A little on the qb...
In the fourth quarter on Saturday, Cousins completed 14 of 23 passes for 203 yards, three touchdowns and an interception, connecting with Dalvin Cook for a 64-yard TD on a screen and tying the score with a two-point conversion to T.J. Hockenson, one of his secondary options on the play.
His 103.2 fourth-quarter passer rating is the fourth-best in the NFL this season, following a performance that gave him the NFL lead in fourth-quarter passing yards (1,181) and touchdown passes (10).
Since the start of the 2021 season, Cousins has thrown for 2,518 yards in 30 fourth quarters, passing for 18 touchdowns against five interceptions. He leads the league in passing yards (though the Chargers' Justin Herbert figures to retake the lead from Cousins on Sunday), and is tied with Tom Brady for the third-most TD passes in the fourth quarter.
"I just thought that his poise, his demeanor, his accuracy when we needed it the most," coach Kevin O'Connell said. "I think back to some huge plays that were not his first progression, second progression. The guys up front doing a great job giving him an extra click in critical moments to get that to T.J. on the two-pointer, find that dagger to Adam in that two-minute drive late . Kirk deserves a huge amount of credit for, like I said, willing our team. Regardless of the plays that are called, that guy keeps playing at a high level. "
In overtime, Cousins went 7-for-9 for 87 yards. The Vikings could have clinched the NFC North with a tie; quarterbacks coach Chris O'Hara let Cousins know about the implications of a tie, and why the Vikings would begin their final drive conservatively, before they took the field. Cousins replied in jest, "It would have been nice to know that at least 10 minutes ago. Maybe three days ago.
"I'm jogging on the field thinking, 'A tie wins the division; you have options here," Cousins said. " called the run . The second call didn't come in very quick. I'm kind of sitting there like, 'Maybe he's going for the tie.' Then he called the dropback, so I thought, 'No, he's going to go for it.' "
Cousins hit K.J. Osborn in the middle of zone coverage for 15 yards. With the clock ticking down inside 45 seconds, he fit one in between Isaiah Rodgers and Zaire Franklin, finding Thielen for 21 yards to put the Vikings at the edge of field-goal range.
"That's three or four on the progression backside trying to high-low defenders," O'Connell said. "And this guy knifes a beautiful throw to his guy."
For much of Cousins' career, the narrative around him has been built on data points (his 2-10 record on Monday nights, perhaps most notably) that cast him as a shrinking violet in big games. He is still only 11-18 in prime-time games overall, and fair or not, he likely won't be able to erase talking points about his fitness for big games unless he shines in a Vikings playoff run.
This season, though, he has seven game-winning drives and seven fourth-quarter comebacks, the most in the NFL in both categories. The Vikings' comeback victory at Buffalo was hailed as the game of the year; their record-breaking rally to beat the Colts figures to live on among the classics that catch Cousins' eye.
https://www.startribune.com/vikings-kirk-cousins-shows-fourth-quarter-and-beyond-is-his-time-to-shine-colts-biggest-comeback/600236993/
Hurry-up Vikings, we ain't getting any younger!
He had great protection in the fourth quarter. That's what he needs and many great QB's have had. He hasn't had that as much as he should have. This O-line is still an incomplete work in progress. Hope Kwesi and KOC recognize that.
@"jargomcfargo" said: He had great protection in the fourth quarter. That's what he needs and many great QB's have had. He hasn't had that as much as he should have. This O-line is still an incomplete work in progress. Hope Kwesi and KOC recognize that.I noticed that. It was like everything changed. Suddenly, Kirk has plenty of time to throw, suddenly Ryan is getting pressured. I'd like to believe it was a schematic change that can be duplicated but I suspect it was mostly about momentum.
Or the Colts were gassed?
I think they need to upgrade @ IOL more than they have.
I'm not saying prioritize it at the expense of helping a bad D, but something has to improve there - and probably more than what another year of continuity will bring.
@"purplefaithful" said: I think they need to upgrade @ IOL more than they have.I'm not saying prioritize it at the expense of helping a bad D, but something has to improve there - and probably more than what another year of continuity will bring.
I'd actually leave it alone. Getting Bradbury back will help and I'd do everything I could to keep the same five going into next season, with a healthy dose of competition for Ingram. Either way, he should improve a lot in year two.
Bradbury is one of the top free agent centers next year, so you're not going to upgrade that way, and drafting someone is a shot in the dark. Could actually be a big downgrade if you're not careful.
No, this is a be careful what you wish for type thing IMO.
@"MaroonBells" said:@"purplefaithful" said: I think they need to upgrade @ IOL more than they have.I'm not saying prioritize it at the expense of helping a bad D, but something has to improve there - and probably more than what another year of continuity will bring.
I'd actually leave it alone. Getting Bradbury back will help and I'd do everything I could to keep the same five going into next season, with a healthy dose of competition for Ingram. Either way, he should improve a lot in year two.Bradbury is one of the top free agent centers next year, so you're not going to upgrade that way, and drafting someone is a shot in the dark. Could actually be a big downgrade if you're not careful.
No, this is a be careful what you wish for type thing IMO.
I'm thinking FA if there was an OG/C..I dont see a rookie stepping in - unless maybe @ Ingrams spot. At this point they'd probably want to keep Bradbury, but that'll come down to offers he'll get elsewhere.
KC is still subject to too much pressure up the middle too often. They way I notice it? Is by watching other teams play offense.
@"purplefaithful" said:@"MaroonBells" said:@"purplefaithful" said: I think they need to upgrade @ IOL more than they have.I'm not saying prioritize it at the expense of helping a bad D, but something has to improve there - and probably more than what another year of continuity will bring.
I'd actually leave it alone. Getting Bradbury back will help and I'd do everything I could to keep the same five going into next season, with a healthy dose of competition for Ingram. Either way, he should improve a lot in year two.Bradbury is one of the top free agent centers next year, so you're not going to upgrade that way, and drafting someone is a shot in the dark. Could actually be a big downgrade if you're not careful.
No, this is a be careful what you wish for type thing IMO.
I'm thinking FA if there was an OG/C..I dont see a rookie stepping in - unless maybe @ Ingrams spot. At this point they'd probably want to keep Bradbury, but that'll come down to offers he'll get elsewhere.
KC is still subject to too much pressure up the middle too often. They way I notice it? Is by watching other teams play offense.
That's the way I see it too. Against the teams that manhandled the Vikings, Eagles, Cowboys, and Indy first half, the line couldn't stop anyone. And there are still to many negative plays where the defense is in the backfield almost instantaneously.
Most were brought in to play outside zone with emphasis on being quick and getting to the second level. They just don't seem to be strong enough against the good teams. One good free agent on the interior could make a big difference.
The defense obviously needs the most work, but at least one good interior lineman would be on my wish list.
@"jargomcfargo" said:@"purplefaithful" said:@"MaroonBells" said:@"purplefaithful" said: I think they need to upgrade @ IOL more than they have.I'm not saying prioritize it at the expense of helping a bad D, but something has to improve there - and probably more than what another year of continuity will bring.
I'd actually leave it alone. Getting Bradbury back will help and I'd do everything I could to keep the same five going into next season, with a healthy dose of competition for Ingram. Either way, he should improve a lot in year two.Bradbury is one of the top free agent centers next year, so you're not going to upgrade that way, and drafting someone is a shot in the dark. Could actually be a big downgrade if you're not careful.
No, this is a be careful what you wish for type thing IMO.
I'm thinking FA if there was an OG/C..I dont see a rookie stepping in - unless maybe @ Ingrams spot. At this point they'd probably want to keep Bradbury, but that'll come down to offers he'll get elsewhere.
KC is still subject to too much pressure up the middle too often. They way I notice it? Is by watching other teams play offense.
That's the way I see it too. Against the teams that manhandled the Vikings, Eagles, Cowboys, and Indy first half, the line couldn't stop anyone. And there are still to many negative plays where the defense is in the backfield almost instantaneously.
Most were brought in to play outside zone with emphasis on being quick and getting to the second level. They just don't seem to be strong enough against the good teams. One good free agent on the interior could make a big difference.
The defense obviously needs the most work, but at least one good interior lineman would be on my wish list.
Getting Darrisaw back helped quite a bit too...They probably gotta get back to outside running more with our best OL being the OT's.
@"BigAl99" said: Or the Colts were gassed?
Winner!!!
Our OL wasnt stepping up, its just the colts were tired from the ass whooping they gave our OL for the first 3 quarters.
@"BigAl99" said: Or the Colts were gassed?
While this may be true, the O line, specifically CD, was tired too. Hands on hips and sucking air at times. The pace of the last quarter and a half was pretty high.
I really wonder how much they recover before playing again Saturday. This would have been a nice time to play Sunday to give them an extra day.
@"Riphawkins" said:@"BigAl99" said: Or the Colts were gassed?
While this may be true, the O line, specifically CD, was tired too. Hands on hips and sucking air at times. The pace of the last quarter and a half was pretty high.I really wonder how much they recover before playing again Saturday. This would have been a nice time to play Sunday to give them an extra day.
he was fighting cramps as well, a fair bit of the hands on hips was him trying to stretch out his legs between plays, or at least keep from moving for a second or two to keep the cramps at bay.
@"MaroonBells" said:@"purplefaithful" said: I think they need to upgrade @ IOL more than they have.I'm not saying prioritize it at the expense of helping a bad D, but something has to improve there - and probably more than what another year of continuity will bring.
I'd actually leave it alone. Getting Bradbury back will help and I'd do everything I could to keep the same five going into next season, with a healthy dose of competition for Ingram. Either way, he should improve a lot in year two.Bradbury is one of the top free agent centers next year, so you're not going to upgrade that way, and drafting someone is a shot in the dark. Could actually be a big downgrade if you're not careful.
No, this is a be careful what you wish for type thing IMO.
And I think Ingram has enough upside to keep growing in that spot as well. Cleveland has been really good next to CD.
Our IOL is still bad, very bad in fact, they arent as bad as they were last year, but IMO they are still a very large concern going forward. There is no reason for Cleveland and Bradbury to still be having troubles between them, but we see it about once a game or so where they leave a free rusher in that gap. ONeil has looked a lot worse this year than what we have seen, how much of that is due to playing next to Ingram? I know there will be a learning curve for Ingram, but his play from midseason to now has definitely shaken my early confidence that he may be the future at the position, and while Bradbury is playing markedly better, I still see to many time where he cant hold his ground 1 on 1, and now with a back injury.... IMO IOL still needs to be an offseason focal point.
Give me another one of these to watch in my lifetime, please??
Another thing to note about the QB. He was forced to be aggressive the entire second half after being down 33-0. I see it as a sign he needs to be more aggressive period.
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