https://vikingsterritory.com/2022/analysis/kirk-cousins-had-nothing-to-do-with-the-vikings-three-and-out-woes
You might counter with an argument such as “well sure, he can move the ball sometimes, but on third downs he struggles”. Again, not so fast. On third down, Cousins had the fourth-most passing yards of any QB this season, third-most passing TDs, and among starters, again ranked 10th in yards per third down attempt, per. Still doesn’t seem like a QB that struggled to move the ball.
So, what’s the problem? Well, again looking at TFD’s statistics, guess who had the most third down pass attempts with 11+ yards to gain? If you guessed Captain Kirk, you’d be right. In 16 games, Cousins threw a whopping 40 passing attempts in 3rd-and-11+ situations. That’s an average of 2.5 times per game. The second highest rate was Joe Burrow at just over two per game. So, it’s clear the Vikings offense had a tendency of moving backwards on their opening two plays of a series.
What would cause that, you may ask? Let me point you, for the millionth time, to the offensive line. During the regular season, the Minnesota Vikings offense was called for the most holding penalties of any unit in the NFL. The league average was 21 per team; the Vikings had 31, led by Oli Udoh who had the second-most in the entire league with nine.
Penalties were the killer of the Minnesota Vikings during the regular season, too. The Vikings lost a ridiculous 1043 total yards throughout the season because of penalties on the offense, defense, and special teams, for 61.35 yards per game. If that was a running back’s rushing per game average, said player would have been 15th among all RBs this year. Their net penalty yardage was -15.1 per game, second-worst only behind the 49ers.
Obviously the three-and-out average is going to be high when you have plays being negated by penalties so often. If you let a defense play prevent coverage on third down 2-3 times per game, you’re not going to convert too many of them. The thing that Vikings fans should be frustrated about is the fact that if you give Cousins a manageable third down, he goes back to being a top-10 QB. On third down pass attempts with 4-7 yards to gain, Cousins is once again top-10 in yards, yards per attempt, first downs, touchdowns, and he set the pace in 20+ yard gains with 6.
My summary? Stop putting the blame on Kirk Cousins for undisciplined o-line play and horrible play-calling. When he didn’t have to deal with the walls crumbling in around him, Cousins was a top-10 QB on all accounts. Does he get paid more than he should? Sure. That doesn’t mean he’s the cause of every, or even most, of the Vikings problems in 2021.
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