Popular NFL Analyst Changes Tune on Kirk Cousins
Dustin Baker
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Winning cures everything. Everything.
The Minnesota Vikings conquered the San Francisco 49ers on Monday Night Football, 22-17, a team considered the NFL’s best heading into Week 7. Vikings quarterback Kirk Cousins was terrific, diming 378 passing yards and 2 touchdowns while very much looking the part of an elite passer, at least for a night.
Popular NFL Analyst Changes Tune on Kirk Cousins
And Cousins’ performance was so grand that a popular Cousins detractor changed his tune on the Vikings future plans relating to the 35-year-old.
He’s Mike Florio on Pro Football Talk, and he now believes Minnesota should consider keeping Cousins beyond 2023 for the long haul.
“The Vikings need to at least consider the possibility of getting Cousins signed in lieu of starting over again with a rookie quarterback who may or may not pan out,” Florio told show co-host Chris Simms.
Florio has a documented history of criticizing Cousins and hinting at a Vikings change to QB1. He added, “And I can’t believe I’m saying that because I thought that’s what they should do, but Cousins showed me something last night that made me change my mind.”
Two and a half weeks ago, Florio questioned Cousins’ commitment to greatness because the quarterback attended a Minnesota Twins playoff game on a Tuesday, claiming that Cousins should’ve skipped the family outing so he could practice.
“Do you want to be great? Do you? If so, what are you willing to do to be great? What are you willing to sacrifice to be great? Are you willing to work every single day to be great? Because others who aspire to be great are doing exactly that,” Florio questioned Cousins’ commitment to his career.
Most NFLers have Tuesday off, but quarterbacks usually hit team headquarters anyway, so Florio wanted Cousins to eliminate the baseball family time and focus on the Vikings next opponent, the Kansas City Chiefs.
“More specifically, are you willing to pass on going to a baseball game five days before facing Patrick Mahomes in a game that will result in your team being either 1-4 or 2-3? Cousins has every right to take the day off. Do you think Mahomes did? Do you think any of the great ones do?” he added.
Nine months ago, Florio joined KFAN’s Paul Allen after the Vikings lost to the New York Giants in the playoffs and voiced displeasure about Cousins’ overall performance, “Joe Burrow is the anti-Kirk Cousins. Joe Burrow is the guy who, like Kirk, will have a great season. But when the lights get bright, you’ve got one game, and your whole season is riding on it — do you crumble, or do you rise? Joe Burrow rises, Kirk crumbles.”
“Kirk doesn’t have it. You can take your rose-colored glasses and shove them up your butt. Kirk doesn’t have it,” Florio concluded in January about Cousins and the Vikings postseason loss.
Now, though, fresh off an unforeseen victory in primetime over San Francisco, Florio claims the Vikings consider prolonging the Cousins relationship.
Cousins is scheduled to hit free agency in March if no extension is arranged.
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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.
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