It’s hard not to immediately recall Justin Jefferson‘s 64-yard touchdown when thinking about the Minnesota Vikings’ 23-7 win over the Green Bay Packers. Jefferson was open, hilariously wide-open. Cousins threw it to the spot Jefferson would be, and Jefferson made an extra effort to beat two Green Bay defenders to score a touchdown.
It’s a result of Jefferson’s eloquent route-running, a perfect pass from Cousins, and Kevin O’Connell‘s modern scheme. But Cousins did a subtle thing, something Tom Brady has mastered, to make that play happen. He slid in the pocket, avoiding Green Bay’s rush, to buy an extra second so Jefferson could create the separation he did. Then he stepped up in the pocket to deliver the pass.
“I came out of the fake and felt like I needed to slide,” Cousins said after the game. “Your eyes are downfield, so you’re just kind of feeling it. You’re not really knowing what’s going on. Try to slide and find the soft spot in the pocket. You know the route hasn’t declared yet, so you’re thinking, ‘I got a shot; there is grass. We will see what the safety and corner do as I move.'”
It’s not the first time Cousins has stepped up in the pocket and delivered a throw like that. However, it’s the first time since he’s arrived in Minnesota where it feels like he might do it routinely. Every quarterback has permission to succeed, to deliver in the biggest moments. But not every signal-caller is allowed to make a mistake. For a quarterback to feel like it’s their team, they need to be allowed to fail. They will be supported if they create adversity because they will ultimately drive winning.
Cousins has felt like a passenger for a lot of his time in purple. Rick Spielman signed him out of necessity. Teddy Bridgewater and Sam Bradford had gotten injured, and Case Keenum couldn’t replicate his magical 2017 season. $84 million is a hefty check to cut. But the next quarterback to sign always makes more, and few teams can win a championship with mediocre quarterback play. Trent Dilfer and Joe Flacco are the exceptions to the rule. Coming off of 2017, the Vikings needed to get the best quarterback available, and they did.
Still, Cousins knew that Mike Zimmer wanted to spend that money on the defense. The defense was Zimmer’s passion. If Cousins throws a pick, he’s putting it in a tough spot. If he steps up in the pocket and fumbles, it could tire out Zimmer’s elite unit. Zimmer may have told Cousins to throw the ball deep last year. But in the back of his mind, Cousins had to know that Zimmer would get upset if he compromised the defense.
O’Connell hasn’t rubber-stamped wanton passing by any means. He’s not trying to turn Cousins into Jameis Winston. But O’Connell is using the “illusion of complexity” to open up Cousins’ first read and has asked him to stay with it longer. O’Connell wants to maximize Jefferson, as he did in Week 1. And if teams focus on Jefferson, Adam Thielen, Dalvin Cook, and K.J. Osborn are viable secondary options.
O’Connell’s ask of Cousins is that he plays with a quiet mind. There will be a raucous crowd in Philadelphia on Monday night, but Cousins will receive clear direction on each play.
“When I say quieted mind, it’s really not the environment, it’s not the noise,” says O’Connell. “It’s kind of misleading. It’s more of just what his job is. What we’re asking him to do on a snap-to-snap basis, and then how clear and concise I can be coaching him. Because, as you guys have seen, when he knows what to do and what we’re asking of him, he can go out and really execute at a high level, which drives our whole offense for us.
“So coming off our performance last week, he’s going to establish himself a standard of what to expect out of Kirk every single week. His preparation is off to a great start. But it’s all about my role and my communication with him during our time together throughout the week, making sure he and I are on the same page, and he can be an extension of me out there.”
That’s the key for Cousins. He has to be an extension of O’Connell on the field. He wasn’t an extension of Zimmer; Barr was. Zimmer’s bailiwick was defense. Barr was the guy with the red dot, and he made sure that his teammates executed Zimmer’s unique scheme correctly. Cousins was the responsibility of whoever the offensive coordinator was that year. But this year, that’s changed.
Cousins acknowledged Kwesi Adofo-Mensah and O’Connell’s contributions after the Vikings beat Green Bay by giving them the game ball. “You guys who have played in the league long enough know this, and I believe strongly, that everything rises and falls on leadership,” he said to his teammates. “Speed of the leader. Speed of the team. Alright, these two guys are running this organization, and they’re going to go as far as they can take us.”
“All the way,” Mark Wilf responded. “All the way,” Cousins echoed.
For that to happen, Cousins needs to be in command of the offense. Adofo-Mensah determined who’s on the roster. O’Connell understands how to maximize their talents. Cousins has to execute. For him to do that, he has to slide to avoid pressure. He has to step up in the pocket and trust his receivers on deep balls or riskier throws. Fortunately, Cousins seems to understand that. After the Packers game, he said he knows he has to move to buy his receivers time. He said he might occasionally scamper for yardage when the pocket breaks down.
“It was probably more just need to move,” he said. “Needing to move, and [the receivers] stayed on their routes, and I needed to buy a tick to get away from somebody. I’m going to go back. I always try to be pretty critical of how you play better. I think there are a few times I could have taken off and run.
“Sometimes you have to push forward, hit, and try to get some yards.”
That’s not the sound of a passenger. That’s the ambition of someone who’s taking charge, and that’s addressing a chief frustration among fans. Why isn’t Cousins taking command? Why is he content to check down or throw in front of the sticks on third down? How come he doesn’t throw deep more?
Cousins is who he is. He will not become Patrick Mahomes, Joe Burrow, or Justin Herbert. Cousins will occasionally throw to a tight end or a running back. He may throw it away when he feels pressure instead of moving around in the pocket. But if he buys time and throws deep more often, he can operate this high-powered offense. That’s what O’Connell is asking of him. He’s not asking Cousins to take a huge step forward this year; he’s asking him to step up in the pocket.
“In regards to a ‘huge step forward,’ if you’re talking statistically, if you’re talking playing the position, I don’t necessarily think that my expectation is a ‘huge step forward’ for Kirk,” he says. “But my expectation is that he plays the position really well. And he’s going to be our leader on offense and take care of all the things that he can be as an extension of me and our coaching staff out on the field.
“But at the same time, I want him to go turn it loose and feel confident that he’s got some really good players around him, he’s got a group up front, and then we’ve got some running backs that we can rely on to really marry everything together, letting those guys set the tone for how we want to play.”
Cousins has to be a commercial pilot. He needs to maximize the talent around him. That means avoiding interceptions, but it also means pushing the ball down the field. Cousins gave Adofo-Mensah and O’Connell game balls after Week 1, but he’s the one with the pigskin in his hands on gameday.
At the start of the season, The Athletic’s Mike Sando asked 50 NFL executives and coaches to rank each starter 1 through 32 and divide them into five tiers. The top tier is guys like Aaron Rodgers and Tom Brady. Mahomes, Burrow, and Herbert. The executives and coaches listed Cousins as the 15th-best quarterback. They named him the best “Tier 3” QB, placing him with guys like Jimmy Garoppolo, Carson Wentz, and Jared Goff.
The Vikings can do something this year if he becomes a “Tier 2” quarterback. We’re talking players like Matthew Stafford, Russell Wilson, and Deshaun Watson on the high end, but also Dak Prescott and Derek Carr. Cousins can be a Tier 2 quarterback if he operates with a quiet mind, and Minnesota can do big things if he does. Cousins doesn’t have to throw behind his back or flick the ball around defenders. He has to step up in the pocket and hit Jefferson deep. He has to bring out the best in the players around him. Cousins has to keep things moving forward.
