Even if they weren’t playing this week, the comparisons between Atlanta Falcons quarterback Kirk Cousins and Sam Darnold were always inevitable. Cousins spent the peak of his career as QB1 for the Minnesota Vikings and he helped generate some memorable moments for the team during the last few years.
Since then, Darnold has only made the Vikings look smarter. That was once again the case during Cousins’s homecoming on Sunday, and a third-quarter touchdown pass to Jefferson really put the whole past six months into a nice moment of perspective.
Darnold finished Minnesota’s 21-point win over the Falcons on Sunday with an impressive 347 passing yards, five touchdowns, and no interceptions. But it was his third touchdown toss of the matchup that really proved how much of an upgrade he has been for the Vikings this season over Cousins.
It’s not even that Darnold is helping Jefferson find a new level to his game – Vikings fans certainly saw plenty of huge plays between Cousins and Jefferson during their time together – but the sort of mobility in the clip above just isn’t a part of Cousins’s game anymore. Being in your late 30s on a surgically-repaired Achilles will do that to you.
Meanwhile, Cousins looks exactly as washed as you’d expect him to look, and the Falcons are on the hook for roughly 10 billion dollars over the next 15,000 years of his contract.
With the “start-Michael-Penix Jr.” conversations already in full swing in Atlanta, Vikings fans can’t help but be a little smug about how well the decision to let him walk has aged (not to mention how many NFL analysts thought it was the wrong decision at the time).
One play obviously doesn’t validate such a large decision one way or the other, but it does serve as a nice reminder that the Vikings seem to be in good hands up in the front office. And it provides a little hope that, uh, they should be ready to do it again in a few months.
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After throwing no touchdowns and six interceptions in his previous three games, Atlanta Falcons quarterback Kirk Cousins was hoping to get his season back on track on Sunday in a Week 14 matchup against his former team, the Minnesota Vikings.
Unfortunately for Cousins, the Vikings had other plans.
Minnesota, led by quarterback Sam Darnold’s five touchdown passes, cruised to a 42-21 victory over their former starting signal-caller and the Falcons on Sunday. And not only did the Vikings win the contest by three scores, but their defense flustered Cousins all day long, leading to him finishing the matchup with zero touchdown passes and two interceptions.
With the victory, Minnesota improved its record to 11-2 for the first time since the 2009 season, and they are still keeping pace with the 12-1 Detroit Lions for the top spot in the NFC North and the No. 1 seed in the NFC.
Atlanta Falcons should bench Kirk Cousins after terrible day in loss to Minnesota Vikings
Calls from the Atlanta fan base to bench Cousins were already happening before the team lost by 21 points to the Vikings on Sunday. But after this weekend’s result, no one would blame the Falcons if they decided to replace Cousins with rookie quarterback Michael Penix Jr. in the starting lineup before their next game.
As was the case during his entire tenure with Minnesota, Cousins still made a number of impressive throws against the Vikings on Sunday. But when Atlanta needed him the most, he was unable to come up with a play, and now his struggles have become even worse than when he was with Minnesota since he’s turning the ball over at a much higher rate.
There were multiple reasons why the Vikings moved on from Cousins earlier this year, and his performance on Sunday was just more confirmation for Minnesota that the right decision was made.
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Heading into Sunday’s Week 14 game between the Minnesota Vikings and Atlanta Falcons, many wondered how the fans inside U.S. Bank Stadium would react to the return of veteran quarterback Kirk Cousins.
Well, it didn’t take long at all for Vikings fans to share their true feelings about the guy who used to be their favorite team’s starting quarterback for six seasons.
Minnesota Vikings fans boo Atlanta Falcons QB Kirk Cousins before opening drive in Week 14
The reaction from Minnesota fans might have surprised a few people, but it’s clear that the people inside the stadium wanted Cousins to get the full experience as an opponent inside U.S. Bank Stadium.
Vikings fans watched the Pro Bowl quarterback lead their team from under center for six years, and while he was making a boatload of cash, he was only able to help the franchise win a grand total of one playoff game during his tenure.
It’s safe to say that Minnesota fans probably also didn’t like the way Cousins ended his tenure with the Vikings by claiming that he wanted to retire with the Falcons almost immediately after signing with Atlanta.
Despite they way in which he went about leaving Minnesota, the veteran quarterback did provide the fan base with a number of memorable moments during his time with the team as well. But those moments clearly weren’t enough to prevent Vikings fans from booing Cousins on Sunday.
Did he deserve to be booed by the crowd inside U.S. Bank Stadium? There are probably plenty of people who disagreed while watching the matchup from home. But those who paid for a ticket to watch Cousins in person on Sunday had the final say, and they chose to shower the former Minnesota quarterback with a storm of boos.
