A year ago, the Minnesota Vikings were the Cinderella story of the NFL, finishing 13-3 overall with backup quarterback Case Keenum.
A miracle finish against the Saints was followed up with a brutal loss to the Philadelphia Eagles in the NFC Championship game, however, the Vikings were legit now. They seemed legit to everybody that follows pro football.
The missing link to many observers- was the quarterback. Yes, Keenum played well- he did his job. In fact, he overachieved, setting career highs in everything, and yet despite all that, he was viewed as the “weak link”. In other words, we didn’t so much as win because of Keenum, we won in spite of Keenum, which is a crazy way to look at things.
So in the off-season, the Vikings went out and got their guy, to the tune of $84 million over three seasons. Exit Keenum, enter Kirk Cousins, “Mr. Franchise tag” himself.
Now in Minnesota, he had a top running attack, another solid tight end, and two very good wide receivers, however, Kirk and the Vikings just never seemed to gain traction.
Prior to the bye week, the Vikings sat at 5-3-1, with the toughest part of their schedule remaining with games against the Patriots, Seahawks, and two against the upstart Bears defense. The Vikings lost all 4 of these games, and finished outside of the playoffs.
Blame Kirk Cousins! That’s what everybody says right! Well wait just a minute.
For one, Cousins statically had a very good season. He set a career high in completion percentage, a career high in touchdown passes, and had the second highest QB rating of his career. The Vikings threw for over 4,200 yards compared to Keenum’s 3,500 last year.
However according to ESPN, last year, Minnesota ran for almost 2,000 yards- this season, they ran for 1,500 yards, and that’s a big stat.
The most concerning stat of all of them was Minnesota’s inability to win on the road. At home, they were 5-3, on the road, they were just 3-4-1, and part of that goes to Cousins.
In the biggest road games of the year, at New England, Chicago, and Seattle, Cousins threw four touchdowns and four interceptions, all while the Vikings looked flat and out of sync.
And that’s the story of Kirk Cousins and his 2018 season. Flat and out of sync. He’s always had rough games against teams with winning records. According to one Reddit user, his record now sits at 4-25 against teams with a .500 record or better, and that’s not good for a team looking to compete in a Super Bowl.
Things will get better, they must, or the Vikings will be thinking twice about all the money they dolled out for Kirk Cousins.
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