If you happened to catch the Minnesota Vikings’ matchup with the San Francisco 49ers on Monday night, you might have furled your eyebrow at something Troy Aikman expressed.
The story of the evening was Kirk Cousins — a veteran quarterback with the numbers of a superstar but none of the reputation. After leading Minnesota on yet another late scoring drive against a stacked defense, Aikman acknowledged Cousins’ many critics. He cast them aside and called the Minnesota signal-caller, long maligned for being a big-game choker, a “top-10 quarterback.”
Some people familiar with Cousins’ resume would likely be confused by such a description. Except, Aikman is absolutely right. Cousins is unequivocally an elite player. It’s high time we all start acknowledging it.
"Everybody has an opinion on Kirk Cousins. He's a top ten quarterback in my book." – Troy Aikman pic.twitter.com/sS6KuLl1xG
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) October 24, 2023
One of the hardest tasks an NFL quarterback can accomplish is shaking a false narrative. In our see-and-react-first pro football culture, first impressions are everything.
If you don’t have the great fortune of being one of the faces of the league right away, chances are, you’re inevitably fighting an uphill battle. That first interception you throw in a prime-time game? Sorry, you’re a choker. The first time you don’t lead a successful comeback with minutes remaining? Sorry, you’re not a winner. Have a good team and don’t win the Super Bowl (never mind that 31 full-time starting quarterbacks fall short every season)? Sorry, you’re a glorified stat-padder who will never elevate a team over the top. Try again next time!
In some fashion, all of these misnomers have applied to Cousins over the years. Despite nearly 40,000 career passing yards, almost 270 touchdown passes, four Pro Bowl selections (2016, 2019, 2021, 2022), and the fourth-highest completion percentage (66.9) in NFL history, Cousins is the guy who can never get “it” done. To many, Cousins can throw for 350 yards and four touchdowns, almost single-handedly keeping his teammates in a matchup they have no business competing in. But if he dares throw a pick or fumble the ball even once — statistically, a realistic play in any do-or-die situation for any signal caller — his entire effort was for naught. He simply didn’t measure up.
It’s reductive, shortsighted and a narrow-minded way of viewing and evaluating quarterbacks. Football is a cohesive team game, after all. But it’s just reality for some. These toxic labels shouldn’t apply to Cousins anymore.
Kirk Cousins on throws 10+ yards:
– 9/12, 202 yards, 2 TDs
Kirk Cousins on 3rd/4th:
– 9/12, 183 yards, 2 TDs
Probably best primetime game of his career. Vikings now have: GB, ATL, NO, DEN, CHI, LV
Take them off the deadline sellers list
— Brad Spielberger, Esq. (@PFF_Brad) October 24, 2023
I don’t want to say Monday night was a “coming-out party” for Cousins. A 12-year veteran is long past the days of doing anything like announcing himself or “arriving” to the entire football-watching public. But in playing his usual gritty game against a 49ers squad many consider to be a Super Bowl favorite, Cousins demonstrated that we’ve collectively overused a broad brush to paint him into something he just isn’t over the years.
Unless you’re a diehard with roots in the Twin Cities, no one with a pulse expected the Vikings to upset the 49ers. No one expected Cousins himself to cut up a defense rife with All-Pros and deep January postseason experience like a surgeon.
Yet, that’s precisely what Cousins did.
It’s a long marathon of a season, but you’ll be hard-pressed to find a better line in a win all year against a great opponent than Cousins’ 378 yards, two touchdown passes and 8.4 yards per pass attempt (!) against San Franciso. It was a marvelous performance. It’s a remarkable effort from a tried and true passing technician who hasn’t nearly received as much credit as he deserves. Considering the relentless pressure from the 49ers’ defense to collapse the Minnesota pocket, this was also a vintage Cousins evening through and through. One where he takes a brutal beating every possession and hangs in there and delivers strikes anyway. Just like he does every Sunday.
While there have been rough edges here and there, Cousins is enjoying one of the statistically finest seasons of his career in 2023. Not only is he on pace for career highs in touchdown passes (39) and yards (4,966), his expected points added (EPA) and completion percentage over expected (CPOE) composite of 0.109 ranks eighth in the NFL, per RBDSM.com. Only names like Patrick Mahomes, Lamar Jackson and Tua Tagovailoa — all veritable MVP candidates — have been better efficiency-wise.
All this to say: None of this excellent precedent is inherently new for Cousins.
I’ll be thinking about the below Cousins laser to Jordan Addison (who actually did enjoy a coming-out party Monday night) on a late, key third down where he was under a red-and-gold siege for a while. These are the kinds of moments that only exceptional quarterbacks can create.
We should stop pretending otherwise:
Kirk calm in the pocket.
📺: #SFvsMIN on ESPN/ABC
📱: Stream on #NFLPlus https://t.co/riDUhbzXkK pic.twitter.com/5UbDPIDJq6— NFL (@NFL) October 24, 2023
At 3-4, the Vikings aren’t out of the woods.
After starting the season 1-4, Minnesota is still slowly digging itself out of that hole. But the obstacle suddenly doesn’t seem so insurmountable anymore. After their conquest of the 49ers — unsurprisingly spurred by Cousins — a cornucopia of opportunity lies ahead of the Vikings. For the time being, Minnesota has just three remaining matchups against current winning teams through the rest of the year. There is an entirely feasible scenario where this squad can get white hot and grab one of the NFC’s top wild-card playoff seeds. Heck, the Vikings could even push the Detroit Lions for an NFC North division title. Everything is on the table now.
After weeks of trade deadline speculation, particularly concerning a quarterback of Cousins’ unique talents, these Vikings are back. They will almost certainly not be dealing away a quarterback who can take them to meaningful football in January and potentially much more. If anything, as Cousins awaits potential unrestricted free agency in the winter, Minnesota appears far more likely to handsomely extend its face of the franchise rather than give another “good-enough” team a chance at relevance with his services.
To be candid, it’s astonishing we’re having this conversation about Cousins and the Vikings. But credit is due where credit is due. Troy Aikman is correct. Maybe I should check my biases before expressing further surprise because Cousins is a top-10 quarterback.
We can’t ignore reality any longer.
