The Evolution of the Defense of Cousins
Feb 3, 2021 20:19:30 GMT -6
justonebeforeidie, giveu1guess, and 1 more like this
Post by whoskmoon on Feb 3, 2021 20:19:30 GMT -6
One of the more interesting parts of being on a message board for me is analyzing behavior of fans, and how they react to good or bad decisions by their team. In particular, it is fascinating to me to read how little self awareness people can have when it comes to their favorite team. Saying things about a rookie being a great draft pick while he sits on the bench contributing nothing, excusing bad trades by pointing out the need of the trade instead of the result, etcetera, etcetera. However, nothing fascinates me more than the how Vikings fandom has evolved in their defense of Cousins as he has lowered Vikings' fans expectations for him each year.
The first defense of Cousins came before he even joined the team in 2018. He was coming off his worst season, had never won more than 9 games in a season (a season where his division was nearly as bad as the East this year), and was a below .500 QB.
2018
Cousins has never had a good defense, and there is no QB who could win defenses as bad as he played with. If he came to the Vikings he would have that defense he didn't in Washington and be the missing piece we need to get to winning the Super Bowl. A massive upgrade to Keenum and almost a surefire ticket to at least repeat the success of the previous season....
2019
You can't expect Cousins to come in and win as many games as 2017 with the line and OC we had. Plus the defense was 1 whole spot lower in the scoring rankings so how could he possible overcome that? We just need to put more of an emphasis on the run, protect Cousins better and we can be a Super Bowl contender yet again. How about spending some picks on offense for once instead of focusing on the defense? Zimmer is too hands off the offense, needs to force his OC to run an offense that fits Cousins' skillsets...
2020
SEE! All Cousins needed was a little help in the run game and for us to run a lot of play action. Look at all these stats! THIS is what he was brought in to do, not win a Super Bowl, that is just you moving the goal posts. What is that? Rick, the guy who signed him said that winning the SB is exactly what he was brought in to do? Sorry, still can't hear you with my foam fingers in my ears. Cousins is good, as good as Rodgers based on the numbers, and it isn't his fault we are about to lose half our defensive starters due to cap constraints. Besides, we don't want those guys anyway. Just need to improve that Oline and we will be golden.
2021
Who are we going to find that is better than Cousins? I don't like the extension and he is paid too much, but we don't want to start all over at QB and Watson isn't really all that better, just like Rodgers isn't all that bett...er, yeah just look at the numbers. Instead of getting rid of Cousins, we should get rid of the HC who he had his 3 best seasons under because he wants to run the ball too much. We need a pass happy offense for Cousins to really shine, just like in 2018. Oh and bad Oline, and stuff.
You can see a clear theme above in the narratives each off season, with expectations for the QB getting lower and lower each year to the point where most fans won't admit to liking him as their QB, but think he is better than the alternative. I can't wait till next season when the Vikings are coming off yet another meaningless season with Cousins at the helm and him due to make 45 million with no way out of it. The level of excuse making should make for some entertaining reading. Sorry, I meant depressing reading.
The first defense of Cousins came before he even joined the team in 2018. He was coming off his worst season, had never won more than 9 games in a season (a season where his division was nearly as bad as the East this year), and was a below .500 QB.
2018
Cousins has never had a good defense, and there is no QB who could win defenses as bad as he played with. If he came to the Vikings he would have that defense he didn't in Washington and be the missing piece we need to get to winning the Super Bowl. A massive upgrade to Keenum and almost a surefire ticket to at least repeat the success of the previous season....
2019
You can't expect Cousins to come in and win as many games as 2017 with the line and OC we had. Plus the defense was 1 whole spot lower in the scoring rankings so how could he possible overcome that? We just need to put more of an emphasis on the run, protect Cousins better and we can be a Super Bowl contender yet again. How about spending some picks on offense for once instead of focusing on the defense? Zimmer is too hands off the offense, needs to force his OC to run an offense that fits Cousins' skillsets...
2020
SEE! All Cousins needed was a little help in the run game and for us to run a lot of play action. Look at all these stats! THIS is what he was brought in to do, not win a Super Bowl, that is just you moving the goal posts. What is that? Rick, the guy who signed him said that winning the SB is exactly what he was brought in to do? Sorry, still can't hear you with my foam fingers in my ears. Cousins is good, as good as Rodgers based on the numbers, and it isn't his fault we are about to lose half our defensive starters due to cap constraints. Besides, we don't want those guys anyway. Just need to improve that Oline and we will be golden.
2021
Who are we going to find that is better than Cousins? I don't like the extension and he is paid too much, but we don't want to start all over at QB and Watson isn't really all that better, just like Rodgers isn't all that bett...er, yeah just look at the numbers. Instead of getting rid of Cousins, we should get rid of the HC who he had his 3 best seasons under because he wants to run the ball too much. We need a pass happy offense for Cousins to really shine, just like in 2018. Oh and bad Oline, and stuff.
You can see a clear theme above in the narratives each off season, with expectations for the QB getting lower and lower each year to the point where most fans won't admit to liking him as their QB, but think he is better than the alternative. I can't wait till next season when the Vikings are coming off yet another meaningless season with Cousins at the helm and him due to make 45 million with no way out of it. The level of excuse making should make for some entertaining reading. Sorry, I meant depressing reading.
Kirk wasn't brought in to not be a problem, he was brought in to be the missing piece to win a freaking Super Bowl!!
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