The Minnesota Vikings lost a brutal game against the New York Giants and saw their season end by a score of 31-24 and it ended in disappointing fashion. On the final play of the game, quarterback Kirk Cousins threw the ball five yards short of the first down marker on fourth and eight.
Yes, Cousins threw the ball short of the sticks with the game on the line. Nex Gen Stats shows it here.
Thielen, Osborn, Jefferson. Left to right. On fourth-and-8 with the game on the line. The result was a 3 yard check down to Hockenson. Unbelievable. pic.twitter.com/OvVV4tdY3M
— Courtney Cronin (@CourtneyRCronin) January 16, 2023
It’s incredibly frustrating that you are running only three vertical routes with none of them being even close to the sticks and your two outlets are right by the line of scrimmage.
In a postgame interview with the Vikings radio broadcast KFAN, head coach Kevin O’Connell said that they were looking to go deeper.
“We were looking to go deeper. Kirk just put it in play.”
Considering how great the situational football has been this season, this was a disaster on all fronts. There is, however, an element of poetry to Cousins’ final pass of the season, and perhaps final pass of his Vikings career being short of the first down marker.
