Kirk Cousins's bizarre explanation for meltdown in final seconds against Chargers

"Until you know the future it's hard to know whether to take the reins or not, but I've done it before and try not to make a habit of it, certainly."

Who's at fault for the confusion at the end of Minnesota's 28-24 loss to the Chargers?

Trailing 28-24, quarterback Kirk Cousins snapped the ball on fourth down with 42 seconds to play and connected with tight end T.J. Hockenson for a first down at the Los Angeles 6-yard line. Hockenson was tackled with about 37 seconds on the clock. Rather than rushing to the line to spike the ball and stop the clock, the Vikings let 25 seconds run before snapping the ball with 12 seconds to play. The result was a double tipped ball that was picked off in the end zone. 

Kirk Cousins throws a game-sealing interception after rough clock management.

28-24 Chargers win. pic.twitter.com/a93R8JWPW0

— The Comeback NFL (@TheComebackNFL) September 24, 2023

It was a game management failure. They didn't have any timeouts, but they could've clocked the ball and still had at least 25 seconds left. Here's how Cousins's postgame Q&A with the media went about the disastrous ending. 

Reporter: Was it the noise, the headset going out?

Cousins: "Yeah, I just couldn't hear him, and the noise," said Cousins. "Just ended up calling a play and it was the same play he was trying to get to."

Reporter: You never fully heard O'Connell?

Cousins: "We always practice that. Headset goes out, what do you call? I just called a play and it ended up being the same one he wanted."

Reporter: Do you have the authority to spike the ball and stop the clock?

Cousins: "I can do anything I want. I can quarterback sneak it, I can do whatever I want but at the same time you've gotta also deal with the consequences," Against Buffalo last year I snuck it on my own and didn't get int," he said. "Until you know the future it's hard to know whether to take the reins or not, but I've done it before and try not to make a habit of it, certainly."

Reporter: What's the thought process of not clocking it?

Cousins: "Uh, I don't know. You'll have to ask Kevin," Cousins said. "I was just trying to get up and call a play and get it and go."

Reporter: Did the chaos make you feel rushed on the final play?

Cousins: "No, I think with the clock winding where it was, I felt like I'm going to put this off T.J.'s frame and then in either ours or nobody's spot, and it's like a clock. It's either ours for a touchdown to win the game or it's incomplete," said Cousins. "I'm going to put it off, away from his frame to a safe spot. You don't expect a ball to bounce up twice in the air and get intercepted, but my thought was the quicker I can get this thing out to a safe spot, we give ourselves another chance if in fact it is incomplete."

Let's get this straight. Cousins can do anything he wants, including stop the clock. But he didn't. And because he deferred the question about his thought process of not clocking it, he really can't do anything he wants or he's just more comfortable getting orders from the sideline and then doing what he's told. Right?

O'Connell was asked if he wants Cousins to make an "executive decision" and clock it when things are spiraling out of control and the coach didn't give a definitive "yes" to that question, which supports the idea that Cousins really can't do whatever he wants. 

"I think there's some scenarios. If the headset just goes completely out would probably be a better scenario than if it's choppy and he's trying to piece together what I'm saying," O'Connell explained, noting that the idea behind not clocking it is to keep the defense off balance and prevent them from making substitutions. 

In the end, O'Connell wishes he would've had Cousins clock it. But in the perfect world, a 12-year veteran quarterback like Cousins would notice precious time ticking off the clock and take control of the situation to settle everyone down. 

"That one, purely on me trying to be too aggressive in that moment. Definitely looking back on it, just wish I would've clocked it," O'Connell said. "No matter what benefit we had going fast, the value was not received with what that execution looked like in the moment."