Cousins has always proven himself. He’s ready to do it again.
https://www.inforum.com/sports/pro/vikings-qb-kirk-cousins-has-always-proven-himself-hes-ready-to-do-it-againST. PAUL -- As an 18-year-old growing up in Michigan, Kirk Cousins
remembers preparing for college without any knowledge of what lies
ahead. He was the starting quarterback for Holland Christian High School
at the time, and despite some moderate interest from some schools, he
still hadn’t received a scholarship offer.
“I’m going into my
senior year with no scholarship offers,” he remembered. “I walked off
the field the last game of my high school career with no scholarship
offers.”
After almost every game, Cousins remembers a local
reporter from the Holland Sentinel asking different variations of the
same question: How was he handling the sea of unknowns?
“If you
win football games, and do your part, and put your work in, the rest
will take care of itself,” Cousins said. “That certainly happened in my
high school career.”
That mindset followed Cousins to his college career, where he
won the job at Michigan State during his sophomore year and never gave
it back. That mindset then followed Cousins to his professional career,
where he was a backup with the franchise now known as the Washington
Commanders before taking over as the starter.
Now it’s helping Cousins navigate his current situation with
the Vikings, where he doesn’t have a contract beyond next season. A
couple of months ago, Cousins agreed to restructure his contract, adding
more void years, which essentially allowed the Vikings to free up some
cap space without signing him to an extension.
“I’m looking
forward to this year and wanting to go out there and prove it again,”
Cousins said. “That’s really where my focus is.”
Though he has become a
polarizing player in Minnesota largely because of his huge contract,
Cousins has also put together some impressive performances that
shouldn’t be overlooked. He has thrown for 20,934 yards and 153
touchdowns across 80 games with the Vikings, most recently leading them
to an NFC North championship last season.
In the past, Cousins has
made it clear he wants to retire with the Vikings. That hasn’t changed
even if they’ve put him in a position where he once again has to prove
himself.
“I want to be in Minnesota,” he said. “That’s kind of a no-brainer, so hopefully we can earn the right to do that.”
As
someone who preaches staying in the moment, Cousins manages to do that
by going back to the lesson he learned when he had no idea where life
was going to take him. If he simply focuses on winning football games,
the rest will take care of itself.
“I’m encouraged and excited
because I do think I have a lot of good football ahead of me,” he said.
“I feel positive about the future looking forward and I go back to how
this has kind of been a part of my story.”
The guy has an amazing attitude. Oozes leadership. Yet half the fanbase dislikes the guy. Its so weird.
@"StickyBun" said: The guy has an amazing attitude. Oozes leadership. Yet half the fanbase dislikes the guy. Its so weird.
exactly this.
@"StickyBun" said: The guy has an amazing attitude. Oozes leadership. Yet half the fanbase dislikes the guy. Its so weird.
Only one way to quiet haters....
@"purplefaithful" said:@"StickyBun" said: The guy has an amazing attitude. Oozes leadership. Yet half the fanbase dislikes the guy. Its so weird.
Only one way to quiet haters....
That's a tough bar to hang on someone. Nothing will ever be good enough then. I'm as long suffering as any on this board, but I also know the QB isn't the only part of the equation to win that coveted trophy.
@"StickyBun" said: The guy has an amazing attitude. Oozes leadership. Yet half the fanbase dislikes the guy. Its so weird.
I love everything he is saying here and I think it is all very genuine and not just trying to say the right thing. I really respect and appreciate a player with this kind of perspective and it is extremely refreshing to see as not something we see often in the modern era. I will admit, before last season, I was not a huge fan, but he really won me over last year, I thought he really stepped into the leadership role, he seemed looser, played like he was having fun and he was incredibly clutch when it counted the most. I thought by far he was the main reason we were 11-0 in one score games. I think KOC brought out the best in him and I expect him to have an even better season this year and think he will eventually get an extension.
@"StickyBun" said: The guy has an amazing attitude. Oozes leadership. Yet half the fanbase dislikes the guy. Its so weird.
Wrong, I dont think anybody dislikes the man, they may have issue with his contract tactics and question his value, but I think you will be hard pressed to find any that have issue with Kirk...except for his religion or politics, but thats just the world we live in.
I think Kirk is a good quarterback and you can win with him with the right supporting cast around him....but we've paid him $155 million dollars since he's been in Minnesota, he's going to be 35, was one off for the league lead in interceptions last season, and his QBR dropped to a career low 92.5 percent last season which is a drop of a full 11 points from where it was the year prior. Oh, and we are once again going into the last year of his deal. I think I speak for a good portion of fans who want off the ride and are ready to try something different...
@"supafreak84" said: I think Kirk is a good quarterback and you can win with him with the right supporting cast around him....but we've paid him $155 million dollars since he's been in Minnesota, he's going to be 35, was one off for the league lead in interceptions last season, and his QBR dropped to a career low 92.5 percent last season which is a drop of a full 11 points from where it was the year prior. Oh, and we are once again going into the last year of his deal. I think I speak for a good portion of fans who want off the ride and are ready to try something different...
Fans on here bitched about his risk averse play before last year, and said the only reason his stats were good were due to garbage time inflation. People said they would gladly give up stats for better results. Last year he did just that, but a putrid defense kept this team from being a serious contender.
People that don't think Kirk is good enough to win are ridiculous. Look at history. Eli Manning was just above average. Peyton won his last SB when he was a walking cadaver. Joe Flacco? Nic Foles? Matt Stafford? I'd put Kirk on any of those teams with those defenses and coaches, and feel pretty good about the outcome.
@"mgobluevikes" said:@"supafreak84" said: I think Kirk is a good quarterback and you can win with him with the right supporting cast around him....but we've paid him $155 million dollars since he's been in Minnesota, he's going to be 35, was one off for the league lead in interceptions last season, and his QBR dropped to a career low 92.5 percent last season which is a drop of a full 11 points from where it was the year prior. Oh, and we are once again going into the last year of his deal. I think I speak for a good portion of fans who want off the ride and are ready to try something different...
Fans on here bitched about his risk averse play before last year, and said the only reason his stats were good were due to garbage time inflation. People said they would gladly give up stats for better results. Last year he did just that, but a putrid defense kept this team from being a serious contender.People that don't think Kirk is good enough to win are ridiculous. Look at history. Eli Manning was just above average. Peyton won his last SB when he was a walking cadaver. Joe Flacco? Nic Foles? Matt Stafford? I'd put Kirk on any of those teams with those defenses and coaches, and feel pretty good about the outcome.
Is that really the route we want to go though to try to win a championship? Some of these quarterbacks you mentioned had historically great defenses. What kind of timetable do you want to put on this Vikings defense before it becomes historically great because Cousins is 35. There's also the contract issue and do we want to continue paying top dollar to a 35 year old quarterback who widely isn't considered a top ten player at his own position? I just think we are treading water, and yes while the defense needs to get infinitely better, we need to find a long term upgrade at the quarterback position.
@"mgobluevikes" said:@"supafreak84" said: I think Kirk is a good quarterback and you can win with him with the right supporting cast around him....but we've paid him $155 million dollars since he's been in Minnesota, he's going to be 35, was one off for the league lead in interceptions last season, and his QBR dropped to a career low 92.5 percent last season which is a drop of a full 11 points from where it was the year prior. Oh, and we are once again going into the last year of his deal. I think I speak for a good portion of fans who want off the ride and are ready to try something different...
Fans on here bitched about his risk averse play before last year, and said the only reason his stats were good were due to garbage time inflation. People said they would gladly give up stats for better results. Last year he did just that, but a putrid defense kept this team from being a serious contender.People that don't think Kirk is good enough to win are ridiculous. Look at history. Eli Manning was just above average. Peyton won his last SB when he was a walking cadaver. Joe Flacco? Nic Foles? Matt Stafford? I'd put Kirk on any of those teams with those defenses and coaches, and feel pretty good about the outcome.
Sadly, you won't convince anyone in the anti-Kirk camp. If only we had a different QB and Jim Harbaugh as coach, we could have won 13 games last year.....
@"StickyBun" said:@"mgobluevikes" said:@"supafreak84" said: I think Kirk is a good quarterback and you can win with him with the right supporting cast around him....but we've paid him $155 million dollars since he's been in Minnesota, he's going to be 35, was one off for the league lead in interceptions last season, and his QBR dropped to a career low 92.5 percent last season which is a drop of a full 11 points from where it was the year prior. Oh, and we are once again going into the last year of his deal. I think I speak for a good portion of fans who want off the ride and are ready to try something different...
Fans on here bitched about his risk averse play before last year, and said the only reason his stats were good were due to garbage time inflation. People said they would gladly give up stats for better results. Last year he did just that, but a putrid defense kept this team from being a serious contender.People that don't think Kirk is good enough to win are ridiculous. Look at history. Eli Manning was just above average. Peyton won his last SB when he was a walking cadaver. Joe Flacco? Nic Foles? Matt Stafford? I'd put Kirk on any of those teams with those defenses and coaches, and feel pretty good about the outcome.
Sadly, you won't convince anyone in the anti-Kirk camp. If only we had a different QB and Jim Harbaugh as coach, we could have won 13 games last year.....
We won the softest 12-13 games in NFL history last year. Doing so set us back 2-3 years at best in a necessary rebuild. Perhaps Flores can work miracles with an overmatched defense, and we can somehow become a legit contender. Personally, I don’t see it. Those of us wanting to move on from Kirk don’t hate him. The only part I don’t like about him is his unwillingness to do a team friendly deal that allows us to take the next step. I don’t think as one dimensional as Kirk is that we can build a Super Bowl winner around him. I just think we need to bite the bullet and move on. Personally I like the guy and am a little split on what the next move should be. But I am in the camp of keeping our flexibility to move on from him. Continually operating with one arm tied behind our back won’t work.
@"Waterboy" said:@"StickyBun" said:@"mgobluevikes" said:@"supafreak84" said: I think Kirk is a good quarterback and you can win with him with the right supporting cast around him....but we've paid him $155 million dollars since he's been in Minnesota, he's going to be 35, was one off for the league lead in interceptions last season, and his QBR dropped to a career low 92.5 percent last season which is a drop of a full 11 points from where it was the year prior. Oh, and we are once again going into the last year of his deal. I think I speak for a good portion of fans who want off the ride and are ready to try something different...
Fans on here bitched about his risk averse play before last year, and said the only reason his stats were good were due to garbage time inflation. People said they would gladly give up stats for better results. Last year he did just that, but a putrid defense kept this team from being a serious contender.People that don't think Kirk is good enough to win are ridiculous. Look at history. Eli Manning was just above average. Peyton won his last SB when he was a walking cadaver. Joe Flacco? Nic Foles? Matt Stafford? I'd put Kirk on any of those teams with those defenses and coaches, and feel pretty good about the outcome.
Sadly, you won't convince anyone in the anti-Kirk camp. If only we had a different QB and Jim Harbaugh as coach, we could have won 13 games last year.....
We won the softest 12-13 games in NFL history last year. Doing so set us back 2-3 years at best in a necessary rebuild. Perhaps Flores can work miracles with an overmatched defense, and we can somehow become a legit contender. Personally, I don’t see it. Those of us wanting to move on from Kirk don’t hate him. The only part I don’t like about him is his unwillingness to do a team friendly deal that allows us to take the next step. I don’t think as one dimensional as Kirk is that we can build a Super Bowl winner around him. I just think we need to bite the bullet and move on. Personally I like the guy and am a little split on what the next move should be. But I am in the camp of keeping our flexibility to move on from him. Continually operating with one arm tied behind our back won’t work.
people like to point out the come from behind wins, well if it wasnt for the biggest bail out the QB catch I think I have ever seen, by JJ on what would have been a game sealing pick, and a defensive TD, that was a loss on the road in buffalo. now yes it was a high scoring affair and the D could have done better ( but thats the NFL now right? ) and we got another teams QB at a weak moment, but somehow the D gets all the blame and Kirk gets the credit for all these come from behind wins.
Why are we always behind? Why cant a great QB and our great offensive minded HC just dial up a game where we kick the living shit out of a team? we have the best WR in the game, a great TE, a RB that can dial up an awesome game when he feels like his worth is being threatened. we had 3 wins last year against team by more than 1 score, the opener where Aron was still pouting, the fish, where we were facing a 3rd or 4th string QB, and the end of the year game where the bears who had nothing to play for. if this isnt about Kirk, then IMO its about KOC, they were in their first year together so I am fine with waiting and seeing what 23 brings from the partnership, but I am not good with giving Kirk another deal that handcuffs the team going forward. I would rather see a couple losing seasons than another good but not good enough team trotted out there. sometimes you need to go to the plate looking for a long ball.
Oh fer F'ck sake...Now we're going to asterisk a 13 win season that was filled with thrills then piss on it too?
@"purplefaithful" said: Oh fer F'ck sake...Now we're going to asterisk a 13 win season that was filled with thrills then piss on it too?
im not attacking the season, i am asking why KC gets all the fn credit and the D gets all the blame for the shortcoming of a season that some think is something to hold up as a baseline for future potential. KC is 35 years old, he has never produced anything close to a SB contender as an NFL QB, but yet some fans want to blame everything including the fly on the wall and the way the parking lot is striped as a reason why the teams he has led, cant elevate to a championship contender.
he is a hell of an arm talent, but his lack of mobility is a liability. his age and track record suggest that he is not a horse to which a team should be hitching their wagon. for shit sake Rick.... we have had fans saying not to take a risk on a 25 year old QB ( hooker ), because he is to old, but we have fans saying to re -up with a 35 year old, proven nothing KC? come on man... he is more than able to keep delivering us "nice " seasons, but at our age, is that what we are really about?
@"JimmyinSD" said:@"purplefaithful" said: Oh fer F'ck sake...Now we're going to asterisk a 13 win season that was filled with thrills then piss on it too?
im not attacking the season, i am asking why KC gets all the fn credit and the D gets all the blame for the shortcoming of a season that some think is something to hold up as a baseline for future potential. KC is 35 years old, he has never produced anything close to a SB contender as an NFL QB, but yet some fans want to blame everything including the fly on the wall and the way the parking lot is striped as a reason why the teams he has led, cant elevate to a championship contender.he is a hell of an arm talent, but his lack of mobility is a liability. his age and track record suggest that he is not a horse to which a team should be hitching their wagon. for shit sake Rick.... we have had fans saying not to take a risk on a 25 year old QB ( hooker ), because he is to old, but we have fans saying to re -up with a 35 year old, proven nothing KC? come on man... he is more than able to keep delivering us "nice " seasons, but at our age, is that what we are really about?
At a high level, thats the right interpretation of last season...KC is the driver of the strength of the team, which is offense.Not Darrisaw or Hock or even JJ.
It'll be the strength of the team this year too. Hopefully the D wont suck as badly and we wont be one/done in the post season.
@"purplefaithful" said:@"JimmyinSD" said:@"purplefaithful" said: Oh fer F'ck sake...Now we're going to asterisk a 13 win season that was filled with thrills then piss on it too?
im not attacking the season, i am asking why KC gets all the fn credit and the D gets all the blame for the shortcoming of a season that some think is something to hold up as a baseline for future potential. KC is 35 years old, he has never produced anything close to a SB contender as an NFL QB, but yet some fans want to blame everything including the fly on the wall and the way the parking lot is striped as a reason why the teams he has led, cant elevate to a championship contender.he is a hell of an arm talent, but his lack of mobility is a liability. his age and track record suggest that he is not a horse to which a team should be hitching their wagon. for shit sake Rick.... we have had fans saying not to take a risk on a 25 year old QB ( hooker ), because he is to old, but we have fans saying to re -up with a 35 year old, proven nothing KC? come on man... he is more than able to keep delivering us "nice " seasons, but at our age, is that what we are really about?
At a high level, thats the right interpretation of last season...KC is the driver of the strength of the team, which is offense.Not Darrisaw or Hock or even JJ.
It'll be the strength of the team this year too. Hopefully the D wont suck as badly and we wont be one/done in the post season.
Is that the goal, a playoff win? I thought it was to win the playoffs and I dont see this team making the leap to the level of the iggles or niners, hell we will be lucky to win our own division again .
@"purplefaithful" said:@"JimmyinSD" said:@"purplefaithful" said: Oh fer F'ck sake...Now we're going to asterisk a 13 win season that was filled with thrills then piss on it too?
im not attacking the season, i am asking why KC gets all the fn credit and the D gets all the blame for the shortcoming of a season that some think is something to hold up as a baseline for future potential. KC is 35 years old, he has never produced anything close to a SB contender as an NFL QB, but yet some fans want to blame everything including the fly on the wall and the way the parking lot is striped as a reason why the teams he has led, cant elevate to a championship contender.he is a hell of an arm talent, but his lack of mobility is a liability. his age and track record suggest that he is not a horse to which a team should be hitching their wagon. for shit sake Rick.... we have had fans saying not to take a risk on a 25 year old QB ( hooker ), because he is to old, but we have fans saying to re -up with a 35 year old, proven nothing KC? come on man... he is more than able to keep delivering us "nice " seasons, but at our age, is that what we are really about?
At a high level, thats the right interpretation of last season...KC is the driver of the strength of the team, which is offense.Not Darrisaw or Hock or even JJ.
It'll be the strength of the team this year too. Hopefully the D wont suck as badly and we wont be one/done in the post season.
Cousins had a top 10 defense for the first two years here and we had one wild card win out of it. Last year had all of those close games (which we won unlike 21, which we lost) because this team was horrific for a minimum of 1/4 a game, if not half. Cousins is a part of that, he needs to be more consistent in moving the chains. Problem is, he won't be able to as he ages with lesser mobility by the year. So the team needs to get better value per contract which is very hard to do.You need a great team around a guy like him to win deep in the playoffs, with his contract mercenary attitude and cost, we won't ever be able to field a team that can get him over the hump. You are essentially saying he needs
A top 15 OL (which means two guys playing at a high level and getting paid)
the same level of premier WRs he has had his whole tenure here (Diggs, Adam, Jefferson)
a good running game
a good tight end
and a great defense that is cheap (have to hit on 75% of your picks)How the fuck does that happen?
Also how many QBs could go deep with that roster for less?
The franchise loves mediocrity and will continue to be that as long as they ride the Cousins ride. Who here can confidently say this team has what it takes to win 2 playoff games in the same year in the next two years? No one, so why are we running it back? I can guarantee you Cousins will be either 37/38 and finally move on from Minnesota with over $200M made and 1 wild card win to show for it.
Bad investment.
@"purplefaithful" said: Oh fer F'ck sake...Now we're going to asterisk a 13 win season that was filled with thrills then piss on it too?
It was an asterisk 13 win season because it was the first 17 game schedule in the history of the league. If it doesn’t deserve an asterisk for that, nothing would. I could give a shit about last years team winning a bunch of coin-flip games and being a non-threat in the playoffs. Any Viking fan that is happy with anything other than progression towards a Super Bowl should give up their fan card. And, I just don’t see it in the way we’re essentially polishing a turd. There needs to be tough decisions made, and quite frankly I see just the opposite with the new regime. When Dennis Green came on board, he ripped it down to the studs by getting rid of a bunch of vets and bringing in a bunch of new blood. It’s the closest we’ve been since our Super Bowl days.
Kirk isnt the issue
you listening defense?
@"Vanguard83" said: Kirk isnt the issueyou listening defense?
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