Sep 19, 2021; Glendale, Arizona, USA; Minnesota Vikings quarterback Kirk Cousins (8) warms up prior to facingthe Arizona Cardinals at State Farm Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports
If the Minnesota Vikings can curtail an out-of-nowhere fumbling problem, they might be a division-leading or playoff-bound football team.
Through two games, with Week 3 three days away, the Vikings have turned the ball over seven times to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Philadelphia Eagles while forcing just one takeaway.
Unsurprisingly, due to the naughty fumble disease, Minnesota is 0-2 and facing a desperation game this weekend at U.S. Bank Stadium versus the also-desperate 0-2 Los Angeles Chargers. It’s the battle of 0-2 teams, with the loser tumbling into misery and longshot odds to reach the postseason.
The weird part? Vikings quarterback Kirk Cousins is thriving — it just doesn’t matter, at least not yet.
OptaStats tweeted a strange factoid last week that exemplifies the Vikings bizarre plight involving Cousins’ upper-echelon performance and team’s winless standing, “Kirk Cousins is the first QB in NFL history to throw for 700+ yards on 70% completions over the first 2 games of a season but lose both.“
Cousins’ dimes are accurate and plentiful, per the Opta stat — but it doesn’t matter.
Minnesota’s defense has also improved, especially in the secondary, but again, the fumbles have ravaged any chance at victory. The Vikings, too, aren’t running the ball, tallying 26 rushing attempts in two games when an average NFL team runs the pigskin 27 times per game.
Normally when the Vikings encounter troubles on Cousins’ watch — he’s been the QB1 for six seasons — he is part of the problem, beset sometimes by a bad game or two. But to start the 2023 season, it’s really Cousins dragging Minnesota along, just not enough to grace the win column.
And the development is bittersweet. Cousins typically doesn’t get hot-hot until October and November, using September as a feeling-out period, at least statistically, and then cooking in the middle of the season. This year, with back-to-back seasons with OC continuity for the first time since 2015-2016, the 35-year-old is rolling early.
Unfortunately, he, Alexander Mattison, Brandon Powell, and Justin Jefferson have recorded six fumbles in eight quarters, follies that will sink any NFL team.
On the whole, Cousins’ rankings among quarterbacks through Week 2 are as follows:
That averages to about seventh-best in the sport, which should be good enough to avoid an 0-2 record,
No such luck.
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 Vikings obsession dates back to 1996. Listed guilty pleasures: Peanut Butter Ice Cream, ‘The Sopranos,’ Basset Hounds, and The Doors (the band).
All statistics provided by Pro Football Reference / Stathead; all contractual information provided by OverTheCap.com.