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Kirk Cousins launches a pass Sunday night against the Saints. (Brace Hemmelgarn / USA TODAY Sports)
The numbers were good. With Kirk Cousins, they are generally. But there was the costly mistake, whether or not it was really his fault, and the result was disappointing. It was too familiar.
So it was Sunday night for Minnesota Cousins and Vikings. The Cousins racked up 359 yards and two touchdowns in a 31-41 performance. But he also had an interception to return to the goal as the Vikings lost 30-20 to the New Orleans Saints. In fact, they lost contact with the Saints and Los Angeles Rams in the race for NFC supremacy.
In March, when the Vikings gave the Cousins as a free agent a guaranteed $ 84 million on a three-year contract, it was generally assumed that they had ensured that they were one of the best competitors of the NFC this season. After all, it was last season with Case Keenum at quarterback. It was, in truth, a movement of the Super Bowl or the bust. Add a smuggler three times four thousand yards to a team that is good around him? It was supposed to be flawless and simple.
That was all but that. Cousins has, in many ways, been the same quarterback that he was with the Washington Redskins. He played well. He published catchy statistics. But his mistakes were made at difficult times, and the team he leads does not look like a Super Bowl candidate.
Was it the fault of cousins Sunday night? Probably not. The Vikings wide receiver, Stefon Diggs, cut his game and stopped playing a key third-quarter match as Cousins came out of pocket on his right while he was under pressure. The Cousins 'pass went straight to Saints' corner-half P.J. Williams, who easily intercepted and ran 45 yards from the end zone for a touchdown and a 27-13 lead. The Vikings have never seriously threatened to return to the match.
It was the second decisive turnover of the Vikings Sunday night. They led 13-10 in the first half and got more points when wide receiver Adam Thielen lost a breakaway after a catch. The Saints turned that turnover into a touchdown pass of one-half of Alvin Kamara's half-tone at the last minute of the first half, and they definitely took the advantage.
It was that kind of party for the Saints, combining good football and good fortune. Quarterback Drew Brees made his first interception of the season and had only 120 yards passing. But the Saints did just enough attack, defended well and took advantage of the turnarounds they generated.
They won in the place where they had suffered their miraculous defeat in the playoffs last season and they improved the record of this season to 6-1 with their sixth win in a row. This is clearly the second best team of the NFC, behind the undefeated Rams. And who at the conference seems able to challenge the Rams and the Saints? Redskins? The Carolina Panthers? This seems unlikely in each case. For the moment, at least, the Rams and Saints have passed the NFC field.
The Vikings were supposed to be in this conversation. The passing game, with Cousins throws at Thielen and Diggs, was supposed to be unbeatable. The game being run was supposed to be pretty good. The defense was supposed to dominate.
The defense was correct but not excellent. The game being run was not productive. The cousins, Thielen and Diggs have, for the most part, played their part. Thielen played his eighth consecutive 100-yard game Sunday night, which is Calvin Johnson's NFL record. Diggs was also a 100-yard receiver against the Saints. Cousins had to do something good.
But the things that hurt him always seem to be untimely. That was still the case on Sunday. And the Vikings, therefore, are far from the team they hoped to be this season.
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