The 5 Best Vikings QB Seasons of the Last 20+ Years
EPA+CPOE, an efficiency stat measuring NFL quarterbacks, began tracking in 1999.
Passer rating is decried by many as unreliable because the metric has inflated over the last decade. And QBR or Pro Football Focus grades don’t date back to 1999 or before.
Based on EPA+CPOE, these are the best Vikings QB seasons since 1999 (the last 23 seasons).
Note: Daunte Culpepper’s 2000 season ranked sixth per EPA+CPOE since 1999, probably lower because of 11 fumbles.
5. Case Keenum (2017)
EPA+CPOE: 0.131
NFL Ranking: 7th
Certainly the most unforeseen campaign on the list, Case Keenum was exquisite in 2017. Sam Bradford was lost for the season due to a bad knee — that would effectively end his career — and fans grimaced when Keenum was anointed the starter.
This was a point in time when Colin Kaepernick was still a quasi-attractive option in free agency. Hell, the team could’ve lured Tony Romo out of his then-one-year retirement.
But it didn’t need either man.
Keenum accounted for 23 touchdowns to just seven interceptions. With the Texas Tech alumnus at the helm, Minnesota won 11 of 14 games in the regular season. His playground style of football blended beautifully with Pat Shurmur’s offense, bolstering Stefon Diggs and Adam Thielen’s development.
The Vikings reached the NFC Championship, infamously lost, and that was the end of Keenum in purple clothing.
4. Kirk Cousins (2019)
EPA+CPOE: 0.148
NFL Ranking: 5th
Cousins isn’t universally loved — an understatement — but 2019 was his single season with the Vikings in which the team reached the playoffs.
Kevin Stefanski directed traffic on offense, unleashing Cousins to throw the ball downfield, chiefly to Stefon Diggs (which would be Diggs’ final season in the NFC North).
The Michigan State alumnus threw 26 touchdowns and six interceptions, culminating in a stunning playoff triumph at the Caesars Superdome over the New Orleans Saints.
The Vikings finished the regular season 10-6 (probably should have been 11-5 if they did not rest starters in the final game), upset the Saints, and clumsily lost in the Divisional Round to the San Francisco 49ers.
The aforementioned Stefanski joined the Cleveland Browns as head coach a week later.
3. Kirk Cousins (2020)
EPA+CPOE: 0.150
NFL Ranking: 8th
This is probably considered the eyebrow-raiser on the list.
Quietly, Cousins was tremendous in 2020, dropping 35 touchdowns and 13 picks. The start to 2020 was shaky for the man, but with the help of Dalvin Cook, Minnesota tried to salvage the pandemic season. They fell short, finishing 7-9 and missing the postseason by one game.
In 2020, Minnesota’s defense ranked 29th in the NFL for points allowed and 27th in yards allowed. Naturally, however, Cousins was skewered for “not leading the team to the playoffs.” Thirty-five passing touchdowns weren’t enough, evidently.
This was also the season when Danielle Hunter didn’t play, Everson Griffen left for Dallas, and Yannick Ngkaoue participated in six games, skedaddling thereafter.
2. Daunte Culpepper (2004)
EPA+CPOE: 0.156
NFL Ranking: 3rd
Culpepper’s magnum opus, indeed.
The former 1st-Rounder dimed 39 touchdowns, ran for two more, and notched 11 turnovers. Surprisingly, Culpeper did not lose a fumble in 2004, a trait that plagued him as a Viking.
This year would be Culpepper’s final full season in Minnesota, finishing 8-8, upsetting Green Bay in the Wildcard Round, and losing the following week in Philadelphia.
A little-known fact: Randy Moss “mooning” fans in Wisconsin occurred during his final win as a member of the Vikings (in his first stint, anyway).
1. Brett Favre (2009)
EPA+CPOE: 0.175
NFL Ranking: 4th
A fairytale-ish season, Favre joined the Vikings in 2009 after a wait-and-see year with the New York Jets in 2008.
Favre was legendary, connecting on 33 touchdowns and seven interceptions (incidentally Cousins’ exact statline in 2021 and Culpepper’s same numbers in 2000). He and the Vikings beat the Packers twice, raced to a 12-4 record, and smashed the Dallas Cowboys in Round 1 of the playoffs.
Like many other Vikings stories, the dream felt flat in the NFC Championship as the franchise couldn’t overcome a copious total of turnovers against the Saints in the stepping-stone to a Super Bowl.
By a relative mile, Favre’s 2009 season was the best by a Vikings quarterback in the last 23 years.
Rounding out the Top 10 Vikings QB seasons per EPA+CPOE since 1999:
- (2000) Daunte Culpepper = 0.124
- (1999) Jeff George = 0.123
- (2008) Tarvaris Jackson = 0.111
- (2021) Kirk Cousins = 0.108
- (2003) Daunte Culpepper = 0.103
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).
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