So, you want to win a Super Bowl.

What clutch play? Have I missed all the clutch play? That was pretty clutch of Cousins to go 3-n-out and both of his 4th quarter drives against the Bucs only needed a FG. That was pretty clutch of him again on the final 2 drives against the Chargers only needing 4 points. I especially like how he forgot how to spike a football. He didn't need to be clutch against the Panthers because the defense finally notched him a victory there despite his awful clutch pick-6 to begin the game. Same with the Bears game where he was clutch enough to generate 2 whole first downs in the 2nd half against a lousy Bears defense. I guess he was pretty clutch against the 49ers, making Brock Purdy throw Bynum 2 of the easiest INT's he's ever going to see, and somehow getting Addison to steal an INT away from Ward just before half in a game we would've lost without. Just like how he was clutch against the Giants when even the lousy Donatell defense gave Kirko 2 final drives at the end to tie it up.

Here's the odd thing about "elite" QB's. They tend to make playoffs on a regular basis, and sometimes even win those playoff games, no matter what changes around them, no matter what bad teammates they have or stupid coaches. Not Kirk Cousins though. Just bad luck I guess. 9 years worth of bad luck. Never mind having all these expensive weapons on offense, and an OL ranked top 5 by every metric, and a defense that's been better than expected. Kirko still couldn't win. Weird. No matter what changes about the team, we keep getting the same results. There's only one thing that hasn't changed. The QB.

You only need to look at 2 seasons to see what makes some QB's a difference maker, and others Kirk Cousins. 2009 and 2018. Favre inherits a crappy roster that's basically going nowhere with TJack and immediately elevates everyone on the roster to NFCCG caliber. Kirko inherits a NFCCG caliber roster/defense and immediately drives it into the ground. Even when you compare each of their bonehead playoff losing plays, you can see why one is more of a winner. Favre effed up taking a shot, trying to make a play. Kirk effed up being an absolute p****.

Forget all the stats, you only need functioning eyesight to see the difference between those 2 QB's and figure why one was a winner and why the other is never going to win anything. The ability to make plays when a play isn't there to be made. That's the biggest difference between Kirk and any QB with that "it" factor. Kirko needs everything to be perfect and everyone around him to do their job and everything to go according to script. And that's just not realistic at this level. You need a leader who can do things off script when things get chaotic, to think on their feet and improvise. Not freaking throw checkdowns on 4th and 8 because not getting blamed for a loss is more important to him than doing what it takes to win. Which he admitted in his own book. I never want to be the reason why we lost, said the loser. A winner would've said, I want the ball in my hands with the game on the line so I can make a play and help my team win. When Kirko improvises, you get a kneel down instead of a spike, or him lining up under guard.

This is the 4000th post by Raptorman telling us how defense is everything ... in defense of an overpaid QB. Someone make it make sense. Wouldn't it be freaking nice to invest an extra $30m in the defense? Like we did when we were winning division titles at a higher rate with Teddy freaking Bridgewater?