Minnesota Vikings: 3 Players that must shine vs. Giants in Week 5
1. Kirk Cousins
The final and perhaps the most important player that the Minnesota Vikings will need to step up is quarterback Kirk Cousins. Cousins has struggled within the Minnesota offense through four games this season, being bailed out by running back Dalvin Cook and his stellar start to the 2019 campaign.
Entering the Week 5 matchup against New York, Cousins has converted on 64 of his 99 pass attempts behind center for Minnesota this season, tallying a total of 735 yards through the air thus far. With three touchdowns and two interceptions, Cousins has a quarterback rating of 88.6, while averaging 7.4 yards per pass attempt in four games.
When you glance over his statistics from Minnesota’s loss to Chicago in Week 4 last Sunday evening on the road, it would initially appear as though Cousins had his best game of the year so far for the Vikings.
In the defeat, the quarterback finished with a season-high 27 conversions on 36 pass attempts, throwing for a season-best 233 yards through the air. While completing 75 percent of his passes and averaging 6.5 yards per pass attempt, Cousins was able to avoid throwing any interceptions in the game.
But when watching the game against the Bears, Cousins struggled within the Vikings offense, never really getting into a flow of things or taking many shots down the field in the contest. He was also held without a touchdown pass for the first time this season while also fumbling the ball twice in the pocket.
It’s time for Cousins to show everyone why he deserved to get his $84 million contract from the Vikings prior to the 2018 season and that he is capable of stepping up to the plate and delivering for his team. So far in his tenure in Minnesota, he hasn’t been able to do that.
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In order for Minnesota to be able to go into New York and come away with its first road win of the season on Sunday afternoon in New York, Cousins will need to figure things out and step up for the Vikings so they can ride into Week 6 of action with an above-.500 record.