Oct 14, 2018; Minneapolis, MN, USA; Minnesota Vikings quarterback Kirk Cousins. Mandatory Credit: Jeffrey Becker-USA TODAY Sports.
Since joining Minnesota in 2018, quarterback Kirk Cousins has been the most polarizing player in Vikings history.
Some fans think he’s the worst player to ever wear purple, while the silent majority seems to agree that he’s a top-12 starter who has played behind a below-average offensive line. This season seems to be the exception as Cousins has exceeded expectations that even his harshest critics have placed on him. The defense and unlucky plays are keeping the Vikings from a 3-0 start and Cousins out of the MVP conversation.
Minnesota’s 1-2 start is not Cousins’ fault.
Through the first three weeks of the season, Cousins has thrown for 918 yards and eight touchdowns with a 73.9% completion percentage. He also has posted a 118.3 quarterback rating through three games, which is largely thanks to him keeping the ball safe (he has not thrown an interception or lost a fumble so far this season). Cousins has always played well for the Vikings, but this year’s offensive line has allowed him to stay in the pocket for longer – which leads to throws like this…
According to Pro Football Focus, Kirk was the most accurate quarterback with a clean pocket through the first two weeks of the season. That stat should continue after week three. Both he and the o-line played well in Sunday’s 30-17 win over the Seattle Seahawks.
Kirk Cousins would be getting MVP attention if the Vikings were 3-0.
Neither of the two losses this season has been because of his play. In week one, Dalvin Cook “fumbled” while in field goal territory – his knee appeared down in replays – and the Bengals (2-1) won on a field goal as time expired in overtime. Then in a week-two shootout against the Arizona Cardinals (3-0) Greg Joseph missed a game-winning field goal from 37 yards. If these two plays go the other way, the Vikings are 3-0 and become one of the hottest teams in the NFL.
It should be noted that Cousins led the Vikings’ offense on potential game-winning drives in both of those games. Cousins has 16 game-winning drives over his nine seasons prior to 2021, including three such drives for the Vikings in 2020. It’s looked like Kirk has played with a fire underneath him so far this season and has seemingly turned into the team’s leader overnight. As someone who has supported Kirk since his arrival in Minnesota, I am loving this new version of him and can’t wait to see this level of play continue.
Although we’d all love to see Kirk win an MVP he’ll have some tough competition from the rest of the league. Kyler Murray (1,005 passing yards, 10 total TDs), Matt Stafford (941 passing yards, 9 passing TDs), and Derek Carr (1,203 passing yards, 6 passing TDs) have all led their teams to 3-0 records and are in bigger markets, so they’ll garner more attention from the national media when talking about early MVP favorites.
However, with three ideal matchups over the next three weeks (vs. Cleveland, vs. Detroit, and at Carolina), Cousins could realistically get to 2,000 passing yards and 15+ passing touchdowns. Next week also officially starts “Kirktober,” which should see Kirk improve on his 8-3 record in the month of October in his three seasons with the Vikings.
With all the momentum heading into another crucial game next Sunday against the Browns, Kirk Cousins and the Vikings will hope to build on what head coach Mike Zimmer said was the “…best offensive performance I’ve seen in the eight years I’ve been here” on Sunday. Cousins only trails starters Russell Wilson and Matthew Stafford in QBR after three weeks and would be an MVP candidate if he continues this hot start and leads the Vikings to a 4-2 or 3-3 record by the Vikings’ bye week.