Who knew that Dalvin Cook‘s success could actually make Kirk Cousins‘ job harder?
For two straight weeks, opponents have blitzed the Vikings quarterback at a frequency he hasn’t experienced this season, a byproduct of their efforts to clamp down on Cook, the league’s second-leading rusher. The Jacksonville Jaguars blitzed Cousins 21 times on Sunday in the Minnesota Vikings 27-24 win, the second straight week Cousins has seen 20 or more.
“Basically, Carolina did the same thing — they blitzed a lot of linebackers, blitzed the safeties off the edges, so they’re trying to set the edges with those guys coming,” head coach Mike Zimmer said Monday. “And then if it happens to be a pass, they’ve got some extra rushers coming in there. But we have some ways to affect that, as well. And you know, we’re still scoring 26 points a game. But it is making it so once we hit a few of those throws on it, I think it opened up the running game a little bit more.”
The Carolina Panthers blitzed 22 times in Week 12, making it a two-week total of 43 times the Vikings’ have faced extra pressure. Minnesota hadn’t faced more than 13 blitzes in any game through the first 11 games.
So is the strategy working? It’s a nuanced answer. If the main goal is to slow Cook, it’s working. Over his 50 carries the last two weeks, Cook has averaged just 3.6 yards per carry.
If the goal is to fluster Cousins, it’s more complicated.
Cousins has played intelligently and courageously against oncoming rushers for the most part. Against Carolina, he went 11-of-19 for 104 yards, two touchdowns and zero interceptions. Against Jacksonville, he had almost identical numbers: 11-of-18, 116 yards, two touchdowns and zero interceptions. But if opponents are OK sacrificing some throws in exchange for a handful of negative plays — and possibly even a game-changing Cousins turnover — they are succeeding.
In Week 12, Carolina rushed six and ran a stunt on a 3rd and 8 early in the second half, Zach Kerr beat Brett Jones up the middle, and Cousins coughed up the football to Jeremy Chinn, who rumbled into the end zone uncontested for a lead-changing touchdown.
[videopress zK8xGhaX loop=”true”]The clip above was one of two sacks against Cousins on the game, which wound up in an unlikely Vikings win. Ironically, the Panthers abandoned the blitz as Cousins drove the field effortlessly in the final two minutes to convert a game-winning touchdown drive. A week later, Cousins took three sacks against Jaguars pressure, but he seemed to learn his lesson about ball security. Let’s look below at this 3rd and 9 late in the first half where Cousins again sees a six-man pressure and opts to burrow into the ground instead of trying to make something happen.
“I think they were bringing a fifth, sometimes a sixth, pretty consistently,” Cousins said after the game. “Some of it was, hey, like there was a third-down early in the game where I’m hot. The ball’s got to go out and I didn’t feel like my hot route was a great throw, so I ate it and took the sack. That’s not on anybody, but they brought a great blitz, and I knew I was hot, the ball needed to go and I didn’t get it out. There’s a few of those that happened, too, where it’s nobody’s fault; you just kind of play for the next play.”
Considering Cousins fumble history, this is a smart play, as disappointing as it is to wave the white flag on third down.
[videopress 7VcijpDQ loop=”true”]Cousins has been picking himself up off the ground a lot the last two weeks. Carolina recorded seven QB hits; Jacksonville 10 (not including a wallop that got flagged for roughing the passer). He’s also been asked to get the ball out faster. Cousins has thrown the fifth-most passes in the league over the last two weeks in under 2.5 seconds, per Pro Football Focus, and he’s posted the eighth-fewest seconds to attempt (2.52). But Cousins has always been a better passer under pressure than fans give him credit — it’s the isolated high-leverage mistakes that people remember most.
“He’s done really well. He’s stood in there and taken some shots,” Zimmer said. “He took some shots yesterday and hung in there and made some great throws. So he’s been under a little bit of duress the last two weeks. We have an opportunity to slow some of that down by some of the things we’re doing.”
Look for the Vikings to scheme up some blitz-beaters against the Tampa Bay Buccanneers this Sunday if corners, linebackers and safeties are cheating up at the line of scrimmage. Jacksonville seemed to be hedging against the run frequently on 1st and 10, blitzing nine times on the opening down of the series, a down where the Vikings run it the sixth-most times in the league. On those nine plays, Cousins was 5-for-7 for 45 yards and a touchdown while getting sacked once and drawing the roughing the passer call. Several of those efforts came on play-action rollouts, which opponents are cracking down on more and more against the Vikings. Below, the Jaguars get a linebacker in Cousins’ face, but he makes an off-platform throw to Justin Jefferson, who adjusts for a first-down catch late in the fourth quarter.
[videopress 89dbmDAR loop=”true”]Jefferson was Cousins’ favorite target against the blitz Sunday, which shows the level of trust the rookie has generated. The quarterback connected with him six times against blitz and targeted him unsuccessfully on several others. Their best connection was perhaps Cousins’ finest throw of the day, a 2nd and 9 heave down the right sideline on a go route with linebacker Joe Schobert blitzing up the middle.
[videopress Uqv5JK8s loop=”true”]Here’s another excellent connection with Jefferson where Cousins makes a check before the snap, knowing he’s got to get rid of the football quickly on a 2nd and 10. Jacksonville brings a linebacker up the middle, a cornerback from the edge and runs a stunt around rookie Ezra Cleveland. Just as Cleveland is about to get swallowed up, Cousins hits Jefferson on a slant for nine yards.
“Coach Dennison did a good job of preparing us for what they were going to do,” said Cleveland. “They had a few more line movements than we anticipated, but after the first half we ended up settling down and hunkering in and turning back to our technique. I think that really helped us throughout the game. We definitely got better as the game progressed.”
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On a taxing day for the offensive line, they deserve some props for letting Cousins throw out of some clean pockets against the blitz, as well. Check out this 2nd and 6 to Tyler Conklin where Conklin chips the edge rusher during his route before hauling in a tight-window pea from Cousins.
[videopress k1KrqFU8 loop=”true”]The pressure will likely continue in Tampa this Sunday. The Buccaneers recently blitzed Jared Goff 23 times, Drew Brees 17 times and Daniel Jones 23. Will Cousins be next, and how will the Vikings handle it?
