Extend Cousins or ... ?

Yes and no.

Every game is different, the bottom line was that he was able to lead the team to a W in each.

And you can't possibly look at last year's offensive performances vs how we performed defensively and NOT know where the onus of the majority of the blame should be placed.

If your goal as a fan is a good regular season record, then sure - you were in good hands last year with a weak schedule.

But those of us who want to win playoff games have a higher standard, and what we saw from K-Dog last year was 3 points in the 4th quarter of a close game, and a paltry 8.8 yards per completion for the game. Defense's fault right?

I think you should re-read my post. It does not say what you think it does.


It certainly can have a direct effect. If the offense turns the ball over in FG range for instance, that can directly lead to a FG being given up and directly make it significantly easier for the other team to score. Indirectly the offense can make it easier for their defense by keeping their defense off of the field.


No one, and I mean no one, has ever made the claim that the Vikings defense was even close to being as good as the Jets. The Jets gave up fewer points because they were a much better defense, the best in the NFL arguably. The Vikings were a bad defense, made to look worse because the offense couldn't keep them off the field. The opposite of the SB winning Chiefs defense that looked significantly better because of their offense.

Not being the main problem is far from not being a problem.

In 2022, the Vikings averaged 4 yards per play in the 2nd and 3rd quarter. That number was only better than Pit, Tampa Bay, Carolina, NYJ, Houston, Cleveland, AZ, and Indianapolis. It was also tied with the Bears, Rams and Denver.

Those are some pathetic offenses to be in the same company with, and it did contribute to the team being in so many close games and needing to come from behind. Sure the defense was worse, but the D being worse doesn't make a poor showing by the offense any less bad.

Since many seem to think Cousins is having such an amazing year, while everyone else around him lets him down yet again, lets take a quick look at ol Kirky boy's EPA (expected points added) as it relates to WP (win percentage) throughout the games this season.

First half against the Bucs, 0-0 game early on, Vikings offense begins the game with a WP of 59%. It would reach as high as 78% in the first half, and would be at 67% at halftime in a 10-10 game. What was Kirk's amazing EPA at half in an almost can't lose game? 0.402 You can almost smell the MVP award. But hey, down 17-10 thanks to the useless defense, by the time he got the ball back halfway through the 3rd quarter, now sitting on just a WP of 26%, Kirko drives them down the field on his most impressive drive of the season, racking up 4.717 EPA to tie the game early in the 4th to get the WP back up to 52%. So if you're keeping score at home, he's now up to a whopping 5.109 EPA for the game, in a 17-17 shootout, with a lotto team at home. Amazing stuff. But hold on, you wait until the stupid Bucs give Kirko the ball back with 11 minutes to go, still tied, with a 56.2 WP annnnnnd *fart noise*. With the pressure a little higher, and Kirk's first attempt to give us the lead, we get a -2.601 EPA instead and a quick 3-n-out.

Oh yeah? Well the last thing you want to do is give Kirko another opportunity because there's no way annnnnnnnd *fart noise*. With 5:10 to go, Kurt gets his final opportunity with a 39.3 WP, only needing a FG to tie, but we get yet another 3-n-out and a -2.185 EPA. Wow, way to shutup those naysayers Kirt. B-b-but defense, a-a-and giving up 20 points or less.

A repeat of the Giants playoff game where Kurk also had 2 final drives to tie and couldn't get it done. Do you know what we got from him then? 2nd to last drive, -9 air yards on 3 plays, not even one pass beyond the LOS, a quick 3-n-out, and a -2.806 EPA. Then we got the 4th-n-8 drive, where almost half the yards came via a roughing the passer call, and an EPA of -1.037 on the whole drive. -1.936 if you remove the roughing. Clutch Cousins am-I-right? It's so breathtaking I'm surprised Canton wants to wait 5 years.

Hold on, we didn't even get to that amazing Eagles game yet. This is where the MVP really shined, lighting up that Eagles prevent defense like a true warrior, giving the talking heads and boxscore watchers another one score game to talk about. In the first half he compiled a reality bending 2.635 EPA. I know! That's almost a whole FG. Ok fine, he got dinged -5.47 for the JJ fumble. They credited him with a 2.336 on the pass, so we'll call it a respectable 8.106 half for Kirko. Stupid run defense!

But ooof, on that very first dropback of the 2nd half, only down 13-7, he forgot his OL was trash, held the ball too long and coughed it up, taking a big -5.853 ding in the EPA department on one play. But what does he do now, down 20-7, and with only a 10% chance to win? That's right, we get another Cousins classic 3-n-out. -5 yard pass to Mattison, 0 yard pass to Mattison, and a pass short of the sticks to Addison on 3rd and 15 that gets knocked down. Stupid KOC! Add another -3.183 EPA to poor Kirc, and on just 2 drives of the 2nd half, the Vikings not only helped bury him by 3 possessions (27-7), they undid his entire first half EPA. -9.035 on just 4 plays too. Sitting at just -0.929 for the game before garbage time. Definitely MVP stuff, with better teammates. Now with only a 4% chance to wear the chainz on the plane ride home, there's nothing left to do but pad the stats. Which he did, adding a holy f*ck balls 17.428 EPA the rest of the way on 17/25 passing for 229 yards and 3 Tuddies, but never getting that WP above 10%. Yeah man, might as well hand him the trophy now. I don't know how he does it, but it gives me the chills ... the way he convinces people he's ever going to help a team this bad win anything. We just don't deserve him. The Jets do. I just want to see him win a championship like he deserves.

For someone who cares so much about defense, you sure do spend a lot of time defending a mediocre QB who's paid too much. Shouldn't you be pounding the table for the Vikings to spend less on a QB and more on defense? I mean the Vikings top 5 defense got Case Keenum to a 13-3 record and an NFCCG appearance after all. Then your boy came here demanding top QB money, which played a large role in the deterioration of that top 5 defense, and got our defensive minded HC fired, and yet you sit here thread after thread defending Kirk? According to your own logic, it shouldn't matter who the QB is, you just need defense, so it makes ZERO sense to spend $40m on a QB. Bring Teddy back for $10m, and spend the extra $30m on defense, and maybe the OL? Then Teddy can enjoy a dynasty just like Tom Brady ... apparently. But yeah, that makes sense. Spend 1/8th of your salary cap on a position that clearly doesn't matter and neglect the defense. All these teams must be dumb.

Wait hold on I'm trying to figure this out. If defense is everything, because that's how Tom Brady won 7 Super Bowls, how on earth did the Vikings with their 31st ranked defense, win more games than the Jets with their 5th ranked defense?

Remind me again, does Cousins make 1/22nd of the salary cap? And if he's making more than 1/22nd of the salary cap, should he not be expected to carry more than 1/22nd of the weight?

You may be surprised. 😆