Week 9 was more of the same for the Minnesota Vikings in their 20-17 victory over the Washington Commanders at FedEx Field. Za’Darius Smith and his B.M.F. crew went to work on a below-average offensive line and made life extremely difficult for backup quarterback Taylor Heinicke. After a beautiful opening script that resulted in a touchdown to Justin Jefferson, Minnesota’s offense disappeared for much of the afternoon. And Ed Donatell’s defense forced another timely turnover in a critical moment when Harrison Smith picked off Heinicke in the fourth quarter.
Feel free to stop me now if you’ve already seen this movie before. And as we’ve borne witness to throughout 2022 — and much much of last season — quarterback Kirk Cousins was at his best when it was required most.
Following a Heinicke touchdown pass to Dax Milne, the Vikings got the ball back trailing 17-7 to start the fourth quarter. Immediately after a defensive pass interference nullified a Cousins pick-six, Minnesota was staring at defeat when cornerback Benjamin St-Juste sacked Cousins and forced second-and-18. But instead of succumbing to the unfortunate circumstances that were presented to the Vikings in DC, Cousins and the offense answered the call yet again.
An 11-yard completion to Jefferson on second down brought the Vikings to third-and-manageable — and the Cousins/Jefferson combo pumped life directly back into the Vikings.
For all the criticism that Cousins has earned for his inability to overcome a chaotic pocket, he shut everybody up with this throw. He knew he was going to take a huge hit courtesy of Washington’s disruptive front, stood in there, and delivered one of the best vertical shots we’ve seen so far this season. Kevin O’Connell has relied heavily on these slot-fade concepts for Jefferson in critical moments, and the offense took advantage when the look was presented to them.
The Vikings would eventually get a Greg Joseph field goal before Smith’s interception gave the ball back to Minnesota’s offense at Washington’s 12-yard line. Cousins tied the game up at 17 when he hit Dalvin Cook out of the backfield on a well-executed wheel route that featured a spectacular one-handed catch by the Minnesota running back.
Following a clutch three-and-out when Danielle Hunter sacked Heinicke, the Vikings got the ball back on their own 46-yard line with just over six minutes remaining. Cousins led the offense to Washington’s six-yard line when the drive would eventually stall out. And when a Commanders unnecessary roughness penalty on Joseph’s successful field goal attempt gave the Vikings an opportunity to essentially put the game away, O’Connell and Minnesota put their Situational Masters caps on. Instead of trying to punch it in for six with just under two minutes to go, O’Connell milked the clock, forced Washington to burn their final timeout, and kicked the go-ahead field goal with 12 seconds remaining in regulation.
Ball game.
Cousins’ rollercoaster level of play this season has certainly irked Skoldiers who expected this offense to be an entertaining, high-flying aerial attack. Minnesota’s signal-caller has been at his worst in third quarters this season. He has yet to throw a touchdown pass and has an embarrassingly low 56.0 passer rating in third quarters.
But as he again displayed on Sunday, Cousins has truly been a situational master when the game is on the line.
Week 9’s comeback was the 11th time in Cousins’ past 24 starts that he led either a game-tying, go-ahead, or game-winning drive at the end of regulation or overtime. And for someone who’s been dogged for much of his career about lacking a certain clutch gene, Cousins’ play in crunch time continues to put this narrative to rest.
Over the course of Minnesota’s six-game winning streak, the Vikings have four different fourth-quarter comebacks and game-winning drives. Only Daniel Jones has recorded more game-winning drives this season than Cousins. But if you expand that sample size to include last season, Cousins is tied with Justin Herbert for the most game-winning drives in the NFL.
On the surface, Cousins’ season-long production in the fourth quarter doesn’t necessarily wow anybody. His 89.7 passer rating in fourth quarters this season is ninth-best among NFL quarterbacks. But when you hone in on what he’s done in those quarters over Minnesota’s past six victories, the picture is that much clearer.
Let’s go game-by-game and check out Cousins’ propensity for playing the role of fourth-quarter hero since Week 3. The numbers below are Cousins’ statistical production in each of the past six fourth quarters.
Week 3 vs Detroit
- 9/13
- 125 yards
- 1 touchdown
- 125.5 passer passer
- Fourth quarter comeback
- Game-winning drive
Week 4 vs New Orleans (at London)
- 4/6
- 63 yards
- 101.4 passer rating
- Fourth quarter comeback
- Game-winning drive
Week 5 vs Chicago
- 9/12
- 73 yards
- 1 interception
- 55.2 passer rating
- 1 rushing touchdown
- Successful two-point conversion completion
- Fourth quarter comeback
- Game-winning drive
Granted, Cousins being lauded for a fourth-quarter comeback and game-winning drive in Week 5 should have an asterisk attached to it. After all, his interception in the fourth quarter is what led the Vikings to be in a situation where a comeback was required.
Week 6 @ Miami
- 4/5
- 17 yards
- 1 touchdown
- 120.4 passer rating
- Successful two-point conversion completion
Week 8 vs Arizona
- 5/5
- 36 yards
- 1 touchdown
- 136.3 passer rating
Week 9 @ Washington (trailing 17-7)
- 7/13
- 96 yards
- 1 touchdown
- 103.4 passer rating
- Fourth quarter comeback
- Game-winning drive
Aside from the Week 5 stumbling comeback against the Bears, Cousins has recorded an uber-efficient 100-plus passer rating in each of the Vikings’ past six games. His total numbers over the past six fourth quarters look as such:
- 38/54
- 410 yards
- 4 touchdowns
- 1 interception
- 1 rushing touchdown
- Two successful two-point conversion completions
Would Vikings fans rather have a team that peaks too early at the start of the second half, only to crumble when the lights are brightest in the fourth quarter? Watching Minnesota’s offense — which is filled with talent across the board — go through multiple quarters of lulls has been exhausting and infuriating. The Vikings are certainly playing with fire when its offense becomes nonexistent after the opening script and before the fourth quarter.
But considering that high-level play in fourth quarters isn’t exactly new for Cousins, how many different quarterbacks would Skoldiers rather have right now when the game is on the line?
