The Minnesota Vikings welcome Kirk Cousins back to the friendly confines of U.S. Bank Stadium today. Cousins leads his 6-6 Atlanta Falcons, who inexplicitly are in first place in the NFC South Division. Kirk donned the purple for six seasons, and there were some tremendous highs and some dramatic lows during his time here.
There will be mixed reactions to Cousins’s return. Some Minnesota fans will cheer, some will jeer, and some will be happy, thinking, “I’m glad the door didn’t hit you on the way out.”But the game is about much more than Cousins’ return to familiar territory. It is about the Vikings maintaining their momentum in search of an even stronger playoff spot. Let’s take a look at both aspects of the game.
The Vikings and Kirk Cousins
Statistically speaking, Cousins had a successful career with the Minnesota Vikings. He finished his time here going 2,093-3,081, with 23,265 passing yards and 171 touchdowns. He was named to three Pro Bowls in his Vikings tenure, and he will always be remembered for his clutch performance against the New Orleans Saints in the 2020 Wild Card game. That overtime thriller ended with a Cousins to Kyle Rudolph touchdown toss in a 26-20 win.
Then there is the other side of Kirk Cousins. The fumbling, lack of pocket pressure awareness, Kirk. The Cousins, whose teams have only made the playoffs twice in his 13-year career. The player who is 13-20 in primetime games.
Or the guy who is 20-51 against teams with a .500 or better record. Or the character who said he wanted to remain a Vikings player for life and then colluded with Falcons on his getaway to more riches. I don’t begrudge Kirk his riches. That is what the market will bear. I just think he would rather be a little successful and rich than a little poorer and have a better chance at a Super Bowl ring.
More About Winning
But this game is more about the team winning and enhancing their playoff outlook. If the Vikings win, they will trail the division-leading Detroit Lions by only one game, and they will be two games up on their long-time rivals, the Green Bay Packers. They play both of these teams in the season’s final two games. They are on a five-game win streak, and quarterback Sam Darnold seems to have shaken his mid-season interception blues.
And the Brian Flores defense continues to confound and confuse opposing teams. They are led by two of the best bookend edge rushers in the league, Jonathan Greenard and Andrew Van Ginkel. And they are strong in the middle, led by their All-Pro caliber inside linebacker Blake Cashman.
It should be a heck of a show.
