After one of the most magical, improbable, dramatic and some would say incredibly fortunate regular seasons in NFL history last year, the Vikings suffered a 31-24 defeat at home in the wild-card round of the playoffs to the Giants. The final blow came when Kirk Cousins was forced to check down on fourth-and-eight and the Vikings turned over the ball on downs to the Giants, who kneeled out the clock.
As Cousins and his wife, Julie, exit the parking lot of U.S. Bank Stadium, with Cousins behind the wheel, he stops and offers to sign a few items for a couple of fans, saying, ‘‘Sorry, you guys must be freezing.’’ On the drive home, Cousins quietly laments: ‘‘It doesn’t feel like it should be over. Tough to host a playoff game and not win. . . . The plays you go back and beat yourself up over, it’s just . . . misery.’’
They roll up to their home, which still has Christmas lights and decorations up, and as they pull into the garage, Julie says, ‘‘Oh, I forgot it’s trash night.’’
It’s so normal it almost seems weird.
These types of low-key, casually intimate and ‘‘regular’’ moments are among my favorite segments in the eight-part Netflix series ‘‘Quarterback,’’ which chronicles the 2022 seasons of three NFL QBs: Cousins, Patrick Mahomes of the Chiefs and Marcus Mariota of the Falcons.
We know a series such as this is going to provide an abundance of game and practice footage and take us inside the strategy sessions, the locker room and the weight room. But the hardcore football stuff is nicely balanced by the at-home and behind-the-scenes footage, whether it’s Cousins reading a bedtime story to his son, Mahomes and his family visiting a pumpkin patch/amusement park or Mariota confessing his love for McDonald’s breakfast food while his longtime friend and personal chef whips up a healthier option for him in his kitchen.
On the heels of ‘‘Formula 1: Drive to Survive’’ (2019) and ‘‘Full Swing’’ (2022), Netflix once again has delivered an absolutely addicting, if not particularly critical, deep dive into the world of big-time sports. (The first two series were extremely popular, but given the dominance of the NFL as a spectator sport, this most likely will be the most watched of the bunch.) With Peyton Manning and his Omaha Productions, Mahomes’ 2PM Productions and NFL Films as production companies, the subjects and the sport itself are going to be portrayed in the best possible light. (Just one example: Judging solely by the brief appearances of Mahomes’ brother, Jackson, in a few scenes, you’d have no inkling of Jackson’s polarizing and controversial antics.)
Still, there’s something riveting about spending a full season with three quarterbacks who have had three very different careers. And, to the good fortune of the filmmakers, each had a particularly dramatic season in 2022.
Two of the three subjects will be welcoming babies along the way, one will spearhead the greatest comeback in NFL history, another will overcome a tough injury to lead his team to Super Bowl glory and one abruptly will leave his team without explanation after his coach informs him he no longer will be starting. You literally can’t script developments like that.
Mahomes, of course, is already a superstar who’s on his way to enter the conversation about the greatest quarterbacks in the history of the game. Cousins has racked up some big numbers in an up-and-down career that has seen him criticized for perceived failure to excel in prime time and in the postseason. Mariota is a Heisman Trophy winner who was the second overall pick in the 2015 draft but stalled out with the Titans and was benched, then signed with the Raiders as Derek Carr’s backup before eventually joining the Falcons and being named their starting quarterback after outplaying rookie Desmond Ridder in the preseason.
Each is facing new challenges as the season begins, and each will enjoy triumphs and endure setbacks as the months wear on. (This is all being said with the realization we’re talking about three veteran NFL quarterbacks who are financially set for life and then some — and then some.)
The on-field footage (game sound never has been so crisp), the workouts and the physical-therapy scenes remind us of the brutal nature of the game and the intense dedication it takes to remain competitive. (Cousins, who is 34, takes numerous shots to his ribs during the season, and we can feel his pain. Mahomes famously willed himself to keep playing in the postseason after suffering a high ankle sprain.)
All three main subjects come across as decent, thoughtful, passionate family men on and off the field. (Mahomes has by far the most high-profile life, befitting someone who is the face of his sport, while Cousins and Mariota and their families seem content to play the game they love and stay out of the spotlight, for the most part.) As was the case with the previous Netflix sports documentary series, the subjects seem perfectly comfortable and at ease in front of the cameras. We know this is all being filtered through a lens, but it never feels less than authentic.
Here’s hoping Netflix continues this long-form approach in other sports. How about an MLB documentary series featuring Shohei Ohtani, Joey Votto and Julio Rodriguez? Or an NBA entry spotlighting Stephen Curry, Nikola Jokic and Giannis Antetokounmpo? The possibilities are enticing, to say the least.
