Minnesota Vikings: Studs and duds vs. Giants in Week 5

Stud: Kirk Cousins

Kirk Cousins has been under some heat through the first quarter of the 2019 regular season, and for good reason. Coming into Week 5, the $84 million quarterback has struggled within the Vikings offense and some of his teammates have publicly started to speak up about that in the last week or so.

On Sunday, however, Cousins answered all of that noise from within and outside of the Vikings locker room by stepping up for Minnesota to lead the offensive unit in New York.

Against the Giants, Cousins finished the game converting on 22 of his total 27 pass attempts to record a total of 306 yards through the air with two passing touchdowns. After a week of deserved criticism, Cousins followed it up with a nice performance on the road to push Minnesota back above the .500 mark on the season.

Dud: Taking advantage in the red zone

One dud that took place throughout the course of the game on Sunday for the Vikings was their inability to fully take advantage of opportunities in the red zone, especially in the first half against New York.

Minnesota did manage to finish the game with 28 points, but it could have added some more points early on in the first half if they managed to get into the end zone a few more times in the opening two quarters of play against the Giants.

Some of those drives ended up in turning the ball over deep in New York territory, but other drives that reached the endzone ended up with a field goal rather than seven points that could have pushed the game out of reach even more early on in the contest.