The 2018 Kirk Cousins Megathread

[SemperFeist]

6 minutes ago, Uncle Buck said:

Rich Gannon maybe?

Kyle Sloter

[Klomp]

With how far Kirk supposedly has set back our offense, it's a miracle we're 4th in the NFC in points scored.

[vikesfan89]

16 minutes ago, SemperFeist said:

Kyle Sloter

I was going to just put him in as the one that got away but thought maybe there is someone else. I did think of Gannon also

[vikingsrule]

7 minutes ago, Klomp said:

With how far Kirk supposedly has set back our offense, it's a miracle we're 4th in the NFC in points scored.

We’ve got to see it against good teams at the end of the day and on the road. We know the offense can move the ball at home. They struggle mightily when hit with adversity. At Chicago will be another big test. If the Vikes can’t put up 20 points against the Bears or any good team, they probably lose. 

[sledgehammer]

Cousins is a downhill skier. If he goes OK against the Bears next week I will give him some credit. But odds are he will suck very hard. 

[vikesfan89]

10 minutes ago, sledgehammer said:

Cousins is a downhill skier. If he goes OK against the Bears next week I will give him some credit. But odds are he will suck very hard. 

What would you consider ok? The bears will be a tough test

[sledgehammer]

Just now, vikesfan89 said:

What would you consider ok? The bears will be a tough test

Depends how we play I guess. I mean if the O-line collapses every play and they shut down all our receivers, then I won't blame Kirk. Yeah you're right it will be a tough test. These are the type of games where he needs to step up. Hope he goes well.  

[Klomp]

16 minutes ago, sledgehammer said:

Cousins is a downhill skier.

Most QBs are.

[vikesfan89]

4 minutes ago, sledgehammer said:

Depends how we play I guess. I mean if the O-line collapses every play and they shut down all our receivers, then I won't blame Kirk. Yeah you're right it will be a tough test. These are the type of games where he needs to step up. Hope he goes well.  

Hopefully we can get the run established early. It will be the toughest challenge for them to 

[Klomp]

1 minute ago, vikesfan89 said:

Hopefully we can get the run established early. It will be the toughest challenge for them to 

Interesting to note that the game in Chicago last year was our first game without Dalvin Cook. They were still adjusting to things. I'm optimistic that things will go better this time.

[sledgehammer]

9 minutes ago, Klomp said:

Most QBs are.

True! 

6 minutes ago, vikesfan89 said:

Hopefully we can get the run established early. It will be the toughest challenge for them to 

 

3 minutes ago, Klomp said:

Interesting to note that the game in Chicago last year was our first game without Dalvin Cook. They were still adjusting to things. I'm optimistic that things will go better this time.

 

I'm still having Nightmares about last year's game. That was hard to watch! 

[JDBrocks]

@Torchezim - Since you ranted in the other thread about Cousins rather than moving here where I can answer you appropriately outside of a gameday thread, I'll just tag you here.

Please find where I have pledged "blind loyalty" to Cousins. I've never suggested anything of the sort. I think he is partly to blame for a multitude of problems last year, and circumstances have dictated some unusual games this year. I think he's an average QB that will need to ride an otherwise stellar roster to success. 

Also, why are you saying that people are "shutting down" opposing viewpoints? No one told you that you couldn't hate Kirk Cousins. No one said “Don’t talk bad about Kirk Cousins because I don’t like it”. Not sure where that is coming from. Here's what you posted:

Quote

Completely agree.  It’s good to win but this hardly matters in terms of telling whether or not Cousins is the guy we need him to be.  

responding to this:

Quote

Doesn’t matter if the loss comes in the playoffs. You don’t get to bounce back from that. Plain and simple, Cousins needs to play better against good teams. 

So many threads just spiral out of control when they get to talking about other topics/games/players, especially GDTs. That's why this thread is here. 

In summary, I agree that Cousins needs to play better against good teams and in less than ideal situations. I don't care how much money he makes because it's not important at this point. The deal is done and there's nothing that any fan complaining about it will do. It's not my money. If the FO made a mistake, then they did. Do I think the team can win a Super Bowl with him? yes. Do I think it is likely? not really.

Furthermore - I don't think anyone is trying to tell you what you can and can't think about Cousins. Playing the victim because you are in the perceived minority is not a good look. You say you want debate, but then create a straw man about people's attitudes toward Cousins. People like to talk on message boards, it's why they are here. It just helps when folks aren't so defensive. 

Fire away, man! Drag Cousins. I'm sure you'll find the debate that you were looking for here.

[Guest]

1 hour ago, JDBrocks said:

@Torchezim - Since you ranted in the other thread about Cousins rather than moving here where I can answer you appropriately outside of a gameday thread, I'll just tag you here.

Please find where I have pledged "blind loyalty" to Cousins. I've never suggested anything of the sort. I think he is partly to blame for a multitude of problems last year, and circumstances have dictated some unusual games this year. I think he's an average QB that will need to ride an otherwise stellar roster to success. 

Also, why are you saying that people are "shutting down" opposing viewpoints? No one told you that you couldn't hate Kirk Cousins. No one said “Don’t talk bad about Kirk Cousins because I don’t like it”. Not sure where that is coming from. Here's what you posted:

responding to this:

So many threads just spiral out of control when they get to talking about other topics/games/players, especially GDTs. That's why this thread is here. 

In summary, I agree that Cousins needs to play better against good teams and in less than ideal situations. I don't care how much money he makes because it's not important at this point. The deal is done and there's nothing that any fan complaining about it will do. It's not my money. If the FO made a mistake, then they did. Do I think the team can win a Super Bowl with him? yes. Do I think it is likely? not really.

Very reasonable post.  I have, generally, been hard on Cousins and the Vikings signing him.  You are correct...the salary is a done deal and immaterial...with the exception of where it might hinder signing some free agents or offering significant contracts to those players who have earned them.  I think it likely that the front office will be making some difficult decisions soon.  I'm not smart enough to figure out how much the Cousins contract hinders the front office, but I doubt there is no effect.

I guess my issue with Kirk has always been that the expectations others have had of him has not been based by his history of play.  In other words, he's good, sometimes very good against poor to mediocre defenses (see first Green Bay game last season), however, when defenses are better than average he tends to struggle when the game is on the line.  Eight years into his professional career, one begins to wonder if we've seen him reach his ceiling?

Now, there are quarterbacks in the league that I think aren't as good as Cousins is now.  There are also quarterbacks who are a lot better.  Those who are a lot better tend to win playoff games and even Super Bowls.

For the record, he had a good game yesterday.  He apparently didn't let the disaster against Green Bay carry over.  Good for him.

[since72]

27 minutes ago, Virginia Viking said:

I guess my issue with Kirk has always been that the expectations others have had of him has not been based by his history of play.  In other words, he's good, sometimes very good against poor to mediocre defenses (see first Green Bay game last season), however, when defenses are better than average he tends to struggle when the game is on the line. 

This is a perfect description of me, one year ago. 

I looked at the the last three seasons with Washington (4000+ yards) and thought if we had a QB that could throw for that consistently, well that would be the last piece of the puzzle.

I remember you being not so happy with the Vikings signing Kirk.  And now I understand why.

My frustration with the Vikings in the Zimmer era is they are always one piece away from having a complete team.  One year it's the special teams, another it's the offensive line, the quarterback, the receivers, the linebackers, the defensive line,  it's always something that lets us down.

[Torchezim]

3 hours ago, JDBrocks said:

@Torchezim - Since you ranted in the other thread about Cousins rather than moving here where I can answer you appropriately outside of a gameday thread, I'll just tag you here.

Please find where I have pledged "blind loyalty" to Cousins. I've never suggested anything of the sort. I think he is partly to blame for a multitude of problems last year, and circumstances have dictated some unusual games this year. I think he's an average QB that will need to ride an otherwise stellar roster to success. 

Also, why are you saying that people are "shutting down" opposing viewpoints? No one told you that you couldn't hate Kirk Cousins. No one said “Don’t talk bad about Kirk Cousins because I don’t like it”. Not sure where that is coming from. Here's what you posted:

responding to this:

So many threads just spiral out of control when they get to talking about other topics/games/players, especially GDTs. That's why this thread is here. 

In summary, I agree that Cousins needs to play better against good teams and in less than ideal situations. I don't care how much money he makes because it's not important at this point. The deal is done and there's nothing that any fan complaining about it will do. It's not my money. If the FO made a mistake, then they did. Do I think the team can win a Super Bowl with him? yes. Do I think it is likely? not really.

Furthermore - I don't think anyone is trying to tell you what you can and can't think about Cousins. Playing the victim because you are in the perceived minority is not a good look. You say you want debate, but then create a straw man about people's attitudes toward Cousins. People like to talk on message boards, it's why they are here. It just helps when folks aren't so defensive. 

Fire away, man! Drag Cousins. I'm sure you'll find the debate that you were looking for here.

I’m not going to repost and share every message I’ve seen that portrays annoyance with Cousin doubters.  You are right. People can whatever opinion they wish but always being bothered because people have rising doubt about Cousins even following a victory  - to the point that anything, any remark made that may be derogatory towards Cousins paints someone as a lesser or uneducated fan is tedious to deal with. The guy is the embodiment of sub par and I feel we are wasting our time with him.

And the blind loyalty term was in response to those that do indeed shut down, (I don’t know how you can say they don’t. I’ve seen it first hand multiple times just in this forum) or attempt to, many gripes (a lot of them the same but well deserved) regarding Kirk’s performance.  It’s like you as fans (the supporters) know that he is taking us nowhere fast but you just don’t like hearing it? Which makes sense. A lot of the criticisms are repetitive and quite similar.  I think we are just a bit more passionate on that front.  Knowing we are wasting time with this goose legged clown commanding the offense.  Our team is good enough to win now but Kirk Cousins is not. It just so happens he plays the most important position on the field, and because of that, we get to watch long developed players that have fortunately been playing alongside one another for a respectable amount of time; cohesive and potentially dominant unit of a defense work themselves to the bones just for Cousins to not show up when it matters.  Always when it matters.  

I never claimed to be a victim.  Not sure where that came from. 

Strawman? I didn’t offer a completely unrelated argument out of nowhere.   A few users were discussing Cousins and I added in. There was a very clear attitude and bias towards not wanting to hear Cousins “hate”.  You and I both know that I did not make it up.  Lol. 

 

Anyway, we will see.  If Cousins can drastically change the below average image of a quarterback that he himself has proven to be time and time again, I will willingly eat my words and even wear his jersey all year. I will take a photo and post it here.   

——

Also, if you yourself don’t see Cousins winning is a trophy, why do you oppose other viewpoints so much? Do you feel it a waste of time since he is locked in for 3 years and there is nothing ya as fans can do about it?