The Loop
How'd Your Team Do, Twitter Edition: The Vikings are stuck with Kirk Cousins
Hannah Foslien
When the Minnesota Vikings signed Kirk Cousins to a three-year, $84 million contract this offseason, it seemed like a great marriage. Most would tell you he is a better quarterback then Case Keenum, at least statistically, and the Vikings nearly made the Super Bowl with Keenum a year ago. Now, they had a better version of him, that same stout defense and weapons on weapons, including a healthy Dalvin Cook at running back. It's a Super Bowl or bust type of roster with Cousins under center the next few years.
The problem is, to make it to the Super Bowl, you have to beat a few teams with winning records at some point. This is not Cousins' specialty, something he proved once again on Sunday against the Chicago Bears. All the Vikes had to do was beat Chicago at home and they were in the playoffs, and as a six-point favorite, they were expected to take care of business. Instead, they laid an all-time egg, Cousins especially, as he threw for 132 yards for one TD on 20-for-33 passing in Minnesota's 24-10 loss. In the midst of this debacle, he was seen arguing with receiver Adam Thielen:
Not ideal. What's less ideal? Cousins career record vs. teams with winning records, which is now 4-25. Yikes.
Could he flip the script? Of course, but it's not going to be in this year's playoffs, as Minnesota's loss paved the way for the Philadelphia Eagles and Nick Foles to go on another magical postseason run while the Vikes go golfing. Cousins will have to wait until next year, when the pressure will be turned up to 11 with two years left on his deal. As for now, he's going to face an offseason full of criticism, and it was particularly harsh in the immediate aftermath of Sunday's game on Twitter, as it tends to be.