Things Are Getting Wild. ‘Bench Cousins’ Theories Are Out There.

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Sep 24, 2021
Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports

When a team with Super Bowl expectations, at least on behalf of fans of the team, stares down the barrel of an 0-3 start to the regular season, the discourse sounds a little panicky.

And that’s where things stand with the Minnesota Vikings through two weeks. Mike Zimmer’s team has lost two games — by a combined four points — to start the 2021 season, so tensions are high and hotseat chatter is percolating. The Vikings dropped two games in as many weeks after fluky, dreadful events transpired — one a controversial fumble in Cincinnati, the other an inexcusable missed game-winning field goal. As a result, Minnesota is in a late-September mode of desperation, searching for wins with Russell Wilson and the Seattle Seahawks coming to town this week. Yes, it’s the same Russell Wilson whose Seahawks are 7-0 versus the Vikings since 2012. Yikes.

The anxiety is so palpable, a prominent national entity, Fansided, suggests quarterback Kirk Cousins is nearing time on the bench.

Cousins is the same dude who ranks fourth in the NFL among quarterbacks in Pro Football Focus grading thru two weeks.

So, that’s where we’re at.

Cousins engineered two game-winning drives to place the Vikings in reasonable positions two win — in both games. Cousins didn’t fumble in Ohio, and he for damn sure didn’t bungle the field goal in Arizona. But quarterbacks are accountable for everything — you know, almost like a head coach should be — in the contemporary NFL. If the team dropped to 0-3 at the feet of the Seahawks this weekend, FanSided believes the Kellen Mond era will commence.

Put simply, they are wrong.

Cousins is not the best football player on the Vikings — Danielle Hunter, Eric Kendricks, Dalvin Cook, Justin Jefferson, etc. — vie for that label. Yet, Cousins is playing consistently, diming five touchdown passes, zero interceptions, and zero fumbles lost to start the season. He’s the reason the team had a puncher’s chance to be victorious. On the other hand, the defense ranks 26th in points allowed, and FanSided has written no articles about benching the entirety of the defense. Strange.

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Here’s how FanSided rationalized its proposed benching of the Vikings quarterback:

“If Minnesota gets off to a rough start then their fans are going to serenade Cousins with boos. That’s all Zimmer will need to hand the ball over to rookie Kellen Mond. They drafted him to be Cousins’ long-term replacement but he could easily be thrust onto the field to save his team in the short term. Cousins may be able to find another chapter to his NFL career with a different coach, but his time with Zimmer is effectively done. It’s only a matter of time before the Vikings pull the plug on him as a starter. It could easily occur against Seattle on Sunday.”

Here’s the guy the Vikings would bench, for perspective:

To accompany the PFF stuff, Cousins ranks eighth in passer rating, 10th in QBR, and 11th in DVOA.

You can just write this down: At his current rate of performance, Cousins will not be benched. Minnesota is emphatically not chomping at the bit to start Kellen Mond. Hell, it would be Sean Mannion if something happened to Cousins.

If Cousins threw nine interceptions to no touchdowns in the next three games, whisking the Vikings to an 0-5 record — that’s a different story. However, Cousins will not do that. Quite frankly, he’s never done that in his career.

Minnesota hosts three games at home in the next three weeks — the aforementioned Seahawks, Cleveland Browns, and Detroit Lions. The Vikings need an about-face to the 2021 season to secure the jobs of Cousins and Zimmer heading into next season, but Cousins is “safe” for 2021.

Finally, from a dollars-and-sense standpoint, Cousins’ famous cap hit is $31 million this season. That’s the second-highest in the NFL among quarterbacks behind Russell Wilson, furthering the case against Cousins’ hypothetical benching.

Dustin Baker is a political scientist who graduated from the University of Minnesota in 2007. He hosts a podcast with Bryant McKinnie, which airs every Wednesday with Raun Sawh and Sally from Minneapolis. His Viking fandom dates back to 1996. Listed guilty pleasures: Peanut Butter Ice Cream, ‘The Sopranos,’ and The Doors (the band).