When examining the career of Kirk Cousins, the objective view is he’s been a solid quarterback for a long time. A 4th round pick in 2012, he climbed his way up the ladder to become a starter by 2015. From there he reached two Pro Bowls and got his teams to the playoffs twice. Last season may have been his finest, at least from a statistical standpoint with 4,265 yards and 35 touchdowns with 13 interceptions.
It marked the fifth time in six seasons that Cousins has topped 4,000 yards passing. The second time he’s reached 30 touchdowns. Yet when speaking to a lot of Minnesota Vikings fans? One would swear he’s the second coming of Christian Ponder. Just ask this grandma. Here daughter decided to test her to see if she could facially recognize some of the top Vikings players from both the present and recent past.
She did pretty well.
Dalvin Cook, Harrison Smith, Adrian Peterson, and Adam Thielen were all guys she knew immediately. There was a brief embarrassing moment when she failed to recognize her favorite player, star receiver Justin Jefferson. When it came to Cousins though? She knew who he was right away, but it wasn’t a good kind of recognition. There were some choice words for him.
It isn’t entirely difficult to understand her frustration. Remember that Cousins inherited a team that had just gone to the NFC championship the year prior. He was supposed to be the final piece to the puzzle in their Super Bowl push. Instead after three seasons, he has a rather pedestrian record of 25-21-1. This despite being given an array of terrific weapons and a fairly strong defense most of that time.
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Kirk Cousins is the embodiment of good but not good enough
Last season was a perfect encapsulation of this frustration. Of the nine losses Minnesota suffered, seven of them were against eventual playoff teams. He threw 19 touchdowns and 11 interceptions in those games. In their seven victories, five were against non-playoff teams. Cousins threw 16 touchdowns and just two interceptions. Translation? He inflated his numbers against cupcake competition. Yet when confronted by solid teams, he looked mortal in every sense of the word.
It’s hard not to feel like Kirk Cousins is the eternal bridesmaid. He can make it to the wedding but is never the one tossing the bouquet at the end. Every time he’s been asked to deliver in a big spot, the quarterback hasn’t been able to deliver. This is a big reason why Minnesota chose to draft a quarterback this year. Third round pick Kellen Mond is somebody they have high expectations for.
Enough to where most believe 2021 might be Cousins’ last season there.
Given the reaction of fans like Grandma Jackie? It isn’t hard to understand why. The team is tired of waiting for him to take that final step. Chicago Bears fans certainly hope they might get out of a similar purgatory soon following the arrival of Justin Fields. Given how well they handled Minnesota with Cousins? It should be interesting to see how they fare without him.