Kirk Cousins is just NOT a big game quarterback

[J. Kapp 11]

The way to beat Kirk Cousins is pretty simple. Pressure him. Ever since about halfway through last year, he's fallen apart when the rush is anywhere near him. If you're a quarterback in the NFL, and you think you should never get hit ... you probably ought to be doing something else.

The last two games, Cousins has dealt with the pressure really well.

Take that off-balance laser to Treadwell on 4th-and-5. That was a big league throw there, not just to get the ball to Treadwell, but with the velocity and placement it had. As shocked as I was that Treadwell not only caught it, but got both feet inbounds, I was far more impressed that Cousins made that throw. He was under pressure. It wasn't an easy throw to make. But he stayed cool, waited for it to come open, and lasered it.

Honestly, it was vintage Brett Favre or John Elway on that one, and that wasn't the only throw he made like that. I saw him stand tall in the pocket several times too under some duress and deliver the ball on target. It seems like he's mentally in the right place and playing with the right attitude, and it really shows up in the results.

Another thing I wanted to highlight about Cousins in the last two games is his on-field leadership. He has stepped up his game in that department as well. He's commanding the huddle, showing urgency earlier, and a lot more fire and passion than I recall seeing from him earlier in the season. He's playing, in essence, the entire game the way he has played late when the Vikings are down and he needs to bring them back. The players around him seem to be responding to that. The offense remained energetic and effective throughout the game. Heck, they might have punched another score in late had Mattison not fumbled. Cousins has something to do with that.

As I mentioned in the Eagles postgame thread, I have to tip my hat to Kirk Cousins. He played brilliantly yesterday, and he was under pressure at times. One of the throws I remember really well was a 2nd-and-8 throw to Diggs for a first down. The Eagles blitzed, and Elflein, as usual, managed to block the wrong guy. Number 54 for the Eagles came through free up the middle. Dalvin did a great job of at least slowing him down, but Kirk saw it the whole way and zipped the ball to Diggs, his hot read, while falling backwards. That was a Rodgers/Wilson-type throw that I've not seen from Cousins.

Another was the completion to Bisi Johnson. The Eagles again had a free rusher up the middle ... this time, Cousins juked him, rolled to his right and threw an absolute seed on the run.

Kirk Cousins, in my opinion, played his best game as a Viking yesterday. He got absolutely robbed on the interception. Diggsy should have caught that ball -- it was a laser. If Cousins can keep this up, we're going to be a nightmare for other teams because it's nearly impossible to stop both our running game and our passing game when Cousins plays like this.

[Pondering Her Percy]

The last two games, Cousins has dealt with the pressure really well.

Take that off-balance laser to Treadwell on 4th-and-5. That was a big league throw there, not just to get the ball to Treadwell, but with the velocity and placement it had. As shocked as I was that Treadwell not only caught it, but got both feet inbounds, I was far more impressed that Cousins made that throw. He was under pressure. It wasn't an easy throw to make. But he stayed cool, waited for it to come open, and lasered it.

Honestly, it was vintage Brett Favre or John Elway on that one, and that wasn't the only throw he made like that. I saw him stand tall in the pocket several times too under some duress and deliver the ball on target. It seems like he's mentally in the right place and playing with the right attitude, and it really shows up in the results.

Another thing I wanted to highlight about Cousins in the last two games is his on-field leadership. He has stepped up his game in that department as well. He's commanding the huddle, showing urgency earlier, and a lot more fire and passion than I recall seeing from him earlier in the season. He's playing, in essence, the entire game the way he has played late when the Vikings are down and he needs to bring them back. The players around him seem to be responding to that. The offense remained energetic and effective throughout the game. Heck, they might have punched another score in late had Mattison not fumbled. Cousins has something to do with that.

As I mentioned in the Eagles postgame thread, I have to tip my hat to Kirk Cousins. He played brilliantly yesterday, and he was under pressure at times. One of the throws I remember really well was a 2nd-and-8 throw to Diggs for a first down. The Eagles blitzed, and Elflein, as usual, managed to block the wrong guy. Number 54 for the Eagles came through free up the middle. Dalvin did a great job of at least slowing him down, but Kirk saw it the whole way and zipped the ball to Diggs, his hot read, while falling backwards. That was a Rodgers/Wilson-type throw that I've not seen from Cousins.

Another was the completion to Bisi Johnson. The Eagles again had a free rusher up the middle ... this time, Cousins juked him, rolled to his right and threw an absolute seed on the run.

Kirk Cousins, in my opinion, played his best game as a Viking yesterday. He got absolutely robbed on the interception. Diggsy should have caught that ball -- it was a laser. If Cousins can keep this up, we're going to be a nightmare for other teams because it's nearly impossible to stop both our running game and our passing game when Cousins plays like this.

Agreed I still think his best throw of the day was the 4th and 5 completion to treadwell towards the end of the game. Across his body backing up and was an absolute rope to the sideline on the money

[VikeFanInEagleLand]

The throw to Treadwell was very nice. Good catch too.

[J. Kapp 11]

As I mentioned in the Eagles postgame thread, I have to tip my hat to Kirk Cousins. He played brilliantly yesterday, and he was under pressure at times. One of the throws I remember really well was a 2nd-and-8 throw to Diggs for a first down. The Eagles blitzed, and Elflein, as usual, managed to block the wrong guy. Number 54 for the Eagles came through free up the middle. Dalvin did a great job of at least slowing him down, but Kirk saw it the whole way and zipped the ball to Diggs, his hot read, while falling backwards. That was a Rodgers/Wilson-type throw that I've not seen from Cousins.

Another was the completion to Bisi Johnson. The Eagles again had a free rusher up the middle ... this time, Cousins juked him, rolled to his right and threw an absolute seed on the run.

Kirk Cousins, in my opinion, played his best game as a Viking yesterday. He got absolutely robbed on the interception. Diggsy should have caught that ball -- it was a laser. If Cousins can keep this up, we're going to be a nightmare for other teams because it's nearly impossible to stop both our running game and our passing game when Cousins plays like this.

Agreed I still think his best throw of the day was the 4th and 5 completion to treadwell towards the end of the game. Across his body backing up and was an absolute rope to the sideline on the money

The fact that we're listing a lot of throws is pretty indicative of just how good a game Cousins had.

Now it's time for him to go into Detroit and do it again.

[Dames]

Right but that is not above average in any game. My point was that we have had a below-average amount of pressure in the last 2 weeks. Guys will get thru and blitzes will come. However, thats par for the course of an NFL offense. What we were seeing before was abysmal.

This is definitely correct. We have not had much pressure is the last couple weeks and Cousins has taken advantage of it (as he should). I'm in a wait-and-see pattern with him. When I see him play well vs good pressure, then I'll be feeling more confident. I'll still enjoy the success in the meantime though.

[Pondering Her Percy]

For what it’s worth, this is impressive.....

Kirk Cousins ranks Week 5-7:

1st PFF Overall Grade
3rd Adj. Comp %
2nd Passer Rating on PA Passes

[VikeFanInEagleLand]

I'm in absolute agreement that KIrk has been very impressive over the last few weeks. It seems, though, that my definition of a Big Game is different than most on here. Ok...this was an important game of sorts, but I'm waiting to see what happens when we're playing an elimination game against a playoff caliber team. Or maybe even a game that decides the division against, let's say, Green Bay.

[me4get]

Cousins first QB to have 3 games in a row with 300+ yds a game and a QB rating above 130 for all 3 games.