Matthew Coller: Vikings know better than to count out Kirk Cousins

The veteran Falcons quarterback has always found ways to bounce back.

Oct 20, 2024; Atlanta, Georgia, USA; Atlanta Falcons quarterback Kirk Cousins (18) passes the ball against the Seattle Seahawks at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Dale Zanine-Imagn Images / Dale Zanine-Imagn Images

EAGAN — Nine years ago, Kirk Cousins dropped three words that would become synonymous with his best moments throughout his career. “You like that?”

If you go back and look at the circumstances under which he first screamed that phrase in the face of a TV reporter coming off the field in Washington D.C., you’ll find the beginning of a common theme for Cousins’s career. Every time things look like they’re about to go sideways, he finds a way to bounce back.

In 2015, Cousins got off to a rough start with just two wins in six games and the talk in DC was that he wasn’t good enough to be a starter. In the first half against Tampa Bay in Week 7, Washington went down 24-7 and it seemed that his QB1 career might be over. Back then he had only been a spot starter and the organization was reeling from the failure of Robert Griffin III. Nobody would have guessed at that time Cousins would start for another decade.

But in the second half, he went off. Three touchdown passes later, Washington won 31-30. You like that?

During his time with the Vikings, there were many different versions of the Cousins bounce back. In 2019 Week 4 against the Bears, the offense struggled so much that Stefon Diggs protested by skipping practice. Cousins lit up the Giants the next week and won Player of the Month for that October. Later that year, the Saints were expected to beat the Vikings in the playoffs and it was reported that head coach Mike Zimmer could be fired or traded to the Cowboys if they lost. Instead Cousins led a game-winning drive in overtime.

The following year the Vikings started 1-5. Then they went to Green Bay and beat the Packers, kicking off a winning streak that got them back into playoff contention. When they missed the playoffs in 2021 and Zimmer was fired, the expectation was that the Vikings would be a mid-pack team and they would move on as the new regime searched for their guy. But Cousins complicated matters by leading the NFL in game-winning drives en route to a 13-win season. The Vikings were particularly down and out against the Buffalo Bills in a snow-globe game but Cousins heaved a pass on fourth-and-18 to Justin Jefferson to keep the game alive and ultimately win in OT.

In his final season in Minnesota, Cousins was on the brink of being a trade candidate at the deadline after a 1-4 start. Then he played his two best games under Kevin O’Connell vs. San Francisco and Green Bay to get the team back to .500.

So as the Vikings get set to face Cousins, whose Atlanta Falcons team dropped to 6-6 amidst a four-interception performance by the veteran QB last week, there is no way they are taking him and the Falcons offense lightly. In fact, the worst time to play Cousins might be when he’s down on the mat.

“He's a bounce back type of guy, as we all know,” defensive coordinator Brian Flores said. “I'm expecting his best, the best version of Kirk, the best version of that offense. And it's going to be a major challenge for us. And we're going to have to prepare the right way to have success against this group.”

Unsurprisingly the best version of Kirk played at a very high level this season. Between Weeks 5-9, the Falcons won four of five games and he threw for an average of 293 yards per game with 13 touchdowns, three interceptions and 72% completion percentage. The Falcons won three division games in that stretch and Cousins had an outstanding “revenge game” against the Cowboys and Mike Zimmer’s defense, going 19-for-24 with three touchdowns.

“He's a very, very good quarterback,” Flores said. “They got a lot of really good skill players. They've put up a lot of points. They're an explosive offense, really across the board. Bijan's a very, very good back. The receiving core, Drake and Mooney, they got a really good pits. I mean, they got a good even core, good quarterback, good old line. So this is going to be a major challenge. We're going to need some crowd noise at a very, very high level.”

In recent Weeks the Kirk coaster has taken a severe dip. Over the last three games he has zero touchdowns, six interceptions and only a 62% completion percentage. The Falcons lost all three games and are suddenly hearing footsteps from the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the NFC South race.

“I know the kind of narrative is he had a tough game last week, but he's played some good football,” Flores said. “I think the people in this building know what Kirk can do.”

The bigger picture numbers on Cousins and the Falcons offense are concerning for Atlanta — to the point where there has been speculation that they could bench Cousins in favor of rookie Michael Penix Jr. Heading into Sunday’s game, the Falcons are 19th in points per game and Cousins ranks 23rd by PFF with the league lead in turnover-worthy plays.

On paper the matchup would seem to heavily favor the Vikings, who rank third in percentage of drives in which they have forced a turnover. They are fourth in sacks, third in pressure percentage and eighth in Expected Points Added vs. the pass.

However, the Vikings defense has shown some vulnerability at times this season, particularly against veteran quarterbacks. Jared Goff went 22-for-25 with 280 yards and two touchdowns. Matthew Stafford completed 25-of-34 with 279 yards and four TDs. Last week Kyler Murray only averaged 5.8 yards per attempt but controlled the time of possession by completing nearly 70% of his throws.

“It's going to be a challenge,” head coach Kevin O’Connell said. “He's going to be very accurate. He's going to throw with great timing and rhythm. He's going to get the ball out. When he does, it's going to be going to the right guy….he can easily put together the type of performance where he can have you scrambling on defense from a coverage standpoint, being a play ahead, all those things. We got to do a really good job with the principles of our defense that we feel very strongly about and know that they're going to have a plan for it.”

Top receivers have had their moments against the Vikings too. Falcons receiver Drake London has 70 receptions this season and Darnell Mooney has broken out for 731 yards. Atlanta also has one of the best running backs in the NFL Bijan Robinson, whose carries have resulted in an outstanding 58.0% success rate.

Will the Vikings familiarity with Cousins help them against a QB who is known for his ability to rebound from down moments? Will Cousins have an edge because he got to practice against Flores’s defense in 2023?

“I think Kirk's seen every defense you could possibly throw at him,” Flores said. “And anything new that we had, he's seen that too. Now he's seen it…. I'll keep reiterating that from a just fundamentals and communication standpoint, because he can get his team in one call and out of the call or into another call with a couple hand signals. So then go up to the line and check the protection, like he's that type of football mind. So it'll be a challenge.”

ADDITIONAL NOTES

— Stephon Gilmore did not practice on Wednesday

— Josh Oliver was back at practice and Kevin O’Connell was optimistic about his potential to return this week

— It isn’t clear yet whether Will Reichard will return to kick or not

“We're going to let Will [Reichard] kind of work through the week, make sure he gets some kicks,” O’Connell said.