Falcons can't let history bog them down when they return from bye week

ATLANTA (AP) — The Atlanta Falcons can't let history bog them down after their off week.

They're still holding first place in the dreadful NFC South.

They're still in prime position to earn their first playoff berth since 2017.

That said, this remains a franchise best known for squandering a 28-3 lead in the Super Bowl, which is merely the tip of an iceberg that has left Atlanta resembling the Titanic of the NFL through much of the team's nearly 60-year existence.

The Falcons (6-5) have never won a Super Bowl, and they hardly looked like a title contender in their last two games before the bye.

The high hopes of a 6-3 start were largely erased when Atlanta dropped a 20-17 decision to New Orleans, snapping the Saints' seven-game losing streak, and then got thoroughly embarrassed in a 38-6 rout by the middling Denver Broncos — the Falcons' most lopsided loss since 2021.

Just like that, a city used to so much disappointment since Atlanta entered the NFL in 1966 is sensing another gut punch.

“No one game will ever define you,” coach Raheem Morris said defiantly after the loss to the Broncos. “This one game won’t define us. I know this team will bounce back. It’s obviously a tough day for those guys. It’s a tough day for the organization, a tough day for the coaches. But this organization is built on tough people.”

When the Falcons return to practice, all eyes will be on $180 million quarterback Kirk Cousins to get the team back on track.

Cousins landed a huge contract from a team that had struggled to fill the most important position on the field in the post-Matt Ryan era.

The 36-year-old Cousins has put up some big numbers in his debut season with the Falcons, such as throwing for a career-best 509 yards against Tampa Bay. He tossed 17 touchdowns over Atlanta's first nine games, but he now he gone two straight games without a scoring pass for the first time as a starter.

“There’s no magic formula,” Cousins said. “What are we doing well? What are we not doing well? How do we fix it? Those are important questions to ask, but the answers are even more important as to how you fix it. That’s to be determined."

Cousins had talked about how thrilling it would be to lead a title-starved city to its first championship, but there's a flip side to that, of course.

There's very little patience for a team that has delivered so much heartache, so it won't take long for the fans to turn on Cousins if he doesn't turn things around when the Falcons return to Mercedes-Benz Stadium on Dec. 1 against the surging Los Angeles Chargers.

Especially because Cousins has been part of only one playoff victory over his long career and first-round draft pick Michael Penix Jr. is on the Atlanta sideline, eagerly awaiting a shot at doing more than mop-up duty.

“He’s doing a great job,” Cousins said of the rookie. "A hard worker, and our quarterback room has always been working together from day one to help each other grow. Not just one person, but all trying to get better every single day together.”

The bye came at an opportune time for a team that has been ravaged by injuries the last two weeks. Eight players didn't suit up against the Broncos, including several starters on the defensive side, and four more players went out during the rout.

While the offense has bogged down the last couple of weeks, the bigger issues appear to be on the defensive side.

Denver's rookie quarterback, Bo Nix, thoroughly dismantled the Falcons by completing 28 of 33 passes for 307 yards and four touchdowns.

“You can’t play like that and expect to win,” safety Justin Simmons said.

Nix never faced much duress from a defensive unit that ranks last in the league with just 10 sacks. To demonstrate how ineffective the Falcons have been at rushing the quarterback, all but five other teams have at least twice as many sacks as Atlanta.

Morris was asked if he'll be considering changes on the defensive side during the bye week.

“We always look at that,” he said. "You always go back, you always reflect, you always study. You get a little bit more time this week. You’ve got two weeks to come back, get ready, get healthy, prepare yourself to get better, prepare yourself to go out there and play your best football.”

Given their division, it likely would take a total collapse for the Falcons to squander their spot atop the NFL South.

If Atlanta merely beats three weaklings remaining on its schedule — Las Vegas, the Giants and Carolina — that would be good enough for a winning record and a likely division crown over Tampa Bay (4-6), New Orleans (4-7) and the Panthers (3-7).

Cousins said it's important not to get caught up in the big picture.

“There has to be this ability — and it can be difficult mentally and emotionally — to separate each game from the previous one or from the next one and just go play that game regardless of what has transpired,” he said.

That's easier to say when you're a guy who has played only 11 games for the Falcons.

When you're a longtime fan who has seen it all before, it gets much tougher to forget about the past.

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Atlanta Falcons wide receiver Drake London (5) hits Denver Broncos linebacker Cody Barton (55) after Barton's interception during the second half of an NFL football game, Sunday, Nov. 17, 2024, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)

Denver Broncos wide receiver Lil'Jordan Humphrey (84) runs into the end zone for a touchdown against the Atlanta Falcons during the second half of an NFL football game, Sunday, Nov. 17, 2024, in Denver. (AP Photo/Jack Dempsey)

Denver Broncos running back Audric Estime (23) leaps over Atlanta Falcons cornerback Clark Phillips III (22) during the second half of an NFL football game, Sunday, Nov. 17, 2024, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)

Denver Broncos linebacker Nik Bonitto (15) sacks Atlanta Falcons quarterback Kirk Cousins (18) during the second half of an NFL football game, Sunday, Nov. 17, 2024, in Denver. (AP Photo/Jack Dempsey)

Atlanta Falcons quarterback Kirk Cousins (18) prepares for a play against the Denver Broncos during the second half of an NFL football game, Sunday, Nov. 17, 2024, in Denver. (AP Photo/Jack Dempsey)

Atlanta Falcons defensive end Grady Jarrett heads off the field after an NFL football game against the Denver Broncos, Sunday, Nov. 17, 2024, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)

Atlanta Falcons head coach Raheem Morris, front, looks at the scoreboard as he leaves the field with wide receiver Darnell Mooney in tow after an NFL football game against the Denver Broncos, Sunday, Nov. 17, 2024, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)

Denver Broncos linebacker Nik Bonitto (15) sacks Atlanta Falcons quarterback Kirk Cousins (18) during the second half of an NFL football game, Sunday, Nov. 17, 2024, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korea and Russia reached a new agreement for expanding economic cooperation following high-level talks in Pyongyang this week, the North’s state media said Thursday, as they continue to align in the face of their confrontations with Washington.

North Korea’s official Korean Central News Agency didn’t elaborate on the details of the agreement signed Wednesday between its senior trade officials and a Russian delegation led by Alexandr Kozlov, the country’s minister of natural resources and ecology. The Russian news agency Tass on Tuesday said officials following an earlier round of talks agreed to increase the number of charter flights between the countries to promote tourism.

Kozlov, who arrived in North Korea on Sunday, met with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and his top economic official, Premier Kim Tok Hun, before returning home on Wednesday, KCNA said. During Kozlov’s visit, Russian President Vladimir Putin’s gifted Pyongyang’s Central Zoo with more than 70 animals, including lions, bears and several species of birds, according to Tass, in another display of the countries’ growing ties.

Kim Jong Un in recent months has prioritized relations with Moscow as he attempts to break out of international isolation and strengthen his footing, actively supporting Putin’s war on Ukraine while portraying the North as a player in a united front against Washington.

Kim has yet to directly acknowledge that he has been providing military equipment and troops to Russia to support its fighting against Ukraine. South Korea’s National Intelligence Service told lawmakers in a closed-door briefing on Wednesday that an estimated 11,000 North Korean soldiers in late October were moved to Russia’s Kursk region, where Ukrainian troops seized parts of its territory this year, following their training in Russia’s northeast.

The spy agency believes the North Korean soldiers were assigned to Russia’s marine and airborne forces units and some of them have already begun fighting alongside the Russians on the frontlines, said Lee Seong Kweun, a lawmaker who attended the meeting. U.S., South Korean and Ukrainian officials have claimed that the North has also been supplying Russia with artillery systems, missiles and other equipment.

North Korea would be possibly getting anywhere between $320 million to $1.3 billion annually from Russia for sending its troops to Ukraine, considering the scale of the dispatch and the level of payments Russia has been providing to foreign mercenaries, according to a recent study by Lim Soo-ho, a South Korean analyst at an NIS-run think tank.

While that would be meaningful income for North Korea’s crippled and heavily sanctioned economy, it could be lower than the money the North earns from illicit coal exports or supplying military equipment to Russia, Lim said. This suggests that North Korea’s troop dispatch is less about money than acquiring key Russian technologies to further advance its nuclear weapons and missile program, which is a major concern in Seoul, Lim said.

Amid the stalemate in larger nuclear negotiations with Washington, Kim has been dialing up pressure on South Korea, abandoning his country’s long-standing goal of inter-Korean reconciliation and verbally threatening to attack the South with nukes if provoked. He has used Russia’s war on Ukraine as a distraction to accelerate the development of his nuclear-armed military, which now has various nuclear-capable systems targeting South Korea and intercontinental ballistic missiles that can potentially reach the U.S. mainland.

In this photo provided by the North Korean government, North Korea’s Foreign Minister of Economic Affairs Yoon Chung-ho sees off Russia’s minister of natural resources and ecology Alexandr Kozlov, left, at Pyongyang International Airport, North Korea, Wednesday, Nov. 20, 2024. Independent journalists were not given access to cover the event depicted in this image distributed by the North Korean government. The content of this image is as provided and cannot be independently verified. Korean language watermark on image as provided by source reads: "KCNA" which is the abbreviation for Korean Central News Agency. (Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service via AP)

FILE - Russian President Vladimir Putin, left, and North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un pose for a photo during a signing ceremony of the new partnership in Pyongyang, North Korea, on June 19, 2024. (Kristina Kormilitsyna, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP, File)

FILE - Russia's natural resources minister Alexander Kozlov, right, is greeted by Yun Jong Ho, minister of External Economic Relations, as the Russian delegation leave Pyongyang Airport in Pyongyang, on Nov. 16, 2023. (AP Photo/Jon Chol Jin, File)