're a JR. We'll see. You don't have to wear pants and you can drink as many beers as you want. In the suite? I got to wear pants in the suite. You are just, you are all, you know what?
You're too connected for your own good. I'm just thinking go in the upper deck. Sit with a low life like me up there. Wear shorts, drink beers, have a good time.
Here you are. Well, if I go to the game, I got to, you know, wear pants because I have a credential. If I get a ticket, actually, I'll probably be in the suite.
So I got to probably dress even nicer in a suite than it was on the sideline. It's tough being you. No, it's not.
And the other option is I sit at home with my own beer and I got to do none of it. And I could still watch and enjoy, you know? That, that is true.
That is true. We'll see what happens, but I will be watching that game intently at 1 p.m. Falcons and the Giants, not because the Giants, just to see what Pennix can do. Everybody's going to be hyped for it.
Anyway, speaking of hype, that's the end of the show. It's time to take a walk through a few things that took place this day in sports history. It's time for this day in sports history. You see, back in those days, we had radio and you couldn't see anything and it was primitive and lousy and we liked it.
On the JR Sport Brief Show. I wish I was 50 years younger and I'd kick your ass. Today is December 17th. The year is 2024. But if we go back in time, December 17th, raise your hand if you remember this, if you're driving your car, please don't raise your hands. In 1933, the Bears won the first NFL Championship.
They beat the Giants, ironically, 23 to 21. Yeah, I wasn't alive. I don't remember that.
Okay, December 17th, 2016. I remember this. Donnell Pumphrey, remember him? San Diego State, he broke the NCAA career rushing record. He passed Ron Dane, the Thunder guy, Wisconsin. He had 6,397 yards.
The Aztecs beat Houston 34 to 10. Pumphrey rushed for 115 yards in this game. But I want you to listen to this 15 yard run that broke the record courtesy of ESPN. It's 11 yards past Ron Dane.
Here we go. A toss to him. Can he get the edge?
He's got it! Record time! Donnell Pumphrey smashes the record. They'll take that football off the field.
15 yard run establishes the new record. Yeah, I remember him. He got drafted by the Eagles. He ended up winning the Super Bowl with them. Now he's a running back coach at Cal State University in Sacramento. Hey, something else that happened this day in sports history.
December 17th, 2022. I remember this game because I was in Virginia. I remember this.
This was a Saturday afternoon if I remember correctly. The Vikings staged the biggest comeback in NFL history. They were down 33-0 to the Indianapolis Colts. They came back to beat them 39 to 36 in overtime. Greg Joseph, this man, knocked down a 40 yard field goal to win it and take a listen courtesy of Paul Allen, the Vikings radio network. Snap spot. Joseph right-footed kick.
It is good! And the Minnesota Vikings have completed the greatest comeback in the history of the National Football League. From 33 down they beat the Indianapolis Colts 39-36. And that is the ball game. The Vikings are NFC North champions.
Yeah, that's crazy. That was before Kirk Cousins. Well, he was there, but then he choked again in the playoffs. But anyway, uh, Hickey, that was a, that was a Saturday afternoon game, wasn't it? Saturday afternoon game. Right? Never forget it.
Yep, I remember. I was in my grandmother's living room watching that game and I said, Hickey, there was nothing, I'm in my grandmother's living room. There was nothing else for me to do but watch that entire game.
If I was in my house I would have turned that crap off and I had to watch the whole thing and I'm like, whoa, I'm glad I saw this. I'm glad you were happy. Yeah, well, I know you weren't happy. At least, well, but then Minnesota sucked in the postseason. They lost to the Giants.
Come on. Well, at that point too, the Colts season was nearing its end. You know, a loss is better. Helped get draft positioning to eventually get anything to Richardson, but the fashion that had happened was to say the least, embarrassing.
Embarrassing all the way around. Hey, those were a few things that happened this day in sports history. We did so much talking about everything in Atlanta. Thank you to Carl Dukes for joining us from Dukes and Bell 92-9 The Game, also here on the Infinity Sports Network for coming through earlier on in the show. We got time for a quick call. Don from Oregon. You got to go fast.
You're on the JR Sportbreeze show. That was so fast, we didn't even hear. Hickey, that was, he was a great caller, wasn't he?
That was impressive to speak so fast, it turns into silence. And speaking of fast and being good, this, you know, I thought that this NBA Cup game tonight was going to be good. And so far here, just at halftime of the Bucks lead the Thunder 51 to 50.
And so this NBA Cup championship, the second edition, I guess so far, so good. Listen, folks, we're going to be back with you tomorrow. Of course, we're going to have more fallout as it relates to Michael Penix Jr. and everything going on as he takes over for the Atlanta Falcons. I do want to talk to you about some of the changes with the NBA All-Star game. We'll get to that tomorrow. And then also, about this, the NBA All-Star game is changing things up, but it's Wednesday, tomorrow is, and I'll be able to share with you a few things that I'm looking forward to in 2025.
Yeah, it's a new top six list coming your way tomorrow. Thank you to everybody who tuned in and locked in for the show. Hickey, where can they find you and all that good stuff? Ryan underscore Hickey and the number three on Twitter.
Easy, easy, easy. Y'all be safe, be well, be cool, be smooth. We'll be back tomorrow. 6 p.m. Eastern, 3 Pacific. You can find me online at JR Sport Brief, the JR Sport Brief Show here coast to coast on the Infinity Sports Network is done. But don't move.
Bart Winkler is coming up next. Thank you for listening. You'll be safe and be well. Thank you.
