Vikings are so much better when Kirk Cousins doesn’t throw the ball

Kirk Cousins actively makes the Vikings worse

Minnesota has won two straight games after a brutal start, and it has a large bit to do with their commitment to the ground game. Dalvin Cook has gone off in the Vikings back-to-back victories, rushing for 163 yards against the Green Bay Packers and 203 yards against the Detroit Lions. Meanwhile, Cousins production has dropped due to a lack of reps, but he’s just fine with that. In fact, the Vikings should embrace this model of winning, rather than forcing a higher volume of throws for their high-priced QB.

The Vikings won both games handily, though the Packers mounted a late-game comeback after Minnesota held a double digit advantage for much of the contest.

Cousins’ contract doesn’t back up his stats

Cousins is overpaid, but that’s a tired narrative at this point. At the time Cousins signed his contract in 2018, that much was fairly obvious. He took a narrative of being fairly successful in Washington and managed to parlay that into a fully-guaranteed, short-term deal with the Vikings. It was a surprising, unappealing decision by Minnesota — and one that will haunt them as more capable quarterbacks go off the board every April.

But because the Vikings are stuck with that monstrosity on the books, they might as well find a way to win with it. They made Cook one of the highest-paid running backs in the NFL for a reason. He should be the face of this offense, and his recent streak is a testament to his capabilities.

That opens up the play-action attack for Cousins, which is actually excels at when given the opportunity. And with a sure-handed receiver like Adam Thielen, there’s no reason Minnesota’s offense, at the very least, can ride such a play-style to a respectable regular season finish.