Kirk Cousins: Under Pressure

Well, it is more than just a gut feeling, but I get your point.

There is more to my opinion than this, but here is some very basic evidence of what I am talking about.

The Vikings faced 6 teams with a top 10 passer rating against defense last year.  In order from lowest to highest: KC, GB X 2, SF, Chicago, and Seattle.  What do all of those games have in common?

Looking back at 2018, we see the same thing with 4 horrible games coming against the only top 10 passer rating against defenses we faced: Chicago X 2, Buffalo and NE.  In 2018 we do see an outlier with Seattle being pretty bad against the pass but Cousins still struggling.  

That is 10 top 10 pass defenses, 8 horrible games by the QB, one pretty bad one and one where he was okay but struggled late. All losses. Seems like there is a pattern.  

You got to be careful using yardage totals.

For instance, I knew before looking at the numbers that the Cowboys would have the best YPA of those three teams.  They had a top 5 offense that would have kept the opposition throwing the football to keep up with them.  Denver's offense was terrible and teams didn't need to throw on them to win.  The Chargers consistently turned the ball over on offense and were consistently down in games.  For both teams this lead to a lot of running the football late by the opposition and few pass attempts against them.  Teams had success throwing against them, they just didn't need to throw against them all that often.  

So let's look at the Cowboys game since that does appear to be an above average pass defense.

In that week Cousins averaged 3.9 air yards per completion, compared to his season average of 6 yards per completion.  So he had success, but only on short, easy passes.  His air yards per attempt was 7, with a difference 3.1 yards.  That is important, because it means it was not just the offensive scheme, he just couldn't hit on anything but short passes.  

Does that hold true for the rest of the games against good defenses?
Air yards per completion, Air yards per attempt, Difference
GB #1: 7.5,10.7,-2.2
Chicago: 4.2,5.2,-1
KC: 5.0,7.8,-2.8
Seattle: 4.6, 7.4, - 2.8
GB #2: 4.4, 8.2, -3.8
SF: 3.9, 5.7, -1.9

Yep. In only one of those games did he hit or exceed his average yards per completion of 6, and in that game his poor decision making cost us the game.  Looks like I am on to something with this. Those numbers tell us that the majority of deep ball passing numbers at least came against average to bad defenses.  Anything better and most of the time he becomes a bottom 10 starting QB.  

No trend like this holds true 100%, and there will always be exceptions, but if Cousins faces a top 10 pass defense, he is not going to play well 9 times out of 10.  

No, we absolutely do want you around. But you need to let the stuff about Spence go. Truly, you do. I've already addressed it way more than I should have with you. It's over. Done. If you have an issue with him, please utilize the block feature. That's all I can say at this point. Also, just for the record, if you don't want people discussing "you" ... then please don't call out specific posters, especially with the name-calling and such.  

Also, no need to change who you are. I'm just asking you to not always assume the worst. It's been made quite apparent you have a negative image of me, Spence, and some things about this board, but maybe try to keep those issues more private. They don't need to leak into so many discussions, just because I quote you. They certainly don't belong in Vikings Talk. And with not always assuming the worst, understand that I'm not trying to "attack you". Yeah, I might disagree with your posts, but that's not personal at all; it's just business. I disagree with some people here 90% of the time, and we fight like cats and dogs .... but they're still some of my favorite people. See how that works?

This board is to discuss/debate. And, yes, sometimes we have a little fun and use a little sarcasm. But that's not against board rules, and it's certainly not "an attack." An attack would better be described as what you've done so many times in the past to Spence. But, again, that's over... We're moving on. Just setting the record straight. That's over for me, so that needs to be over for you. If I respond to you, it's because I agree/disagree with that individual post. It has nothing to do with the past or you personally. Sound fair?

This sounds like a challenge directed my way... 

So tired of these cheery picking stats for Cousins. Guess what, hes never gotten us, or the Redskins close to the big game. Even though he is getting a billion dollars a year. I blame the front office more than Cousins.