In Sunday's loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers we saw a familiar story play out for the Atlanta Falcons. Their defense played quite well in bad circumstances, Bijan Robinson was spectacular as usual and had they gotten even a passable performance at quarterback they probably would have won the game.
To be fair, veteran Cooper Rush was in a tough situation being thrust into the starting role on short notice - and having suffered from back spasms the day before.
That being said, the Falcons had every right to expect better than what they got from Rush. According to Brent Sobleski at Bleacher Report, Rush deserves a "D" grade for Week 1, and that's probably generous.
"Still, the Falcons feature significant offensive skill talent. But Rush and Co. couldn't
get the passing game off the ground. In fact, the team's wide receivers caught only three passes. The majority of Rush's 12 completions went to running back Bijan Robinson. The quarterback targeted tight end Kyle Pitts only once. It's' difficult to give Rush a failing grade because of extenuating circumstances. At the same time, he didn't play well."
In the end Rush went 12/22 for 143 yards, one touchdown, two interceptions and a near-impossible 2.6 QBR.
The details are even more damning, as eight of Rush's 12 completions went to Bijan Robinson - including the "touchdown pass" that consisted of a simple throw at the line of scrimmage that every NFL quarterback can make.
While there's nothing wrong with giving the ball to Robinson a lot, not targeting tight end Kyle Pitts more than once is a criminal-level mistake - and Drake London's four targets was also far too few. Rush also had a terrible time operating outside of the pocket and even had recurring issues getting the ball past the arms of Pittsburgh's defensive front.
The Falcons don't have a ton of options, and it sounds like Rush is in line for another start in Week 2. Fortunately, the Panthers defense is nowhere near as talented as Pittsburgh's.
This article originally appeared on Falcons Wire: B/R grades Falcons QB Cooper Rush's performance vs. Steelers
