The Good and Not-So-Good From The 2021 Vikings Quarterbacks
Cole Smith
|
No position in football is more important than quarterback. They touch the ball nearly every offensive play, and in today’s passing league, quarterbacks are counted on more than ever to carry the weight of their team. When all goes well for a team, the quarterback gets flooded with praise. But on the flip side, the quarterback will shoulder the blame for losses.
So at 8-9, it comes as no surprise that the quarterback position is the polarizing topic of debate in Minnesota. Kirk Cousins, who was in his fourth year as the Vikings’ starter in 2021, garnered some MVP buzz for his play early in the season. But when his play took a dip later in the year, the team struggled to keep up with the other teams in the playoff hunt. A look back at 2021 may help us decide whether or not this position kept a weak roster afloat, an average roster average, or a playoff roster out of the playoffs.
What Went Right
Cousins started 16 of 17 games in 2021. He had a fantastic 33:7 TD-INT ratio, and his seven picks were the fewest he had thrown in four years as a Viking. And when it came to avoiding sacks, Kirk was better than he had ever been in Minnesota, only taking them at a 4.8-percent rate.
Pro Football Focus liked Kirk’s play as well. He was the sixth-highest graded quarterback in the NFL among QBs who played at least 50 percent of their team’s snaps. His 8.5 yards of average depth-of-target ranked eighth in the league, just behind Joe Burrow and ahead of Tom Brady, Kyler Murray, Dak Prescott, Aaron Rodgers, and Justin Herbert.
Cousins also came through in clutch situations in 2021. He led three fourth-quarter comebacks and four game-winning drives. He set up kicker Greg Joseph for a 54-yard field goal to beat the winless Lions in Week 5. The following week in Carolina, he found K.J. Osborn for a 27-yard game-winning touchdown in overtime to defeat the Panthers. And in Week 11 against the Packers, Kirk led an eight-play, 64-yard drive with 2:08 left to get Joseph in position for a 29-yard walk-off winner to hand Green Bay their third loss of the season.
Despite an 0-2 start to the season, Kirk had put the Vikings in position to win both games. Trailing 24-21 with 1:47 left at Cincinnati, Cousins led a nine-play, 60-yard drive that was capped off by a 53-yard field goal by Joseph. After the game went to overtime, he completed two passes to get the Vikings to the Cincinnati 38-yard line and on the verge of field goal range. Unfortunately, a controversial Dalvin Cook fumble set up a walk-off field goal for the Bengals to begin the season.
One week later, trailing 34-33 with 2:03 left, Kirk led a spectacular nine-play, 58-yard drive drive to set Joseph up for his own walk-off winner. Instead, Joseph missed wide right, and the Vikings fell to 0-2, with the loss lingering over the team the rest of the season.
What Went Wrong
As good as Kirk was in the first ten games of the season, his final six games didn’t go as well. Only one of Kirk’s five three-touchdown performances came in the final six games, and that was in the meaningless Week 18 victory over the Bears. Similarly, after passing for 275-plus yards in six of the first ten games of the year, Cousins only eclipsed the mark twice in the final six games.
At times, the offense was humming and almost unstoppable. But the offense suffered through many lulls during the season and in games as well. Games in Cincinnati, Arizona, and Carolina all saw both extremes of the offense. While this didn’t all fall on the QB’s shoulders, he also wasn’t doing his part to keep the offense alive during these times.
If the math of his first ten games and final six games doesn’t add up to the team’s 8-9 record, that’s because Cousins missed the season’s penultimate game due to Covid-19. Already a polarizing figure in Minnesota, Cousins’ vaccination status became a hot topic in training camp when he and rookie QB Kellen Mond missed time. He came down with it, and Sean Mannion filled in for the Week 17 matchup against the Packers.
With the Vikings’ playoff hopes hanging by a thread, Mannion didn’t inspire much confidence in the offense. He went 22/36 for 189 yards and a garbage-time touchdown in the 37-10 loss that knocked Minnesota out of the playoffs. Oh, and Mond made a brief cameo in the game, much to Mike Zimmer’s disgust.
Where Do Things Stand Moving Forward?
Kirk is going to be on the books for a $45 million cap hit in 2022. While he has put up great statistics in his four seasons in Minnesota, the team has only made one playoff appearance since his arrival. This doesn’t all fall on him, of course, but with a new GM and head coach taking things over this off-season, they will have to decide what to do with Kirk. If they keep him, they have stability at the position and can either draft a QB to groom him for a year or wait until next year to make a move for a rookie quarterback.
The new regime could also decide to trade Cousins, freeing up cap space to help build the foundation that they envision moving forward. This would likely lead to an immediate drop in production for the 2022 season, but if the team doesn’t think they are a contender anyway, it may not be the worst decision to make. Minnesota would likely then be in the market for a bridge quarterback like Jameis Winston or Marcus Mariota. They then would decide whether there is a rookie quarterback worth taking high in the upcoming draft. If not, the next coaching staff may see more of a use for Mond moving forward.
[brid autoplay=”true” video=”944595″ player=”26281″ title=”ADClip%20Zimmers%20Comments” duration=”416″ description=”undefined” uploaddate=”2022-01-22″ thumbnailurl=”//cdn.brid.tv/live/partners/19439/thumb/944595_t_1642869776.png” contentUrl=”//cdn.brid.tv/live/partners/19439/sd/944595.mp4″]