Minnesota Vikings: In midst of playoff hunt, Kirk Cousins must step up

The Minnesota Vikings are in the thick of the playoff hunt, but they’ll need quarterback Kirk Cousins to step up his game down the stretch.

The Minnesota Vikings aren’t getting what they bargained for when it comes to their $84 million quarterback. When Kirk Cousins was signed this past offseason, the expectation wasn’t for him to be the saving grace of the Vikings. But Minnesota surely expected more than this.

Sure, there’s been times this season when Cousins has looked like the quarterback everyone wanted him to be. But there’s also been times when he’s looked like a bottom-half NFL starter.

This past March, the Vikings made Cousins the first player in NFL history to garner a fully-guaranteed contract. At three years and $84 million, Cousins is locked in as the Vikings’ starter for the foreseeable future – whether they like it or not.

His performance this season has been the epitome of his NFL career thus far: an inconsistent, yet talented player who hasn’t been quite good enough to win the big games. It’s the reason the Washington Redskins let him hit free agency after placing the franchise tag on him an unprecedented twice.

Cousins’ inconsistency was best showcased on Monday Night Football against the Seattle Seahawks, in which the Vikings failed to cross the 50-yard line until the second half and didn’t score any points until the final two minutes of the game. The Vikings lost 21-7, falling to 6-6-1 on the season.

It’s hard to blame anyone for their offensive struggles besides Cousins, either. According to Pro Football Focus (subscription required), Cousins was under pressure on only 25 percent of his dropbacks — better than the NFL average. Additionally, three of the Vikings’ five highest-graded players against the Seahawks were offensive linemen.

To add fuel to the fire, Cousins is now 4-24 against teams with a winning-record in his career. He’s 5-13 in prime time games and 0-7 on Monday Night Football. All of these stats have plagued him for much of his career, and Minnesota fans are experiencing it first-hand this season.

But even his stats look fine on the surface. A 70.6 percent completion rate and 98.4 passer rating, combined with 3,698 passing yards for 24 touchdowns and only nine interceptions looks plenty acceptable.

Looking at his stats contextually, though, will show that much of his production comes in garbage time or in games the Vikings are already running away with. Minnesota needs more from Cousins when it counts.

Currently the No. 6 seed in the Wild Card race, the Vikings are positioned well to make the playoffs. That being said, Minnesota needs their signal caller to elevate his game if they’re to make a deep playoff-run.

This isn’t a Kirk Cousins-bash session. It’s simply pointing out how Cousins has failed to meet expectations after being brought in to be the man. Now, more than ever, the Vikings need him to step up for their stretch run.

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