Cousins versus top 10 pass defenses is a bottom ten QB

Correct. Even if a QB has a great line like Brady had, at some point a great pass rush is going to beat that great line and the QB needs to make a play. Brady was unable to do that in his advanced age.

I look back to the 2018 SB when Goff finally met a team in the playoffs his elite Oline couldn't stop. That Rams team came really close to getting it done with great play makers and a great line around an average QB, but eventually Goff was asked to make plays under pressure against a great D and he just couldn't do it. He just wasn't good enough...

Ironically, the Patriots still won all 4 of those games since their defense is so good!

Dallas should probably pay Dak based on his numbers versus top defenses but he should be nowhere in the ballpark of Mahomes:

It was a rhetorical question meant to show that depending on your perspective and how you view things, the argument could be made one way or the other.

I pulled this from the intro thread, because I thought maybe you'd want to follow up in Vikings Talk (where we have about 50 Cousins threads). Okay, maybe like 45...).

Read through this thread, for example. What are your thoughts? And stuman55 ? NorZeman ?

Edit: Here is a related thread - Kirk Cousins against bottom 10 defenses is a top 5 QB

I wish it was just pressure that was the problem against top teams.  I think the pass rush is definitely a factor in his play against these good teams, but it is not just the pass rush.  Even when kept clean he was a below average QB in those 5 losses last season, and a lot of the pressure the Oline gave up was the result of him struggling to make quick decisions against good pass defenses.  So, while the Eagles pass rush was actually one of the better ones we faced last season, Cousins lit that defense up because their coverage was awful.  He found open guys quickly, the pass rush never got to him, and we beat one of the 3 playoff teams he has beaten since joining the Vikings (6th or 7th in his career, can't remember which).  Against the Bears, Packers, KC and Seattle, he struggled to find open guys (and we know there were open guys in those games) and held the ball longer than any QB in the NFL most of those weeks.  That, more than poor line play played the biggest factor in Cousins facing a lot of pressure in those games.  SF was an exception, but SF got after pretty much every QB they faced when their defense was healthy.  

In my opinion, even if Cousins was given the top 5 Oline he had in Washington his first two seasons, while he might have more regular season success, and win a game or two more, he is still going to run into a defense in the playoffs he just can't figure out, hold the ball too long, and struggle to put up points.  I don't know how you win it all with that, unless you are incredibly lucky or you have a 2015 Bronco level defense.  You don't need a 35 million dollar QB to succeed in those scenarios though.  

My choice was to sign one of the "three", likely Case Keenum, and draft the next QB. With Lamar Jackson falling right into the Vikings lap, it would have been the better move.

Cousins has a better arm than Keenum, but Case was a better fit for the offense. Not being a dead log in the backfield on every play was a plus. 


That is a valid point.