FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. -- Kirk Cousins remembers the first team meeting he had as an NFL player. It was 2012 after he was drafted by Washington. Cousins said he didn't really know the league yet, but soon he and his teammates gained all the basic knowledge they needed for the next few months.
"[Then-Washington head coach] Mike Shanahan walks in the team meeting and first thing: 'We've gotta win the NFC East,'" Cousins said. "Why do you have to win [your division]? You get a home playoff game. That's a game-changer.
"So, that's kind of always where it starts if you want to laser in your focus on what we are trying to do objectively this year."
Raheem Morris was the defensive backs coach for Shanahan that season. Morris is now the first-year Atlanta Falcons head coach, and Cousins, also in his first year with the Falcons, is his quarterback.
Perhaps it's just a coincidence, but in Morris' first team meeting back in April, he essentially said the same thing as Shanahan. Just with a little better ring to it.
Morris told the Falcons the goal was to win the NFC South or, as he put it, "Outrun the South."
The phrase has become Atlanta's rallying cry, especially before and after division games. The Falcons (6-3) are in first place in the NFC South with a 4-0 division record and a matchup Sunday against the New Orleans Saints (2-7) on the road (1 p.m. ET, Fox).
"Outrun the South" has gained so much popularity that it can now be found on official Falcons merchandise. That was never Morris' intention. In fact, the coach, who was an assistant and interim head coach with Atlanta previously, said he uttered the line spontaneously.
"I didn't mean to coin it," Morris said. "But I mean, I was just speaking from the heart, speaking to those guys and just being absolutely honest.
"Somehow, I let these guys talk me into doing a team meeting live and that came out and people are just taking it on their own."
The Falcons are rallying around Morris as much as any particular saying.
"I don't really want to make comparisons, but at the end of the day, our culture that we've built this year is special," Falcons inside linebacker Kaden Elliss said. "Starting with Raheem and [general manager] Terry [Fontenot], and through the players that they brought in this year, and a lot of the guys we kept, it's special, and I'm loving it."
The Falcons went 7-10 for three straight years under coach Arthur Smith, who was fired after last season and is now the offensive coordinator for the Pittsburgh Steelers. Atlanta has not had a winning record nor a playoff berth since 2017. The Falcons currently are in pole position to accomplish both things. This is their best start since 2016, the season they went to the Super Bowl.
"I think there's buy-in and belief everywhere," said Pro Bowl right guard Chris Lindstrom, who has been in Atlanta since 2019. "I think we've had the opportunities to go win games when we probably shouldn't have, or people didn't think we could have, but we had belief in one another.
"And when you go out there and you do that -- not once, but multiple times -- I think there's a thought you're never out of it."
The Falcons came back from trailing in the final minute to defeat the Philadelphia Eagles, Buccaneers and Saints earlier this season. They won three in a row before a loss to the Seattle Seahawks in Week 7, but have now won five of six after a second win over the Bucs.
"It was a disappointing performance as a team [against the Seahawks]," Pro Bowl safety Jessie Bates III said. "But we knew it was time to outrun the South again."
Defensive tackle Grady Jarrett was one of two players, along with left tackle Jake Matthews, who was with the Matt Ryan-led team that made the Super Bowl after the 2016 season. Jarrett has said that this team might be the most talented on paper that he has ever been on.
"It's definitely a mindset that [Morris has] established and that everybody bought into and something that we've run with," Jarrett said.
And to think the "Outrun the South" catchphrase was an accident. Back in 2011, when he coached Tampa, Morris inadvertently said the word "young-ry," combining young and hungry, during a news conference. He chalked it up to his fast-talking ways, courtesy of a New Jersey upbringing.
Unfortunately for Morris, his catchphrase has not turned into royalty checks. The coach hasn't trademarked the slogan.
"I think I missed the [opportunity] on the 'young-ry,'" Morris said with a laugh. "Probably missed it on the 'Outrun the South,' based on the fact that it's on every t-shirt. So, my business savvy people are just losing -- missing out."