As suspected, Kirk Cousins is the right quarterback for VikingsKirk Cousins wasn’t perfect on Sunday, but some of his passes were. The accuracy of the Vikings’ new quarterback is preternatural.
“I think he was born with it,” receiver Stefon Diggs said.
Diggs was on the receiving end of a remarkable Cousins toss in the second quarter Sunday, a 22-yard pass that landed on his right shoulder for the first official touchdown connection between the new teammates. The window was, as they say, small.
“He does so many great things,” Diggs said. “And he looks great, too. Have you seen him?”
Yes, Stefon, we’ve seen a lot of Cousins since he signed a three-year, $84 million free-agent deal in March; but we hadn’t seen him play a real game in a Vikings uniform until Sunday at U.S. Bank Stadium. He completed 20 of 36 passes for 244 yards and two touchdowns in a 24-16 victory over San Francisco.
No, Cousins wasn’t perfect, but his performance should be enough to convince the skeptics that he is the perfect quarterback for the Vikings — that a team eager to build on last season’s NFC Championship appearance and return to the Super Bowl for the first time since 1977 made the right decision to jettison Case Keenum and Sam Bradford and go after the bigger, better thing.
Counsins’ touchdown passes to Diggs and tight end Kyle Rudolph were the kind of thread-the-needle throws that not every quarterback can make.
The latter, an 11-yard pass into Rudolph’s bread basket at the back of the end zone that gave Minnesota a 24-6 lead early in the third quarter, was even more impressive than his first, especially when seen from field level. It’s the kind of strong-armed accuracy that separates great quarterbacks from good ones, and champions from contenders.
“I think that’s NFL football. I think if you’re not really accurate, and you don’t have that confidence to let it rip, you’re going to be holding the ball and getting sacked, or spraying the ball everywhere,” Cousins said. “If you’re waiting for guys to get open, you’re going to be waiting a long time.”
Cousins left some plays on the field in his first full, and real, game with the Vikings, but did nothing to change the perception that he is, as many suspected, the quarterback Minnesota needs to end a 47-year run without an NFL championship (they won the 1969 NFL championship before losing Super Bowl IV), and win the first Super Bowl in franchise history.
“He played well,” coach Mike Zimmer said.
https://www.twincities.com/2018/09/09/john-shipley-as-suspected-kirk-cousins-is-the-right-quarterback-for-vikings/