Kirk Cousins responds with big game to give Vikings hope
By John Buhler
After playing terribly in Week 4 versus the Chicago Bears, Minnesota Vikings quarterback Kirk Cousins showed that the team can trust him to beat bad teams.
The Minnesota Vikings suffered a tough loss on the road last week to the division rival Chicago Bears. Quarterback Kirk Cousins played poorly and the entire Vikings offense managed just six points against the vaunted Chicago defense. Facing scrutiny this week, Cousins needed to respond with a big game and he did just that against the New York Giants on Sunday afternoon.
Cousins completed 22 of 27 passes for 306 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions. He averaged 11.3 yards per attempt and garnered a stellar quarterback rating of 138.6, as the Vikings sunk Daniel Jones’ New York Giants 28-10 at MetLife Stadium.
Cousins has always been an accurate passer ever since coming out of Michigan State back in 2012. However, he does tend to struggle in big spots against good teams in standalone affairs. While the Giants aren’t great by any means, this was a step in the right direction that the Vikings can feel good about going forward.
After asking if he could get the ball some more, Cousins was able to find his star wide receiver Adam Thielen for seven catches and a touchdown on 130 receiving yards. Though his other star wide receiver Stefon Diggs didn’t do a good job of dispelling trade rumors, even he got a few passes thrown his way. Diggs had three grabs for 44 yards in a throwaway performance for him.
Yes, the Mike Zimmer Vikings defense held the Giants in check, as Jones only managed to complete 21 of 38 passes for 182 yards, one touchdown, one interception and a dreadful 4.8 yards per attempt. However, it was the balance on offense that should give Vikings fans reasons to be happy beyond just this third victory of the season.
Cousins did lean on emerging star running back Dalvin Cook in the backfield. Cook had 21 carries for 132 yards, as well as six catches for 86 yards. With over 200 all-purpose yards on the day on the road nonetheless, Cook looks to be the superstar the Vikings have coveted in the backfield since prime Adrian Peterson. He’s not A.D., but he doesn’t have to be. Cook can just be himself.
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So what is the big takeaway from this game from Cousins? He can quarterback at a high level against a mediocre team when no ones watching. That’s not great, but responding to the critics and his teammates’ frustrations have the Vikings feeling good about improving to 3-2. This isn’t an elite team yet, but they have the room to grow into that if Cousins plays like this more often.