Just One Player in NFL History Has Better TD-INT Split than Kirk Cousins thru 120 Starts
Minnesota Vikings quarterback Kirk Cousins has started 120 games in his career, tallying 219 passing touchdowns and 87 interceptions in those starts.
In NFL history, 74 total quarterbacks have started at least 120 games, and only one has more touchdown passes and fewer interceptions than Cousins through 120 starts — Aaron Rodgers.
[brid autoplay=”true” video=”1020205″ player=”26279″ title=”Kevin%20O'Connell%20Faces%20Uphill%20Battle%20per%20Team%20History” duration=”932″ description=”Dustin Baker chats about the Vikings history with first-year head coaches.” uploaddate=”2022-05-26″ thumbnailurl=”https://cdn.brid.tv/live/partners/19437/snapshot/1020205_th_1653590386.jpg” contentUrl=”//cdn.brid.tv/live/partners/19437/sd/1020205.mp4″ width=”16″ height=”9″]
Through Rodgers’ first 120 starts, he registered 258 passing touchdowns to a paltry 64 picks. So, in this obscure metric, Rodgers is the standard-bearer.
Rodgers’ teams also fared better than Cousins’ Washington Commanders and Vikings through 120 starts. The Packers, under Rodgers’ leadership, were 81-39 (.675) through his first 120 starts, whereas Cousins is infamously situated at 59-59-2 (.500).
Such statistics and “quarterback records” are why the debate rages so intensely about Cousins. His numbers are there — irrefutably — as no one besides Rodgers has bested Cousins statistically through eight seasons of starts to begin a career. Somehow, though, Cousins teams, on the whole, finish close to the equator.
Rodgers has “problems” of his own, too. He’s won four MVP awards, received 10 Pro Bowl nods, and earned five All-Pro acknowledgments. Still, his Green Bay Packers have won just one Super Bowl — back in 2010, Rodgers’ third season as a starter. The Packers outlasted the Pittsburgh Steelers that season in Super Bowl XLV by a score of 31-25.
Ever since, Rodgers has undertaken a quest to emulate Tom Brady, which has failed miserably. Increasingly in sports, the world’s top athletes are adjudicated by championships. Michael Jordan’s perfect “Finals record” of 6-0 made it so the cream of the crop for a sport’s top performers must adhere to that standard for legitimacy. Jordan played in 15 seasons as a pro, but folks narrowly focus on his Finals record while disregarding the nine times he, his Chicago Bulls, and his Washington Wizards were bounced from the playoff tournament before the NBA Finals. The “6-0 in the Finals” logic is strange and peppered with illogicality.
In that vein, Rodgers’ resume is insulting compared to Brady, who most consider a similar quarterback. Brady’s teams have won Super Bowls seven times, and Rodgers is stuck in Drew Brees land with one.
Cousins, of course, has zero and hence doesn’t enter any chats involving Rodgers or Brady. However, nobody other than Rodgers has outdone Cousins via touchdown-interception split through 120 starts.
Overall, Cousins will either change the dialogue and win a Super Bowl of his own — or be remembered as a Carson Palmer-type or Tony-Romo-type without a Lombardi trophy.
The Vikings and Packers kick off the 2022 regular season against each other in 107 days.
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 Sally from Minneapolis. His Viking fandom dates back to 1996. Listed guilty pleasures: Peanut Butter Ice Cream, ‘The Sopranos,’ and The Doors (the band).
Vikings Territory: Ex-Vikings QB Sharpens Longstanding Criticism of Kirk Cousins
You must be logged in to post a comment.