Kirk Cousins forces his way into the MVP conversation

Earlier this week, we took a way-too-early look at the MVP candidates. We now need to add a name to the discussion.

Kirk Cousins.

And it’s not just because he threw for a career high and franchise-record 509 yards on Thursday night in an overtime win over the Buccaneers. With two NFC South victories only four days apart, the Falcons have stolen the driver’s seat in the division. And if the Falcons win enough games to secure the top seed in the NFC, Cousins becomes one of the two de facto finalists for the award.

It’s a quarterback thing, unless a running back or a receiver does something historic. (No receiver has ever done anything sufficiently historic to win the regular-season MVP.) And unless there’s a quarterback from a team other than one of the top seeds that does something historic, the MVP will be the quarterback of one of the two No. 1 seeds.

Can the Falcons be the No. 1 seed in the NFC? Absolutely. Through four weeks (and one game) there’s no juggernaut in the conference. No team of destiny. No city through which the road to the Super Bowl is destined to lead.

Sure, the Vikings are 4-0. They have more winning to do before they’ll remind anyone of 2009 (when they were the No. 2 seed) or 1998 (when they were the top seed). The NFC East is a jumbled mess, where Cousins’s other former team is the best of the bunch, so far.

The 49ers are the one team that can find the gas pedal and secure the top spot in the conference. And if/when the 49ers play up to their full potential, it won’t be easy for the Falcons and Cousins (a Kyle Shanahan favorite) to go there and win.

That’s been the issue with past Cousins teams in the playoffs. They’re good enough to get there. They’re not good enough to beat that season’s juggernaut.

This year, maybe they’ll become the juggernaut.