Cousins versus top 10 pass defenses is a bottom ten QB

Yeah, you're right. This is very subjective.

I look forward to a deeper dive. Maybe Danchat can help, too?

But yeah, we're going to need more context, because several articles have pointed out that it's not always Cousins' fault when playing against winning teams/teams in primetime  (sometimes he plays quite well/better than the opposing QBs) ... and that sometimes the defense and/or special teams really find unique ways to fall apart around him.

But yeah, we need more context. If the Vikings' D gave up 30 points in a loss to Team A, but the Saints' D only gave up 17 points in a win versus Team A -- was Brees the real difference-maker or was his defense? Or both? Context matters.

I have no idea how you divorce the impact of the OL in these subjective categories. I mean, no, Kirk isn’t as good as Russell Wilson when the interior OL is eaten alive by Zadarius Smith or Akeem Hicks. Most very good pass defenses are there because of the pressure that the DL puts on. We match up extremely poorly against those teams.

Cousins is merely a functional system QB who can get the job done if everyone around him are winning their battles.

But when things go awry Cousins cannot create nor improvise and will his team to victory. He really panics when a rusher puts pressure on him, looks like he's filling his diaper to be honest.

I'd rank him 16-19. I think Cousins success/failures hinge closely with our oline.

Quite frankly I was real disappointed we extended him.

I think KC's qb situation was real similar to ours. They went 14-2 with Alex Smith and then traded up for Mahommes because they knew Smith wasn't a difference maker. While we extended our Alex Smith vs putting your cahones on the table and drafting a qb with upside. Such as Jordan Love ect..

Any QB would play better with a good Oline. Kirk has been payed TOP dollar to play well in anysituation and he has FAILED. 1 frigging game agaisnt the Saints doesnt change this.

It is only the second time in 4 years Dak has missed the playoffs behind that line.  

That team was held back by a coaching staff the players no longer believed in.  You look at the stats on offense and defense, and it looks like one of the better teams in the NFL, but they only won 8 games in the worst division in football.  That doesn't happen unless there are serious issues with the head coach.  All the talent in the world on that team, no one to bring it together. 

Here are some numbers instead of my opinion of the numbers to backup his being a bottom 10 QB versus top 10 pass defenses.

Looking at Cousins air yards per completion, you see a significant downward trend against the better the defense:

2018 Avg air yards per completion of 5.6 yards
Buff: 3
Chi: 5.8
NE: 3
Chi: 3.7

2019 Avg air yards per completion of 6 yards
GB #1: 7.5
Chicago: 4.2
KC: 5.0
Seattle: 4.6
GB #2: 4.4
SF: 3.9

Only two games where his air yards were higher than the average Air yards per completion, and in both of those games he was still just awful.

Why does this matter? It shows how much he is affected by better defenses.

Comparing him to the other QBs above:

Rodgers:
2018 (average 6):
Chicago - 6.3
MN - 5
Buffalo - 6
NE - 6.3
MN - 7.5


2019 (Avg 5.4):
Chicago - 6.5
MN - 4.1
KC - 5.3
SF - -.7
Chicago - 5.8
MN - 2.9
Seattle - 8.4
SF - 4.9

Brees (5.9 Avg):
2018:
Cle - 4.3
Giants -4.8
Baltimore - 6.6
MN - 2.1

2019 (5.2 Avg):
SF - 5.1
MN - 4.7
Chi - 6.5

Wilson:
2018 (7.3):
Chi- 7
Chargers - 4.5
MN - 2.7

2019 (6.9):
Pit - 4.5
Baltimore - 8.6
SF - 3.4
Min - 4.1
SF - 6.3
GB - 8.5

Carr
2018 (4.9):
Cle - 6.3
Chargers - 6
Baltimore - 5.4

2019 (4.9):
KC - 3.4
Min - 5
GB - 7.5
KC - 4.3


The average difference between the average on the year and a game where these QBs played a top 10 D:
Cousins: 1.17 yards
Rodgers: .41
Brees: .72
Wilson: 1.52

Carr: -.51 ??

Wilson is on average more affected by better defenses, but he also had the highest air yards per completion on average to try to match. When we look at average air yards per completion we see that he was #1 against top 10 defenses:

Wilson: 5.51
Cousins: 4.5
Rodgers: 5.25
Brees: 4.87

Carr: 5.41



Just for fun, I thought I would look at Keenum's averages for the Vikes. I would do Teddy, but Nextgen stats only goes back to 2016 when we had nothing worth mentioning at QB.
2017 (Avg 5.2)
Baltimore: Bad - 3
Saints: Great - 6.8
Redskins: Great - 7.4
Philly: Bad - 3.8


Average diff: -.05
Average against good D's:5.25

So what does this tell us? IMO, it tells us that air yards per completion gives a pretty good indication of a bad game. Anything under 5 and the QB probably had trouble at times. Under 4 and they almost certainly didn't play well.

Aaron Rodgers is the least affected QB by better defenses. Wilson is affected the most, but still manages to complete passes further downfield than any of the other QBs. Brees is the closest to Cousins in terms of how much he is affected and how far he throws it, but is still significantly better. These numbers do point to Cousins having most of his success from a deep ball passing standpoint against the lesser defenses of the NFL.

Carr is an interesting case. I would have to look into those games above, and I am wondering if his being on such a bad team gives him a lot of opportunities in garbage time that pad his numbers a bit. The guy checks it down less against better defenses? Bizarre.

 Yes Dak played GB in 2017 and lost, then in 2019 he beat the Seahawks in rd1 then lost to the Rams in rd2 so in 4 years he has been 2 times to the playoffs and is 1w/2L so Dak is 50/50 in making the playoffs having made it 2 times in 4 years with a 33.33333% win rate in the playoffs

Kirk has been a Viking for 2 years and has made it to the playoffs 1 season and has 1 win Vs NO and 1 Loss Vs San Fran that's 1w/1L with a "worse" o line  so Kirk is 50/50 in making the playoffs as a Viking having made it 1 time in 2 years with a 50.0% playoff win rate, and he has beat the Cowboys in Dallas.

 Both teams are loaded with talent with Dallas having the better O Line

 "That team was held back by coaching staff" if we were to say that about Kirk and  DeFilippo during Kirks first year as a Viking most on here would say stop making excuses for Kirk