Vikings on the Edge – Cousins the Key

The key to winning football games is pretty simple – score more than the other guys (That’s a spicy take!). But if your team is averaging 15.25 points per game over their last four games then chances are that your team won’t win much. Not surprisingly, the Vikings are 1-3 over their last four contests while averaging 15.25 points per game, and are clinging to the final wildcard spot in the NFC. If the offense doesn’t start producing then there will be a band of Eagles, Redskins, Panthers, or dare we say Packers to take their place. As of this moment, Minnesota owns that sixth playoff position with three games left, two of which are eminently winnable.

This week sees the Vikings hosting the Miami Dolphins and the oddsmakers have installed Minnesota as roughly eight-point favorites at home. Speaking of point spreads if you’ve ever thought of dipping your toes into the gambling waters and taking a financially vested interest in your team then head over to Sportsbook Review, where you can access this handy-dandy sports betting guide which will take all the mystery out of betting sports. It’s a how-to guide that tells you how to bet, what types of bets are available, and even the most trusted online sportsbooks with which to wager and it’s been relatively addicting for me, despite the fact that I’d never placed a wager on a sports game before.

Minnesota has an excellent shot at drawing above .500 this week as the Dolphins are still reveling in their stunning, last second, trick-play win over the vaunted New England Patriots. Typically, though, opponents of teams that are coming off an upset victory have done well as the emotional aspect of scoring an amazing walk-off win like the ‘Phins did takes a lot out of a team. That being the case, the Vikings should make short work of a Miami team that will likely find the sledding tough against a stout defensive line and a pass defense that ranks in the top five in the NFL. If the Vikings fail to deliver a victory then all bets are off because there are plenty of teams within earshot of that sixth and final playoff spot that are actually competing (sort of). The Vikings will wrap their season with a trip to Detroit followed by a regular-season finale against the division-leading Chicago Bears. If Minny can claim two wins out of their three remaining games then that wild-card berth is likely theirs for the taking.

But as Kirk Cousins goes, so too goes the fate of the team. The Vikings spent $84 million to woo Cousins to Skol Country because they needed a top-tier talent under center to lead them to the Promised Land, especially in big games like the one they played on Monday night, a game in which they fell 21-7 to Seattle despite the Vikings defense arguably having their best game of the season. The former Redskins’ quarterback is 0-7 straight up in Monday Night Football and in prime time he is a dismal 5-13 (and 4-24 against teams with winning records in his career… Yikes). That doesn’t sound like a quarterback who thrives when the pressure is on but whether we like it or not, he’s ours for the foreseeable future and it’s incumbent upon head coach Mike Zimmer to design an offense that maximizes his abilities.

Cousins had this to say, “You know that if our offense would bring it that way that we brought it in the earlier weeks of the season, we would be pretty dangerous.”

That’s as true as it is frustrating and infuriating as Cousins looked so good earlier in the season that some people, namely me, were saying “I told you so” while thinking that the Vikings got a bargain. That’s obviously not been the case these past few weeks and it’s really hard to nail down why as the offensive line has been playing better, giving Cousins time to survey the field and make any pass he should want. Back to the Seahawks game,
Cousins explained that although the defense was holding up their end of the bargain, the offense was not and he was aware that in order for the offense to produce more points, he would need to be better. And that is exactly why the Minnesota front office welcomed him and bid Case Keenum adieu.

While I said this before the Seahawks game, it’s really now or never for Cousins and these Vikings. Hopefully the change at offensive coordinator will provide the spark needed to get the Vikings back to playing the way they were earlier this season, if not it’ll be a really long off-season.

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