Minnesota Vikings can’t blame Kirk Cousins for lack of running game

The Minnesota Vikings have yet to improve upon their teams greatest weakness. What does this mean for next season? Don’t blame Cousins for zero running game and don’t expect him to hide it.

Something was off with the Minnesota Vikings last season. We need more of a data set to know if it is simply a case of Kirk Cousins having a ceiling as a player or something else. It’s possible Cousins isn’t a championship-level quarterback, in which case he needs more help. Maybe Cousins needed more time to learn a new system. After all, it was just his first year in the Minnesota offense. In that case, growth and simple tweaks could push this franchise over the top.

Adding to the confusion is the argument over whether Cousins was actually an issue last season. He set career-best marks in completion percentage, touchdown passes, and interception rate. He also had his worst yards/pass attempt figure of any of his starting seasons. And through an 8-7-1 record, it never felt like the offense was a fearsome thing outside of Adam Thielen. Perhaps the biggest insult you can throw at Cousins, though, is saying that he was essentially the same as Case Keenum in the same system.

The bottom line for Minnesota is that the offense failed to pull its weight. Yet Cousins can’t do it all, so don’t blame him for their lack of a running game. Something must change to push the Vikings back into the NFC elite.

Two brothers from New York, Dan Salem and Todd Salem, debate the Minnesota Vikings in today’s NFL Sports Debate.

Todd Salem:

The Minnesota Vikings obviously feel as though an improvement is coming for Cousins. They better hope that the same leap made by Cousins is also made by his skill players during their second season together. Outside of Thielen and Stefon Diggs, the Vikings’ biggest playmakers were pretty brutal in 2018.

Dalvin Cook couldn’t wrestle the running back job away from Latavius Murray. The offensive line didn’t help the ground game one iota for the third year in a row, which affected Cousins’ passing, particularly in the season’s second half. Kyle Rudolph seemed to glide invisibly through games and no third wide receiver unveiled himself at all.

On the other side of the line of scrimmage, the Minnesota defense was a top five unit in the NFL for the second consecutive season. After swiping Anthony Barr back in free agency, it should be again in 2019. That leaves it up to the offense to close the gap. And that leaves it up to Cousins, even if it shouldn’t all be on him.

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Rick Spielman needs to add talent to the offensive line. At this point in free agency, that will probably have to happen in the draft. Some kind of third receiving threat needs to develop. As the season wore on, Thielen and Diggs were not enough. A Cook breakout seems forever on the horizon, but it needs to happen now.

The Vikes were one of the favorites to win the Super Bowl entering last year. No one would put them in the upper echelon of the NFC right now, but did they really get any worse? They simply didn’t get better, which resulted in a worse season. Holding the line isn’t good enough, even while Cousins seems like the ultimate hold-the-line quarterback.

Dan Salem:

I’m a fan of Kirk Cousins, but he doesn’t directly win many games for his team. That being said, Cousins rarely loses games for his team, which is a hot commodity in the NFL. The Minnesota Vikings are lucky to have him at quarterback, but he can’t win for them without an improved running game. Wide receiver depth is also an issue, but an inability to run the football stalls your passing game every time.

The Vikings weren’t just bad at running the ball, there were only two teams worse than them in 2018. One of those teams was Pittsburgh, but we all know what happened there. Minnesota can’t expect its receivers to be open if defenses are not respecting the run game. This failure completely eliminated the play action pass and allowed defenses to focus on Diggs and Thielen. To their credit, both had very successful seasons. Cousins made the most of his team’s offense, so its time for Minnesota to make his life easier.

You tossed out a Keenum comparison, but that should not be a knock. Keenum ran the Vikings’ offense very well and then struggled on a bad team in 2018. Cousins is a better player, but had less to work with than Keenum on Minnesota. The Vikings must really like the potential of their current running backs, because they were not particularly active in free agency.

Vikings fans should be nervous, because their team is about to run things back. They added to their offensive line in free agency, which is great, as well as strengthened their defense. Improving upon your team’s biggest strength is always good, but ignoring your biggest weakness is foolish. Minnesota better grab an offensive lineman, running back or tight end in the draft.

All three can help Cousins immediately, or at least help improve their horrid running attack. Don’t blame Cousins for the failings of his offense after he hands the ball off. He’ll make the throws and keep you in every game. He isn’t going to suddenly become Drew Brees and throw the ball to victory.