The Cousins Narrative - Adventures in Bad Sports Journalism

Peeling back the "Cousins Narrative." It's every day, every talking head "Cousins can't win a big game, can't win Monday night, blah, blah." Ok, the superficial stats say so. But consider. Do we really expect this Vikings team - with or wihout Cousins - to win in the Superdome this weekend? Of course we don't. So why will a loss "prove" this lazy narrative? I'm pretty sure that no quarterback in Vikings history would be favored to win this matchup.

Let's get past the lazy narrative and look a little deeper. It's been said that football is the ultimate "team game." So what do Counsin's teams look like. In 2013 and 2014, Cousins started a total of just 11 games (of 32) for the Redskins, who were 3-13 and 4-12, respectively, in those years. Is there any reasonable expectation that any quarterback would have won a game against any team with a winning record in either of those years?

The first year in which Cousins started regularly for the Redskins was 2015, and "he" lost his first-ever (and only) playoff game that year to the Green Bay Packers, 35-18. Cousins was sacked 6 times while throwing for 329 yards and 2 touchdowns. Did "he" lose that game, or were the 9-7 Redskins just overmatched by the 10-6 Packers?

The Redskins were 8-7-1 in 2016, third in the NFC East,and 7-9 in 2017, again, 3rd in the East behind the Cowboys and Giants. If those teams were to win ANY games against teams with winning records those games would certainly be considered upsets.

A closer look at 2017 is interesting, since the Skins played "primetime" games 5 times winning twice, a Sunday night home game against the Raiders, and a Thankgiving night game hosting the Giants. They lost Monday night games to the Superbowl-winning Eagles, and on the road to the 10-6 playoff-bound Kansas City Chiefs, and then a Thursday night game to the Cowboys.

2018 was Cousin's first Vikings season. Those "primetime/big game losses" included Sunday night games to the 13-3 Saints, and to the 12-4 Bears. A win in primetime over the Packers at home was followed by a road loss to the 10-6 Seahawks.

So here we are. According to the stupid, lazy sports talking heads those losses are "Cousins losses." And this weekend's game in the Superdome will be "proof" once again that "he can't win a big game."
In fact, if Cousins (the Vikings) were to win this one it will be one of the great upsets of at least this season. It's likely that the 13-3 Saints will beat the 10-6 Vikings in the New Orleans Superdome. 

Which will prove just one thing: the Saints, a better football team than the Vikings, can win a playoff game in their own building...and absolutely nothing else.