Colin Cowherd isn’t backing down from his prediction that the Minnesota Vikings will finish the 2022 season with a 14-3 record.
During a segment on The Colin Cowherd Podcast, the FOX Sports commentator doubled down on his pick for the Vikings to have a mega bounce-back year after finishing last season with a losing record.
“I think Kirk Cousins is going to have a big year. I think the Vikings are going to have an exceptional year,” said Cowherd. “And I’m going to go out on a limb, 13-4 or 14-3. I know you think I’m out of my mind. Don’t trust the [Chicago] Bears. Don’t trust the [Detroit] Lions. And since Kirk Cousins has been there, they have always played Aaron Rodgers straight up.”
The Vikings are hoping the hiring of a new coaching staff, including first-year head coach Kevin O’Connell, can help turn things around for a team that has missed the postseason in back-to-back years.
They’re also counting on him having more of a connection with quarterback Kirk Cousins than former head coach Mike Zimmer.
Ben Leber, a former Vikings linebacker, recently told CBS Sports Radio Zimmer “didn’t like” Cousins. He believes a lack of trust has played a big role in the team’s struggles in recent years.
Cowherd also admitted to hearing similar rumblings from a “trusted” source within the organization that the quarterback and former coach had a “chilly relationship.”
So there’s clearly reason to hope a reunion with O’Connell could do wonders for Cousins’ career.
A more confident version of Cousins could take the Vikings to new heights in a year where the Bears and Lions are both still trying to figure things out, while Rodgers moves forward without his favorite receiving weapon, Davante Adams, in Green Bay.
The NFC North really is there for the taking.
