The Kirk Cousins Curse is Alive and Well in Washington
Somewhat astonishingly, Kirk Cousins has been with the Vikings for 5 seasons. Before then, Cousins was slinging the ball for the Commanders, a team that didn’t make it a top priority to keep him around long term.
As a whole, Cousins was in Washington for 6 seasons, starting 3. At his best, he neared 5,000 passing yards (2016) and close to a 70% (2015) completion mark. The problem, though, was that his teams didn’t ascend very far. He finished his time in Washington with a 26-30-1 record.
In Minnesota, Cousins is up to a 46-33-1 record. Keep in mind that much of that stems from the recent 13-4 season, one where he orchestrated a whopping 8 game-winning drives.
One of the things that makes Cousins remarkable is that he seldom, if ever, gets hurt. The guy gets hit a ton, and somehow finds a way to keep getting up.
On the other side of things is the Washington Commanders and the never-ending search for QB stability (as Jake Russell notes). At times, Commanders fans have likely felt like they’re pursuing a Sisyphean task, endlessly rolling their QB boulder up a hill as they desperately hope it’ll stay put. Instead, it rolls back down again as another QB tries to take the reins.
The Kirk Cousins Curse
From 2018 onward, the Commanders have relied on a true smorgasbord of quarterbacks to take snaps. Below, you’ll see a list of the year, the QBs who got starts, and then the amount of starts they’ve had in brackets following their name. Take a peek:
- 2018: Alex Smith (10), Josh Johnson (3), Colt McCoy (2), Mark Sanchez (1)
- 2019: Case Keenum (8), Dwayne Haskins (7), Colt McCoy (1)
- 2020: Alex Smith (6), Dwayne Haskins (6), Kyle Allen (4)
- 2021: Taylor Heinicke (15), Garrett Gilbert (1), Ryan Fitzpatrick (1)
- 2022: Carson Wentz (7), Taylor Heinicke (9), Sam Howell (1)
Don’t forget that the above listed totals are only starts. In 2020, Taylor Heinicke got some playing time at QB. Kyle Allen got in for a pair of games in 2021.
Folks, it’s no small irony that Washington – a franchise starved for stability and certainty – lacks it at the game’s most important position following their decision to move on from Mr. Cousins.
Meanwhile, the Vikings – for better or worse – have had no such issues at the quarterback position. Take a look at a similar breakdown for QB starts over the same timeframe:
- 2018: Kirk Cousins (16)
- 2019: Kirk Cousins (15), Sean Mannion (1)
- 2020: Kirk Cousins (16)
- 2021: Kirk Cousins (16), Sean Mannion (1)
- 2022: Kirk Cousins (17)
The only time Cousins has missed time has been due to success and Covid. In 2019, the team had already locked up its playoff spot so Mike Zimmer decided to rest his QB1. In 2021, Cousins missed a start due to his positive Covid test. Otherwise, Cousins has missed some snaps in games, but that has almost always been because the team was either receiving a shellacking or was up so big there was no more need for their top QB to still be out there.
For the most part, the only QB drama in Vikings Land revolves around who will get the nod for QB2 duties. In Zimmer’s time, the team went through some relatively uninspiring options such as Trevor Siemian, Sean Mannion, and Kellen Mond. Mullens is, by far, the best QB2 Minnesota has had since employing Cousins (as Josh Frey once pointed out to me).
Going into 2023, the Vikings will continue leaning on Kirk Cousins to be his usually steady self. What they’ll want to see, though, is continued improvement in the game’s critical moments. The final play against the Giants was, in a word, disastrous.
Meanwhile, Washington will again be heading into another season where the quarterback spot is in flux. One has to wonder if they’d welcome an ultra durable veteran to provide solid play on a week-in, week-out basis.
For now, that kind of QB play is going to stay in Minnesota. Hopefully, another year working alongside Kevin O’Connell (who may have also been employed by the Commanders at one point) can keep Cousins on his upward trajectory.
Editor’s Note: Information from Pro Football Reference helped with this piece.
