Sansevere’s Nano-Column: Cousins no longer worst QB ever (on Monday nights)
Joe Johnson
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The Nano Column – You can read it while at a stoplight, during a commercial break or when dropping a deuce.
Best thing to happen for the Vikings in Monday night’s big win over the Chicago Bears was that Dalvin Cook got stuffed a lot at the line and even behind it.
It put pressure on Kirk Cousins to perform. Under similar scenarios, Cousins often has folded like a cheap bingo chair.
But not this time.
Monday night had been fright night for Cousins. He was the all-time leader in Monday Night Football fails, going 0-9.
Now he’s 1-9.
While Cook struggled much of the game to be a difference maker, Cousins moved the sticks against one of the NFL’s best defenses.
He did what he hasn’t done nearly enough in his NFL career. He stepped up and fueled the offense with his throws and, along the way, went from Monday night chump to Monday night champ.
Cousins was in kick-ass mode, completing key third-down passes and taking the Vikings on a 12-0 run in the second half that rallied them to a 19-13 win.
He didn’t pussyfoot in the pocket as he’s been known to do, whipping the ball to receivers before being swarmed.
There wasn’t a hint of the emotionally frail quarterback who played a hand in the Vikings’ 1-5 start. He showed leadership and a bit of swagger.
And most important of all, he showed he can be efficient and effective and help throw up a W when Cook is struggling.
That new-found skill set could make Cousins, like Cook, a difference maker in what may be morphing into a playoff run.
Bob Sansevere can be heard daily on “The BS Show” podcast, which also is broadcast on radio stations in Duluth (KDAL), Hibbing (WNMT) and St. Cloud (WBHR).