2018 Vikings Season and K. Cousins
WingedLiberty1957
Posts: 2,978 ✭✭✭✭✭
I am not a vikings fan (I am a redskins fan) though I have semi rooted for the vikings from time to time (certain games). One of the things I've been watching with interest this year is how K. Cousins would do in Minn. I've watched this guy closely over the past few years in Washington, and my impression of him is 1. yes he plays really great at times 2. he usually puts up pretty darn good numbers for a season ... but 3. every so often (and especially in big games at the end of a season) he plays horribly. I never could figure it out while he was here in DC. I remember the NYGiants game a few years back where in the last game of the season the Giants had clinched and all the skins had to do was beat the giants and they were in the playoffs. The giants rested a whole pile of starters and basically was begging the skins to win -- and cousins choked and lost. Rather than raising his game in the big game as the stars do (like T. Brady), Cousins seems to choke. I was torn about him leaving DC because as inconsistent as he was, he always got you to around .500 ball (8-8) which is a step up from our horror days of being 3-13. Was he worth the money he wanted, probably no -- but QB's are hard to find and he was still relatively young and might improve. That all being said I was kind of surprised the Vikings made a QB switch in 2018 since last year didnt they finish 12-4 or something and make the championship game? Why mess with a winning formula? just curious if there are any vikings fans on this board and what they think of K. Cousins so far. Are you patient or pissed? (by the way the redskins suck -- reaching new lows since 1994).
Comments
I have been a Vikings fan since the 1960's.
I liked Keenum. Figured he didn't have a big arm, but made up for it by being able to avoid the rush and make things happen. Vikings have had O line problems for the last several years.
Cousins certainly has a very good arm, but he needs (as I see it so far) a clean pocket and The Vikings can't seem to give that to him consistently. Patriots got good pressure on them yesterday and Vikings certainly didn't bother Brady much. Pats had 25th (?) ranked defense and Vikes didn't score much or even move the ball very well.
The other thing that concerns me about Cousins is that his salary now has put the Vikings right up against the salary cap. If a top player gets hurt, how do we pick up a good player if one is available? Back ups are usually just that..........backups.
I am beginning to lose patience with Cousins, it looks like your take on him might be correct. Case (pun intended) in point, interception in the end zone was a bad pass, at a BAD time, after finally intercepting Brady. That has GOT to take the "steam" out of a team. He also missed Thielen early in the game, over throwing him on what looked like a sure TD or at the very least a huge gain.
Jay Cutler with a better attitude? Of course 84 million guaranteed SHOULD make anyone very happy.
Vikings might not make the playoffs and if they do, I don't think anyone is too concerned about them.
For those who rank Kurt Cousins among the best quarterbacks in the league, I think you are blowing smoke. The guy has talent, but he's not in the same league with Brady, Brees or even Aaron Rogers.
He's yet to show me that he can be at the core of a championship team. When the Vikings got him as the "last piece in the puzzle to take them to the promised land," I was skeptical. The commentators kept singing his praises all season, and yet the Vikings have not come close this season. He’s good, but he’s not the best, and he’s not the core of a championship team like Brady and Paton Manning was.
Agree completely. I am going to wait at least until the end of this season, but my feeling is he is like a number of great throwers (Jeff George?) who is not quite a "special" QB.
hey lets not go all jeff george on him just yet
Not yet.
George played for the Vikings, I still remember some of the unbelievable passes he would throw. He also would fall down AND fumble if touched even slightly.
George might make in today's game with the new rules on touching the QB.
Jeff George, have not heard that name in a long time. Who threw a prettier spiral than Jeff George.
George Brett, Roger Clemens and Tommy Brady.
Vikings fan here since the '70's (hey - I guess I'm younger than JoeBanzai
After last season, I was hoping Cousins was the final piece as I viewed him as not elite but better than what they had. I know the NFL championship window is really short but dang! If the season ended today, they wouldn't even make the playoffs. Even if they do get in, there won't be any Lions, Jets or Cardinals to beat. They've already lost to the Saints, Rams, Pats and Bears. Those are the types of teams you need to beat to win it all.
if the season ended today they would have the 6th seed in the playoffs. as long as Trae Waynes plays, the Vikings will be ok. if Hill plays, not so much, New England burned him too many times to count
Most people are ;-(
Carson Palmer
Captain Kirk didn't look too good against the Seahawks. Maybe the new offensive coordinator can fix the problem.
I thought the Vikes would be a serious contender this year, Cousins seemed to be a big upgrade over Keenum.
I have family in Denver who are not happy with Keenum so maybe it doesn't matter much
A guy at my gym is a Denver guy and he feels the same way about Keenum lol
No help from the offensive line in Minnesota, that's for sure. I was not expecting elite performance from Cousins but I thought he'd be an improvement. Disappointing season for sure.
I think (am hoping) that if the Vikings can upgrade the O line, (they really just need a couple of good guards. Reif is good at left tackle, Elflein at Center should be OK and the rookie at right tackle looks like he will be fine) Cousins' play should improve dramatically.
Keenum could escape the rush better, so he did well here with some very nice "skill" position players. Cousins has little ability to make anything happen when the protection breaks down (often), especially when the rush comes up the middle and he doesn't have a "pocket" to step up into.
With all the weapons at his disposal, you would think a good QB and Offensive Coordinator could figure out how to overcome a below average O line. It looks to me like Kirk just cannot make plays on the move.
Cousins does get some time. The line is not THAT bad. I have seen Kirk have a lot of time and still can't find wide open receivers. Maybe he figures he is going to get killed and can't relax and let the game "come to him"?
Does Denver have anyone good to catch the ball? Keenum looked like a winner last year even with a marginal arm. Big arms are often overrated.
startribune.com/sell-off-vikings-fan-takes-out-frustration-with-team-on-craigslist/502456201/
If they kept Keenum and the trade never happened how much cap space would they have had to add linemen and whatnot?
Not sure of the cap hit, but Cousins is making 84 million guaranteed over three years.
I think Cousins is an upgrade but makes some boneheaded plays at times. Fumbling has been an issue as well as hanging onto the ball too long. But with that offensive line he is probably doing okay.
How much of an upgrade can he be if he holds the ball too long, makes bonehead plays and fumbles too much? O line has been bad for several years. Having a great arm doesn't mean much to me when the record is what it is.
Let's wait and see if new coordinator does anything, or it will be "wait until next year" like ALWAYS! :-(
Go Vikes!
The big problem with some second tier quarterbacks is that they can make four or five great plays, and then make one bonehead play, like a fumble, interception or avoidable sack that negates everything they did before. That has been what has happened with the Tampa team this year, in addition to some terrible defense.
Great quarterbacks seal the deal on drives. The mediocre ones fail when it counts. That’s why yardage numbers and completion stats can be so deceiving.
Bite your tongue. Stats.....DECEIVING? ;-)
I think it's clear that the Vikings MUST get some better pass blockers on the O line. With their salary cap issues it looks like they are going to have to do it through the draft (always a crapshoot) or by trading a top defensive player or letting Anthony Barr go. With the talent they have on defense, that group did not live up to expectations in big games. Zimmer won't be happy about losing anyone from this defense.
If they manage to get things "fixed" up front on offense and the Vikes do not make a strong playoff run next year, without unforeseen problems, Zimmer and/or Spielman will be in big trouble. Cousins isn't going anywhere for the next two years, better figure out how to win with him NOW!
I could have told the Vikings management before they signed Cousins that they were not getting the next Tom Brady. The press built him up when he was in Washington, but he didn’t display the consistency that one would expect from a franchise quarterback.
he is a little slow making his reads, if he had a great o-line he would be great, he has a good arm, he just needs better protection
You are correct. I think they knew that. Most of the talk around town seemed to think he was a better option than what we had. My feelings were that Keenum was a better choice with a poor pass blocking line.
My feelings are the Vikings did not want to move forward with Keenum, their last two drafted QBs didn't pan out and Getting Bradford was only good for one year.
With no other good options they went all in on Cousins, probably knowing that it would be easier to rebuild the O line through the draft (since they are now out of money for any more free agents) than to fix the line and then look around for a QB.
I really think that IF they can give him good protection, Cousins might be a very good QB. The problem is that the Vikings have been trying to "fix" the O line for a few years now and have made some bad decisions. Adding to the struggle is Zimmer, who always wants to focus on defense.
Cousins still looks like a choker to me (esp in late season big games).
My Coin Blog
My Toned Lincoln Registry Set
It looks that way to me too.
Another possibility is that he got hit so often last year, it affected him.
Let's see what he does this year IF the Vikings can give him some protection.
I could never understand the hype surrounding Cousins to begin with. I put Flacco in the same category as him, a waste of big money. At least Flacco won a Super Bowl before he swindled Baltimore with that hundred million dollar contract
When you get tired of having a different QB every year and one comes onto the market with a good arm, you PAY>
Cousins doesn't excite me, he MIGHT be really good if he gets time to throw, we shall see.
Vikings better figure out their pass protection issues or investing 84 million in Cousins will look REALLY stupid!
Looks like the Vikings are going big on offense in the draft. The guard/center they took with their #1 pick should contribute right away. They also drafted another guard and signed a free agent or two to help on O line.
Grabbing a tight end and running back also good choices.
Hope they can help the offense, Vikes were fortunate to keep most of their defensive starters.
Two more years with Cousins and the defense is getting a little older.
"The future is now".
The QB that will win the SB for the Vikings was signed this year as an un-drafted FA...
Erik
Cousins has no excuse anymore, they gave him great help on the offense via draft and free agency, the offense is basically loaded now. they have a shot at going deep in the playoffs this upcoming year if everything clicks
Let's see how the new guys play before we call this offense loaded. Bradbury looks like a starter, the TE Irv Smith will most likely be a backup as well as the RB Mattison. Anyone drafted after the 3rd round usually isn't a starter and the free agents they signed to play O-Line were not highly rated.
Best scenario; Bradbury is a stud, Elflein gets back to playing like he did in his first year and one of the guys they signed is at least decent. Dru Samia could play some, but he was a 4th rounder. One of the tackles is a second year guy and Rief might be getting past his prime.
IF everything clicks they have NO excuses. I am not a big Cousins guy, but he looked pretty good early last year. Toward the end of the year he seemed to get "happy feet", but how can you blame him, he was getting clobbered.
Vikings are changing to a "zone" blocking scheme this year too. Hope they get THAT figured out quickly. I think the key could be Dalvin Cook, if he can stay healthy and be as good as he has shown at times, the Vikings could be tough to defend.
I don't want to wait that long. Let's do it NOW!