In Indy, Vikings prove supporting cast can no longer prop up Cousins's no-shows
Cousins had a lot of help last year that isn't here anymore and it's showing
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Over the last two years, the Minnesota Vikings had a lot of things going for them. They had a star-studded veteran defense, two elite receivers and a highly-talented running back. Specifically in 2019, the Vikings had a favorable schedule and an offensive coordinator who seemed to press all the right buttons.
This year they are without many of the veteran defensive players that guided them to an NFC Championship in 2017, some via old age/contracts and Danielle Hunter due to a reported neck issue that landed him on injured reserve. On offense, they traded Stefon Diggs to Buffalo, failed to improve the offensive line and changed play callers to Gary Kubiak. They aren’t as healthy and the schedule did not give them an easy first two contests.
And the result of all these things is that the Vikings cannot overcome Kirk Cousins no-shows and slow starts.
While the defense received the brunt of the blame for Week 1, Cousins gave them no extra help in the first half by getting sacked for a safety and throwing an interception that gave the Packers a free touchdown.
In Week 2, the same exact thing happened. The Indianapolis Colts made numerous mistakes and left the door wide open for the Vikings offense but Cousins slammed it shut on himself.
The Vikings drove the length of the field to start the game but came away with only a 21-yard field goal. It’s certainly questionable whether the Vikings can afford to play things safe with field goals at the goal line considering their defensive struggles.
The Colts gave them a second chance with a Philip Rivers interception at the goal line but rather than take advantage, they played safe again with a run play on third-and-9. Maybe a call that was influenced by a safety last week when the Vikings passed out of their own end zone.
Following a short punt, the Colts scored a touchdown to go up 7-0. The two teams exchanged punts and the Vikings got the ball backed up against their goal line again. This time Cousins dropped back into the end zone, hesitated to get rid of the ball and took a safety.
There was no blaming a blitzer or a missed blocking assignment on this one. At that point it was clear that Bad Kirk was showing up in Indy.
But last year the Vikings got away with some Bad Kirk moments, most memorably a 20-0 deficit against the Broncos in which Stefon Diggs caught a long touchdown and the defense came up with a last-second stop to win. Cousins no-showed against the Lions too but they were starting David Blough that day.
There was David Blough in Indy.
Still the Colts didn’t put a dagger in the Vikings. They followed up the safety with a field goal and the Vikings were down just 12-3 with one minute remaining in the half despite Cousins only posting 37 yards passing to that point.
But Cousins tossed an interception on a bizarre bomb into double coverage that turned into a tip-drill pick for the Colts. They kicked another field goal to make it a 15-3 game at half. Cousins’s final line for the first half was 6-for-17 with 59 yards and two interceptions.
Sunday’s first half wasn’t all that different from the first half last year against Rivers’s Los Angeles Chargers. During that game he sputtered through the first half and things were close until Danielle Hunter sacked Rivers and Ifeadi Odenigbo returned it for a touchdown. No Danielle Hunter this time.
Cousins has been prone to games in which it either takes him awhile to get going or never really seems to get going at all. But all it took to cover up for those games was a big play by Diggs, a game-changing sack by the defense, a huge game for Cook, a great play call that left a receiver wide open. None of that happened.
In fact, just the opposite. Still in the game starting the second half, a Cousins pass bounced off a receiver’s hands and the Colts got their third interception of the day. They responded with another field goal, making it 18-3 in the third quarter.
If the Colts’ defense had been reflective of the 2019 49ers, you might understand it. But Indy allowed a 95% completion percentage to Gardner Minshew just last week and they were missing starting corner Rock Ya-Sin.
Even at 18-3, the Vikings weren’t completely toast midway through the third quarter but Cousins took a sack when right guard Dru Samia was beaten instantly and the Vikings failed to convert third-and-27. Following the drive, Cousins’s passer rating was 0.0.
Since his arrival, we have talked about Cousins being a quarterback who needs a strong supporting cast to succeed. But for the dollars the Vikings have paid for his services, he should be able to raise the bar above a 0.0 rating, even if Diggs is missing and the defense isn’t getting off the field.
Cousins had a chance to swing the season in Week 2. To win a shootout and get things back on track. To pick up his defense, which had been widely criticized for getting run out of the building by the Packers in Week 1.
Instead Sunday looked very much like games we’ve seen in the past — at Chicago several times, at Seattle in 2018, against Green Bay several times. But at least those teams had good defenses. The Colts are starting Xavier Rhodes and the Vikings couldn’t take advantage of him a single time.
Early in the fourth quarter, the Vikings’ defense finally broke, allowing a Colts touchdown to make it 28-3 — the perfect deficit for Cousins to start connecting on throws and lead a meaningless touchdown drive to lose 28-11.
In the end the Vikings dropped to 0-2 in one of the worst quarterback showing since Josh Freeman was briefly a Viking. That leaves us with dozens of questions. What now? Can they get the offense going? Is this the Cousins we’ll see all year? Who among the supporting cast can step up? Is Kubiak part of the problem? What happens if they start 0-5 or worse?
And then there’s the bigger question: Did they consider the possibility that Cousins would fall off without a quality team around him when the Vikings extended his contract?
If Cousins doesn’t turn around quickly in the next few weeks against the Titans and Texans, these questions are going to get louder.
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Yikes. They need to categorically improve tremendously just to become marginally competitive.
Matthew, your Gamer reflected the mood of the team in the game, and not surprisingly, it reflects the mood of the fans who follow the team. Robert Smith, doing color, said near the end of the first half that the Vikings looked unfocused throughout the first half. He was being kind. But that’s on the players and it is really on the coaching staff (Zimmer) to have your troops ready to play. Both groups failed today, just like Week 1.
There is no excuse for early-game safeties two weeks in a row, and there is no excuse for Cousins throwing up a jump ball to Adam T. and two Colts’ defenders midway through the game. It was an unprofessional decision, a desperate decision, an “If we die, we die” decision.
The Vikings need way better quarterbacking to be competitive this year. We know we’re going to get Bad Kirk from time to time, but he’s an egg we can’t unscramble, and we’re stuck with who he is: A quarterback who bangs around between below average and above average. Irv Smith Jr. had a choppy day. So did Bisi. I’m in favor of moving Justin Jefferson into the No. 2 receiver position. He’s the future and let’s see what the kid can do. Three targets today and three completions. He can help the team more as the No. 2 receiver right now.
There was small improvement in TOP, but not much. I think the offense finished with 21 minutes and change in possession. They have got to be better at piling up first downs throughout the game, and not in the first quarter. The defense needs a lot of help and overall, I thought the defense played better today than last week, but they have to get off the field and somehow, they must firm up the run defense. Green Bay had 156 rushing yards last week, Indy had 151 yards today. The Vikings aren’t going to win many games by allowing teams to run on you when they want to.
As Denny Green told his Vikings, “The Calvary ain’t coming.” These Vikings are going to have to play better with what they have. If this season gets away from them in the first four games, those last 12 games will be as exciting as watching two old men ice fish. And all we fans will have is endless speculation about draft position. That’s not a good look.