The Minnesota Vikings are coming off an impressive 28-24 win over the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday Night Football. In a pretty close to must-win game, the Vikings won on the road against a team with a winning record.
The narrative of Kirk Cousins not being able to win in the spotlight came with him from Washington to Minnesota, but on Sunday night it didn’t seem to matter. Cousins didn’t have the best game of his career, but he did what he had to do to get the win.
Cousins completed 23 of 32 passes for 220 yards and two touchdowns to Kyle Rudolph. Despite not having his number one receiver in Adam Thielen, Cousins was able to have another solid performance. The stat line falls right in the middle of the pack in terms of games in his career, but the most important stat was not what Cousins did, it was what he didn’t do.
In spotlight games in his last two years with the Vikings, Cousins has gotten a lot of heat for the amount of times he has turned the ball over and held onto the ball too long while taking sacks. On Sunday night, Cousins was not only productive, but he also avoided a costly fumble by continuing his throwing motion while getting his arm swatted.
Last season, Vikings fans would have expected a costly turnover on that play. This time it turned out in the Vikings favor, with Cousins being able to hold on to the ball just long enough to complete his throwing motion.
There will be games down the road where Cousins will carry the Vikings to a victory with his arm. But this win proved that the Vikings are balanced enough to get away with an above average, mistake-free game from their quarterback.
