Boo Away — But Feel Bad for Kirk Cousins
Sunday was a spectacle on the gridiron for the Minnesota Vikings. They faced off against a quarterback who spent half his twelve-year NFL career with them. The reception would always be mixed, but the emotions would certainly run high.
Boo Away — But Feel Bad for Kirk Cousins
There was plenty of booing when Cousins took the field. That probably is to be expected, given the way he departed. Regardless of your feelings there, it’s hard not to feel a little bit bad for the veteran.
Sure, Cousins can snuggle his $180 million and sleep well at night. We can always pause the level of sympathy we have for him. However, could things have gone more wrong for the guy? Prior to the ink even drying on the contract, his replacement was already in the building to take his job. He looked terrible early on as he came back from the Achilles injury. There have been moments of success since, but he has generally faced struggles.
The Atlanta Falcons quarterback has thrown a career-high 15 interceptions and still has four games to play. It probably didn’t take him long to figure out Kyle Pitts is not T.J. Hockenson. Drake London is closer to reminding him of the games he played overseas than Justin Jefferson. No matter how much Darnell Mooney shines, Jordan Addison he is not.
Basically everything that could go wrong for Cousins has gone wrong. He chased the money rather than looking to cement his situation, and he is now getting burned for it. Then again, he has made a career of those decisions. Winning seems secondary, no matter how many chains he threw on or how much he liked certain situations.
On Sunday, we saw an embattled quarterback going through the motions. It was much of the same when looking at the deficiencies he has always shown: poor decision-making, questionable releases, and relatively lackluster results. The Falcons will get another strong performance or two out of their signal caller down the stretch. Maybe Raheem Morris will stop fielding questions about who his quarterback is every week.
Even if Cousins guides the Falcons into playoff contention, though, it will still be difficult for him to think about what could have been. If he had just once deviated from a desire to stack paper, he might not be in the situation he faces as his career comes to a close.
Brian Flores Might Leave the Vikings
Ted Schwerzler is a blogger from the Twin Cities that is focused on all things Minnesota Twins and Minnesota Vikings. He’s active on Twitter and writes daily for Minnesota Sports Fan. As a former college athlete and avid sports fan, covering our pro teams with a passion has always seemed like such a natural outlet.
You must be logged in to post a comment.