CHICAGO — Born in Barrington, Ill., Kirk Cousins grew up a Chicago Bears fan as the city’s football fandom thrived in the wake of the 1985 Super Bowl champion.
Perhaps channeling the group that Cousins grew up idolizing, an already-talented Bears defense has morphed into the Monsters of the Midway around Cousins, battering the Vikings quarterback in three of his last 11 starts. Most recently, in a 16-6 drubbing Sunday afternoon to drop the Vikings to 2-2.
“He didn’t look too comfortable,” head coach Mike Zimmer said curtly after the game.
The Vikings have yet to lead the Bears in any of the three games, falling behind by scores of 14-0, 13-0 and 16-0. They’ve scored zero first-half touchdowns and just one touchdown before the fourth quarter. Cousins has been sacked 12 times and turned it over three.
The high stakes only shine a more glaring light on the shortcomings of an $84 million quarterback. The last time Minnesota played in Chicago, they had a chance to draw virtually even with the Bears coming off their bye week… and flopped. In Week 17, with a win required to sneak into the playoffs, Cousins managed just 132 yards. And Sunday, in his latest vital road test, the Illinois native looked skittish in his hometown en route to a thorough 10-point defeat that felt more lopsided.
“Would have loved to have come in here and gotten a win, got to 3-1,” Cousins said. “It didn’t happen, and now we’ve got to not feel sorry for ourselves but get back to work and find a way to get a win and get right back on track from here.”
As a member of the Washington Redskins, Cousins came into Soldier Field and won both his games against the Bears. Certainly Chicago’s defense is stouter now than it was 3-4 years ago, but they were missing two key cogs Sunday in defensive tackle Akiem Hicks and linebacker Roquan Smith.
Leslie Frazier and Mike Singletary may as well have been on the field. It took the Vikings until the tail end of the fourth quarter to crack Chicago’s red zone.
The Vikings arguably had their best chances to convert early. A nine-play, 28-yard drive in the first quarter ended when Cousins overthrew Adam Thielen on 3rd and 10 from Chicago’s 47-yard line. It eerily mirrored when Cousins missed Stefon Diggs on the same side of the field in the first quarter a year ago at Soldier Field.
“It’s a throw I want back,” Cousins said. “Yeah, you want to hit that one for sure.”
The Vikings’ second drive went 12 plays, but they were bailed out three times by Bears penalties for automatic first downs. Cousins hit Diggs over the middle in Bears territory for what would have been a first down, but Diggs was stripped by Prince Amukamara for the game’s first turnover.
Those were the only chances the Vikings had in the first half as the Bears chewed clock on offense to take a 10-0 halftime lead. Indeed, Cousins only had two opportunities, and on one of them his receiver turned the ball over.
But still within striking distance to begin the second half, Cousins’ first five drives went like this:
- A strip sack by Khalil Mack on the first play of the third quarter
- Three and out
- Three and out
- A drive into Chicago territory that ended with Cousins checking down to Kyle Rudolph on 3rd and 35 after a 19-yard loss on another strip sack
- Four and out
By that point, it was garbage time with the Bears up 16.
In his three games versus the Bears, Cousins has led 15 drives that lasted five plays or less. In 180 total minutes of football, the Bears have possessed the ball for 107 minutes, 4 seconds. The Vikings? Just 72 minutes, 56 seconds, a differential of over 10 minutes per game.
In 31 total drives against the Bears since Week 11 of last year, the Vikings have only scored points on seven of them, a 22.6% scoring percentage that would’ve ranked second-worst in football a year ago.
Game 1 versus the Bears last year was coordinated by John DeFilippo, who was criticized for not sticking with the run. Sunday’s game was coordinated by Kevin Stefanski under the 2019 credo of establishing the run. But Minnesota’s 16 rushing attempts went for just 2.5 yards per carry. Different approach, same result.
“At some point, you’re not going to be able to run the ball for 180 yards, even with the best running back in the NFL,” said receiver Adam Thielen, who was held to six yards receiving, his lowest total since Week 15 in 2016. “That’s when you have to be able to throw the ball. You have to be able to make plays. You have to be able to hit the deep balls. You have to do that, because otherwise it’s too easy for teams to just tee off and rush the quarterback. We have to be able to run the ball and pass the ball. In this league, you can’t be one-dimensional. It’s just too easy to defend.”
Twice in three weeks, when asked to throw more frequently to help the Vikings climb out of holes, Cousins has failed to deliver. While the Vikings’ run-first offense was meant to fuel the pass, it seems to have sapped it of the quality that allowed the Vikings to be rather successful through the air early in the 2018 season.
Protection can be blamed in part. Tackle Riley Reiff had his worst game of the season, allowing Mack’s strip sack in the third quarter and committing three penalties, while the interior offensive line continued to struggle in pass blocking.
“Kirk’s the leader of the offense,” said rookie Garrett Bradbury. “I didn’t really see him get rattled. We trust in him with the utmost confidence. He trusts us. We need to back that up and protect him.”
The Bears defense is, no doubt, upper echelon. But if the Vikings can’t turn to their franchise quarterback against formidable fronts, where else can they look?
With frustration beginning to seep through his receivers’ words and body language, Cousins has an uphill battle to rewrite the narrative that has mounting evidence against him.
