ESPN Was Not Impressed — At All — With Kirk Cousins vs. Colts
Dustin Baker
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ESPN Was Not Impressed — At All — With Kirk Cousins vs. Colts
The Minnesota Vikings orchestrated the largest comeback in NFL history on Saturday, and quarterback Kirk Cousins didn’t really have much to do with it, according to ESPN.
Of course. Cousins slung 4 touchdown passes and 417 passing yards in the 2nd Half — the most passing yards in the 2nd Half of a game in 45 years in the 39-36 win over the Indianapolis Colts.
But for his troubles, ESPN awarded Cousins with a 33.0 QBR on Saturday, tabbing the performance as the fourth-worst of his 2022 campaign. The 33.0 QBR implies Cousins simply wasn’t very good.
ESPN Was Not Impressed — At All — With Kirk Cousins vs. Colts
Per ESPN’s quarterback evaluation metric, Cousins only played worst against the Philadelphia Eagles, Dallas Cowboys, and Detroit Lions this season. For perspective, Houston Texans quarterback Davis Mills has a 32.8 QBR in 2022, so ESPN feels Cousins performed akin to Mills all afternoon versus the Colts. It might as well have been Mills instead of Cousins out there, implies ESPN.
Hell, Russell Wilsons’s 2022 QBR is better than 33.0.
To be sure, the QBR metric is assuredly fallible. Why? Well, Cousins was remarkable in the 2nd Half. He had to be, as the Vikings executed the best comeback in the history of football. Cousins and the Vikings were terrible in the 1st Half, and no one disputes it.
However, it seems like ESPN “shut off” the adjudication portion of Cousins’ QBR thermometer after the 2nd Quarter. Why is this case? ESPN evidently considered Cousins’ 2nd-Half theatrics a product of “garbage time.” There is no other explanation for the putrid QBR.
In the 3rd Quarter, the Vikings faced 99.6% odds of losing, down 36-7 after failing to immediately kickstart their offense following halftime. The game was that much of a longshot for the Vikings, Cousins, and team’s fans.
But Minnesota roared back, erasing the 36-7 deficit with about two minutes remaining in the 3rd Quarter. The Vikings ultimately won by three in overtime, courtesy of Cousins’ touchdowns and playmakers K.J. Osborn, Dalvin Cook, and Justin Jefferson.
In the spirit of ESPN’s underwhelming treatment of Cousins, The Athletic’s Grant Paulsen provided an apropos defense of the Vikings QB1, tweeting after the game, “One day Kirk Cousins will get some respect. He’s orchestrated the two largest comebacks of his time in the NFL. Seven game-winning drives this year. Seven come from behind victories.”
Paulsen added, “But get all your memes and tweets ready for the next time he loses.”
Paulsen is correct that Cousins takes more heat than praise, probably a byproduct of only three playoff appearances since becoming a full-time starter in 2015. Cousins doesn’t quite drag teams to the postseason like the Mahomeses and Bradys, but then again, he isn’t quite that good.
What he did do was help create the most incredible comeback in NFL history — and cynics would say, “Of course he only had a 33.0 QBR.”
It’s a very Cousins-ish outcome.
Dustin Baker is a political scientist who graduated from the University of Minnesota in 2007. Subscribe to his daily YouTube Channel, VikesNow. He hosts a podcast with Bryant McKinnie, which airs every Wednesday with Raun Sawh and Sal Spice. His Viking fandom dates back to 1996. Listed guilty pleasures: Peanut Butter Ice Cream, ‘The Sopranos,’ and The Doors (the band).
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