In the biggest moments, Minnesota Vikings quarterback Kirk Cousins appears small. He’s an anchor when the franchise is looking for its Aquaman. The 34-year-old signal caller personifies mediocrity in a world where elite quarterback play is more necessary than ever to compete at the highest level. The game is based on superheroes posing as professional athletes. Josh Allen, Patrick Mahomes, Justin Hebert and Lamar Jackson bring Superman-like qualities to their position. Cousins doesn’t even have the exceptional physical arm talent to make up for his lack of athleticism or the accuracy to consistently beat defenses with precise throws based on pre- and post-reads. It lacks a unique feature of the elite. However, the Vikings organization is paying him defiantly huge guaranteed contracts to keep him as their offensive leader. It’s an inexplicable approach that keeps the entire organization trapped in the Phantom Zone—that is, an inescapable prison of its own making. The juxtaposition of the team’s performances through the first two weeks of play perfectly encapsulates where the quarterback and his team stand in the NFL pecking order. During Monday’s 24-10 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles at Lincoln Financial Field, Cousins threw three interceptions and averaged just under 5.0 yards per attempt. All three upsets came in the second half and were heartbreaking. To be fair, the first interception was forgivable. Justin Jefferson didn’t work on Darius Slay’s face and the cornerback dropped the pass at the 1-yard line. Also, defensive tackle Javon Hargrave hit the quarterback as he attempted his throw, which was picked off by the pass. The next two were much more problematic. Cousins looked to Adam Thielen to convert a 3rd and 7 situation. The veteran operator didn’t recognize the bottom dropper. Instead, Avonte Maddox backpedaled and made a terrific turnover grab. After Jalen Hurts threw an interception, the Vikings had a chance to cut the lead midway through the fourth quarter. Instead, Cousins saw an unblocked defender on the edge, faded back and to his left and threw a lollipop into the end zone for Slay to hook. One could argue that Cousins was pushing during a contest that Minnesota never led. The Vikings trailed by at least two touchdowns from the two-minute warning of the first half throughout the third and fourth frames. “I thought Kirk battled tonight,” head coach Kevin O’Connell told reporters. “Put him in some tough spots. I put that 100 percent on me.” Maybe Cousins felt he needed to make some plays. Therein lies the problem. He doesn’t have the ability to consistently make plays out of platform or create out of structure. As The Athletic’s Arif Hasan previously noted, Cousins’ EPA (expected points per attempt) when trailing with 10 or fewer minutes remaining and in 3rd-and-long situations over the previous seven years ranked 30th and 25th, respectively. He’s not the guy in high-leverage situations that many of his contemporaries are. Cousins’ real strength is orchestrating the offense as it is built. When in rhythm and comfortable, he can be very effective. Eight days earlier, the Vikings looked like a completely different offense. Minnesota defeated the Green Bay Packers by 16 points. During the contest, Cousins completed 71.9 percent of his passes for 277 yards and two scores. But the Packers did something unexpected and made life easy for their opponents. They didn’t match up Jaire Alexander with Justin Jefferson regularly, and the receiver had a field day. Jefferson caught nine passes for 184 yards against Green Bay’s heavy looks. Cousins told reporters afterward: “I’d be a little surprised, yeah. Anytime he has a game of that magnitude, not because of him, but you expect them to take him away a little bit, and he will at times. Our coaches are trying to find ways to still contain him involved, and we were able to do that today. So it’s going to be a conversation that we had a lot last season, and we’ll have this season every week about how he’s going to defend.” Jefferson ascends to superstar status. But it should be overhanging the corners of the top cover. Slay caught more interceptions in direct coverage of Jefferson than the cornerbacks allowed, according to NFL Next Gen stats. Tim Nwachukwu/Getty Images “He’s one of the best in the world,” Slay told ESPN’s Lisa Salters (h/t Kimberley Martin), “but I’m one of the best in the world, too.” Obviously not everything falls to Cousins. Jefferson can play better. Multiple drops occurred throughout the contest, most notably a heartbreaking bobble by Irv Smith Jr. which should have turned into a 63-yard touchdown. The margin of error for Minnesota is very small. He cannot make these mistakes. The Vikings’ top players have to show up and show up every week, because they don’t have a quarterback capable of stepping up for lesser players or overcoming adversity when everything isn’t perfect around him. “We’ve got to play better and we’re going to play better,” Cousins said. This is what a general should say when addressing the media. But the team’s problems with the current setup revolve around what Cousins can actually do. There is more than enough talent on the roster for the Vikings to compete on a weekly basis. Jefferson will recover from the shutdown for the most part. Thielen, 32, can still be a factor. Dalvin Cook won’t be held to 17 rushing yards on a regular basis. The defense under coordinator Ed Donatell will learn by playing a mostly two-high safety display Monday against a strong ground game while still making a big mental mistake to surrender a 53-yard touchdown bomb. The Vikings remain in transition. New general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah and O’Connell wanted Cousins back to provide some stability. His signature was also rooted in the fear of playing background. The 11-year veteran provides a distinct foundation. The problem is the ceiling and floor overlap. As such, Minnesota remains in limbo thanks to average quarterback play. Cousins is what he is, and it’s not good enough. The franchise, meanwhile, will tread water until it finally goes in another direction at the game’s most important position. Brent Sobleski covers the NFL for Bleacher Report. Follow him on Twitter, @brentsobleski.
