Murphy: A painful return for Cousins

Brian Murphy writes about how Kirk Cousins processed a loss in his homecoming

© Matt Krohn-Imagn Images

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By Brian Murphy

You could hear the disappointment oozing through Kirk Cousins’ clipped responses and clenched teeth as he skimmed facts and weaved familiar cliches through the postmortem of his disappointing return to Minnesota.

From the two interceptions against the Vikings that give him eight in the last month to more stalled drives and a fourth straight game without a touchdown pass, the ice is slowly melting beneath Cousins’ feet in Atlanta, which seems poised at any moment to hand the franchise keys to rookie Michael Penix Jr.

Sam Darnold crashed Cousins’ homecoming party Sunday and chortled out of the room with the best-looking girl on one arm, a bottle of Johnnie Walker Blue in the other and a decisive 42-21 victory in hand.

You could fill U.S. Bank Stadium with the irony dripping from the Vikings’ sixth consecutive win, which keeps them within striking distance of surging Detroit. Darnold the lame duck played the finest game of his vagabond NFL career on the day his highly compensated predecessor may be staring at his in the rearview mirror.

“MVP!” chants roared as Darnold towel-whipped the revelers into a frenzy when his 347-yard, five-touchdown pass performance was showcased on the videoboard in the final minutes. The 27-year-old resurrection has been playing at an elite level since brain-cramping in Jacksonville four weeks ago, lifting this team onto his broadening shoulders as the Vikings have stacked 11 wins and seem destined for several more.

Darnold connected with Justin Jefferson and Jordan Addison for a record 265 yards and all five touchdowns as he continues to deliver one clutch throw after another while emphatically stating his case for a long-term suitor whenever this merry-go-round stops in Minnesota.

“Sam’s played great, has had a great year, did a great job today,” said Cousins, munching on glass. “I’m happy for him, the way he’s playing, and the way those guys are improving.”

Cousins rattled off his greatest postgame hits about reviewing the tape, taking the rest of Atlanta’s spiraling season one day at a time, looking ahead to the Raiders and seeing where the chips fall on Jan. 5. But the steely glare and unwillingness to dig deep on the obvious storyline of the week told you everything you needed to know about how badly Cousins wanted this one and how poorly he played.

He pump-faked his way into underthrowing Drake London and telegraphing his first interception to Josh Metellus early in the second quarter with the game tied at 7. After leading a touchdown drive and two-point conversion that tied the game 21-21 in the final minute of the third quarter, Cousins threw his second pick of the game to Byron Murphy from the Minnesota 25-yard line midway through the fourth.

In between the Vikings had built a 14-point lead that greased the blowout which followed.

Cousins finished with 344 yards but never had a chance to lead a comeback as Darnold jammed the accelerator and the Vikings special teams recovered a fumbled kickoff to finish the self-destructive Falcons, who committed a whopping 12 penalties for 127 yards.

“Disappointing day today. Left plays out there, made a ton of mistakes,” he said.

Atlanta’s fourth straight loss plunged it below .500 and behind the streaking Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the lowly NFC South.

Coach Raheem Morris equivocated when asked about Cousins’ future as a starter. He didn’t consider replacing him in the second half with Penix, the No. 8 overall pick the Falcons took only weeks after signing Cousins to a four-year, $180 million contract.

“Everything is always discussed,” Morris said. “Kirk Cousins is our quarterback. Kirk played significantly better than he did the week before. We’ll do whatever gives us the best chance to win football games and Kirk is definitely a part of that.

“We didn’t handle the moment well as a team. We didn’t play well enough to get him a win in this hostile environment.”

For all the teeth-gnashing, heart-thumping and handwringing that defined Cousins’ six-year residency in Minnesota, his return was more validating than emotional. It underscored how right it was for Cousins to seize another payday and for the Vikings to finally seize the day.

If there is a negotiating wing in the Pro Football Hall of Fame, Cousins has a gold jacket, cigar and monocle waiting for him in Canton. Unwilling to be leveraged into submission anew by the quarterback robber baron, the Vikings cashed in their get out of jail card in March and started over by signing Darnold to a one-year deal before drafting J.J. McCarthy 10^th overall out of Michigan.

Meanwhile, aging Falcons owner Arthur Blank Check is chasing a Super Bowl championship that appears more elusive than ever. He no intentions to take all of it with him and gladly overpaid for the premier quarterback on the free agent market.

Cousins, 36, held all the bargaining power, which he earned through short-term hardball, long-term durability and sleight-of-hand production that failed to carry Minnesota on a sustained playoff run.

His aw-shucks demeanor belied a tough-as-nails competitor who started every game for the Vikings until tearing his Achilles Oct. 29, 2023, at Lambeau Field.

Cousins was victorious in 50 of 88 starts in Minnesota, won the respect of the locker room and O’Connell in 2022 after being merely tolerated by former coach Mike Zimmer and helped lead the greatest comeback in league history against Indianapolis. It was one of 13 victories that won the Vikings yet another unfulfilling division championship.

But a mediocre performance against the inferior New York Giants in a miserable wild-card loss at U.S. Bank Stadium branded Cousins as an underwhelming postseason performer with his pedestrian 1-2 record.

A deeply religious, charmingly dorky dad who embraced a refreshing family-first approach to his in-season routine, Cousins took too long to win over a tribal fan base that seemed to think he was the misunderstood second coming or a calculating wolf in sheep’s clothing.

All the Kirko-Chainz, white-man-overbite dance routines, Kohl’s shopping and Netflix image scrubbing did was humanize a shark just long enough for him to attack the next contract negotiating session.

The Cousins era was worth the investment despite the underwhelming yield. All told, it proved more exhausting than exhilarating. But there remains a ton of mutual respect, at least among the combatants who lay their bodies on the line more than the bean counters.

Cousins shared hugs with Addison, Jefferson, T.J. Hockenson, Brian O’Neill, Harrison Smith and several Vikings coaches, staffers and security officials who greeted him after the game.

He waved at the fans who remained to serenade him as Cousins jogged through the visitor’s tunnel and reflected on his time in town.

“Just gratitude for the six years I got to spend here and the people I got to work with,” Cousins said. “It’s a great fan base. I expected them to make it hostile, and they did a great job of that.”

His longest embrace was with O’Connell, the coach who helped pull out Cousins’ most productive season in purple.

“He just said he was grateful for me, and I said the same,” Cousins said. “He’s a great coach and he’s doing a great job this year.”

With that, Cousins hopped off the podium, exhaled deeply and made his way to the Falcons bus for a solemn flight back to Atlanta and greater uncertainty than ever about a lengthy career that has defied convention, the odds and doubts.

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