After peeling back the curtain on the narrative surrounding Kirk Cousins on third-and-long earlier this week, today we’re going to unpack a different narrative that has followed the Minnesota Vikings’ quarterback for much of his career. Since his stint in Washington, Cousins has been labeled as a quarterback who fails to rise to the occasion, especially on the road. On the surface, his career record of 24-36-2 in road games speaks for itself — especially for those inclined to believe that wins are a valid quarterback stat.
And with a 3-5 record on the road this past season, it was much of the same for Cousins, right? While the losses on the road continue to haunt the polarizing quarterback, does that alone tell the whole story of his abilities away from home? How much of Minnesota’s shortcomings on the road fall on Cousins?
Today we’re going to examine Cousins’ play in road games from this past season and compare it to the five other quarterbacks who thrived in opposing stadiums.
Whether it’s right or wrong to expect quarterbacks to consistently overcome their own defense, we’re also going to look at how the defenses of said quarterbacks fared on the road in 2021.
Only six quarterbacks in the NFL recorded a season-long passer rating of 100-plus in road games. And while I’m cognizant of the fact that a vast majority of Skoldiers have had it up to here with Cousins’ passer rating, the Vikings’ signal caller was among these six.
But before we get to Cousins, let’s look at how the other five league-leading road quarterbacks performed and what their defenses brought to the table in these adversity-filled circumstances.
Aaron Rodgers
- 109.7 passer rating on the road (eight games)
- Green Bay’s defense allowed 27-plus points in five of eight road games
- Recorded a 100-plus passer rating in six of eight road games
- 5-3 record on the road
Kyler Murray
- 109.2 passer rating on the road (seven games)
- Arizona’s defense allowed 27-plus points in one of seven road games
- Recorded a 100-plus passer rating in five of seven road games
- 6-1 record on the road
Patrick Mahomes
- 108.0 passer rating on the road (eight games)
- Kansas City’s defense allowed 27-plus points in five of eight road games
- Recorded a 100-plus passer rating in five of eight road games
- 5-3 record on the road
Joe Burrow
- 102.7 passer rating on the road (seven games)
- Cincinnati’s defense allowed 27-plus points in one of seven road games
- Recorded a 100-plus passer rating in five of seven road games
- 5-2 road record
Jimmy Garoppolo
- 101.4 passer rating on the road (eight games)
- San Francisco’s defense allowed 27-plus points in two of eight road games
- Recorded a 100-plus passer rating in five of eight road games
- 6-2 road record
Put aside the generational quarterbacks from this list — Rodgers and Mahomes — and you’ll notice a trend about the three remaining gentlemen who were league-leading road quarterbacks in 2021. Murray, Burrow, and Garoppolo combined to go 17-5 on the road this season by maximizing their efficiency with a 100-plus passer rating in a combined 15 of 22 games. No one can argue that these quarterbacks consistently played at a high level outside of their friendly confines.
But if you look at what their defensive counterparts accomplished in those road games, you’ll notice that those three teams allowed 27-plus points in a combined four out of 22 games. When you factor in their efficient quarterback play with defenses that hardly ever got thumped in opposing stadiums, it’s easy to see why they combined for a .773 winning percentage on the road this past year.
Circling back on Rodgers and Mahomes: These Mt. Rushmore quarterbacks have made careers off of overcoming their own team’s defensive warts on the road. And with a combined five MVP trophies and two Super Bowl MVPs to boot, it’s not surprising to see these two have sustained success in road games while their defenses combined for 27-plus points allowed in 10 of 16 road games.
Without further ado, here’s what Cousins looked like on the road in 2021.
Kirk Cousins
- 106.3 passer rating on the road (eight games)
- Minnesota’s defense gave up 27-plus points in six of eight road games
- Recorded a 100-plus passer rating in six of eight road games
- 3-5 road record
Minnesota’s quarterback was tied with the 2021 NFL MVP as one of only two players to record a 100-plus passer rating in six road games. Cousins’ 18:2 touchdown-to-interception ratio on the road was second-highest in the league, trailing only Carson Wentz‘s 11:1 mark. And of the six quarterbacks that achieved a 100-plus passer rating on the road this season, Cousins was the only quarterback of the bunch who was forced to overcome a defense that allowed 27-plus points in six road games.
To take it a step further, Cousins led six different game-tying and/or game-winning drives at the end of regulation or in overtime in these eight road contests — two of which occurred in Week 1 against the eventual AFC Champions Cincinnati Bengals.
Look, I get it. Plenty of Vikings fans made their minds up on Cousins long ago. But when it comes to Cousins shrinking on the road, his performance in 2021 essentially put this narrative to bed.
At the end of the day, what more could you possibly ask for out of a quarterback who:
- Engineered six different drives in the closing minutes
- Recorded the fourth-highest passer rating on the road
- Tied for the league lead with six different road games with a 100-plus passer rating
- And had the second-highest touchdown-to-interception ratio on the road?
Did Cousins lose a fumble in overtime from Cincinnati’s 38-yard line?
Did Cousins miss a game-winning 37-yard field goal at the buzzer in Arizona?
Was Cousins playing defense when Jared Goff went 75 yards en route to walking off the Vikings in Detroit?
While we’re on the topic of putting narratives to rest: Cousins’ play on the road this past season should serve as the final nail in the coffin for the Wins Are a Quarterback Stat believers.
