Vikings are a serious contender when Kirk Cousins plays well
By John Buhler
Kirk Cousins won a big game in primetime for the Minnesota Vikings against the Dallas Cowboys. Face it. They’re a contender when he plays for the Vikings.
Throughout his NFL career out of Michigan State, Kirk Cousins has been great at two things: completing passes and getting paid. The Minnesota Vikings quarterback signed a lofty deal as a free agent two years ago but hasn’t always delivered up to his high price tag. Well, he played up to his contract on Sunday night, as he was key in the Vikings win over the Dallas Cowboys.
Though the Vikings have one of the best rosters in the entire NFL, the key to their success is simple: if Cousins plays well, they can compete with anybody, making them a serious contender when their signal-caller plays up to high expectations. While Cousins has had a terrible time in spotlight games, he did not sink under the pressure, as he bested Dak Prescott and the Cowboys.
Cousins completed 23-of-32 passes for 220 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions. While his 6.9 yards per attempt isn’t worth writing home about, he did have a passer rating of 111.5, certainly keeping pace with his quarterback contemporary in Prescott.
See, Cousins can play a great game in a big spot. Of course, having a strong Pro Bowl-level running back in Dalvin Cook to lean on certainly helps. But Cousins was more than just a game manager in this game, he made some big-time throws when he needed to. He got Cook involved in the passing game, as well as Stefon Diggs and five other receiving targets.
It wasn’t always pretty, but this was the type of game that showed us all that the Vikings can be trusted come January. In essence, Minnesota went on the road and beat a playoff-caliber team in Dallas in what could be a potential rematch in January in either the NFC Wild Card or NFC Divisional Round.
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Just how high is the Vikings’ ceiling? It is as high as Cousins allows it to be. If he plays like this, the Vikings can win multiple playoff games and be within striking distance of reaching Super Bowl LIV in Miami. Fortunately for the Vikings, it has been more good than bad with Cousins this year. Has he bucked the trend of no-showing in big games? We’ll see, but he passed a crucial test Sunday.