On the Heels of the Twins Ending Their Playoff Losing Streak, Kirk Cousins Can End His Own Streak vs. Chiefs
Josh Frey
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This week, the Minnesota Twins finally won a playoff game, ending an 18-game losing streak. It was the longest such streak in the history of the four major North American sports (MLB, NBA, NFL, NHL).
The Twins knocked off the Toronto Blue Jays by a score of 3-1 on Tuesday, and with another 2-0 victory on Wednesday, they actually find themselves on a playoff winning streak heading into the ALDS against Houston.
On the heels of this streak coming to an end, Minnesota Vikings QB Kirk Cousins has a chance to end his own losing streak against the Kansas City Chiefs.
The Twins Ended Their Losing Streak. Can Kirk Cousins End His?
Over the course of his NFL career, Cousins has faced off against the Chiefs three times. He has lost each of those games. To be fair, it’s a much less impactful streak than the one that plagued the Twins for the past 19 years, but it is still a streak that needs to end.
The first of Cousins’ losses against Kansas City isn’t particularly on him. It came on December 8th, 2013, and he didn’t even start that game. Instead, Robert Griffin III got the nod, but with Washington trailing big late in the game, Cousins got onto the field to end the game. He completed 7-of-16 passes for 59 yards in the 45-10 loss.
Cousins would get a chance at redemption four years later when the Chiefs played host to Washington in 2017. Instead, he struggled during the game, completing just 14 of his 24 passes for 220 yards and a pair of touchdowns.
With Washington trailing 20-17, Cousins had a chance to lead a late game-winning drive with under a minute to play, but from Kansas City’s 22, a third-down pass to Josh Doctson fell incomplete, forcing them to settle for a field goal to tie the game. The Chiefs would promptly drive down the field to kick a field goal, and a fumble return TD in the final seconds allowed Kansas City to capture a 29-20 win.
Then, Cousins got his first chance to play the Chiefs as a member of the Vikings in 2019. Unfortunately, this game ended similarly to the 2017 game while he was still in Washington. The QB completed 19-of-38 passes and again totaled 220 yards but threw for 3 TDs.
In the final minutes, Cousins again had a chance to play hero, but with the game tied 23-23, Minnesota’s two-minute drill moved backwards instead of forwards. After a third-down pass to Irv Smith went for -7 yards, the Vikings were forced to punt from their own 18 with 1:55 on the clock.
Unfortunately, Britton Colquitt shanked the punt, and it traveled only 27 yards before landing out of bounds at the Minnesota 45. This allowed Kansas City and QB Matt Moore to run out the clock, and Harrison Butker nailed a 44-yard field goal as time expired. The Chiefs would win 26-23.
This week, Cousins needs to end his losing streak against the Chiefs. Otherwise, the Vikings will fall to 1-4, and their already dwindling hopes of the playoffs will be all but extinguished.
Josh Frey is a Class of 2020 graduate of The College of Idaho and managing editor of PurplePTSD.com. When he’s not writing about the NFL, Josh enjoys running, gaming, or rooting for the Milwaukee Brewers and Bucks. Check out his Twitter account: @Freyed_Chicken.