Vikings - 49ers postgame

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J. Kapp 11
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Re: Vikings - 49ers postgame

Post by J. Kapp 11 »

CharVike wrote: Tue Nov 30, 2021 9:23 am
J. Kapp 11 wrote: Mon Nov 29, 2021 6:13 pm
Fun! Let's pile.

I don't know if any of you noticed it, but Kirk D. was playing pretty darned well in the first half. He was hitting Thielen when they doubled Jefferson. He was making good decisions and good throws downfield. The Vikings were moving the ball.

Then came the first drive of the third quarter. Cousins threw the pick deep in his own territory, which led to easy points for the Niners. Not good. But you know what, Kirk? You haven't thrown a pick in forever. You've only thrown three all season. It's all good, man. Shake it off, and go back to playing the way you did in the first half.

But no. Kirk came unglued after the interception. He started checking down again. C.J. Ham became a focal point in the passing game. Thielen and Jefferson combined for only 8 targets, and 4 of those came on the last drive, when it was desperation time.

Kirk let the interception rattle him.

As I was listening to the Purple Daily podcast today, they brought up an amazing stat. Kirk Cousins, in his career, is 0-20 when he throws multiple interceptions in a game. Let that sink in for a moment. 0-20.

"OK," you say. "If you turn it over that much, you're bound to lose." I agree. You should have a losing record. But ZERO wins?

It begs the question ... how have others fared when throwing multiple interceptions in a game? Let's take a look (as reported on the podcast).

Matthew Stafford 11-25
Russell Wilson 5-10
Drew Brees 21-43
Big Ben 16-33
Matt Ryan 17-25
Tom Brady 19-27

See the difference? Others win about 1 out of every 3 games in which they've thrown multiple picks. Kirk Cousins has won ZERO. ZERO!

To me, that says the other guys can get back to playing their game when they fail. They can shake it off. They can put it out of mind. And Kirk Cousins can't. He just can't. And that only cements the idea that Kirk Cousins is great when everything goes his way.

That's what I saw yesterday, with only a single pick. Kirk Cousins melted down. Cousins didn't fail because it was crunch time. He failed because he got scared, and he got scared when he threw a pick. And you know what? It's not going to change. This is who he is.
Cousins did lead us on a drive to the 6 yard line in the second half. So he did do something it wasn't a total melt down. Once there everything fell apart. The sequence started after the Vikings (5-6) had a first-and-goal at the 6 early in the fourth quarter trailing 34-26.
Two runs by Alexander Mattison got the ball to the 3, and then Cousins threw an incompletion on third down.
That's when the confusion set in as Justin Jefferson lined up out wide on the right side, only to have Cousins run out to get him to flip to the other side. Cousins then rushed back but lined up under right guard instead of center leading to the wasted timeout.
When the game resumed, Cousins then missed Jefferson in the back of the end zone for a potential tying score.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
This below is from a different string.
Recapping Cousins in the the last two and even one minute or less mark performances.
Game winning drive against the undefeated AZ Cards, blown by short missed FG. Game winning drive in regulation against Carolina blown by missed medium FG, What would have almost certainly been a game winning drive against Cinci stopped by phantom fumble call, game tying drive against Cinci in regulation, game winning drive against the Lions with 37 seconds remaining. Game winning drive in OT against the Panthers. This is unprecedented clutch performance in late game situations over a 6 game span in NFL history.
Did I forget one?
Can you blame all of that on Cousins? I guess because he didn't complete the drives.
OK man. You obviously watch the game differently than I do.

Go back and re-watch the game. Watch the second half. Look at his throws after the interception.

Look particularly at his lining up under the right guard. Take a look at the play clock when he lined up. He had plenty of time to correct things, but he didn’t know where he was.

Again I’m not blaming the loss on Cousins. But I am saying that he can’t lift his team when things aren’t going well for the team. And he’s rattled when he makes mistakes. You’re free to disagree, but if you’re honest with yourself and quit saying things like “there are lots worse quarterbacks,” you’ll see I’m right.
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StumpHunter
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Re: Vikings - 49ers postgame

Post by StumpHunter »

CharVike wrote: Tue Nov 30, 2021 8:43 am
StumpHunter wrote: Tue Nov 30, 2021 8:27 am

Newton before his shoulder injury was a better player than Kirk could ever dream of being.

There are other QBs out there besides Cam though. Heineke is sitting at .500 on a lesser team. Bridgewater is above .500 in Denver. Both former Vikings QBs who aren't the answer long term but who are good enough to pull out some wins with the right team around them. Similar to Kirk in that way. It is not hard to find a starter who can win with everything going right around them. The difficulty is finding a QB who can win when faced with challenges.
Newton was never an accurate passer. Call it what it is. His arm is fine. He completed 59% of his passes when he was MVP. That sucks. Bridgewater blows. The minute that team faces a team that can play football his true colors will come out. They have a dam good team around him. They should win it all. You actually think Heineke is taking the WFT anywhere? Plus the WFT can play defense. That D is miles better than ours. They also play in a joke division. Put the Packers in there and nobody would be talking about any of those teams. They would be us. Don't forget Dak. They just lost to a joke at home. Of course there D sucks and eventually that will do them in.
Newton is a former MVP who brought his team to the SB and I don't really care if my QB throws for yards and TDs or runs for them. They both count the same. Like I said, better than Kirk could ever dream of being at one point in his career. Not anymore.

Bridgewater's damn good team has him getting pressured the 6th most of any QB in the league and sacked the 6th most. Aren't you the one always claiming it all starts at the Oline? Despite that, his team is 6-5, he has beaten the Cowboys and the Chargers (two teams we are 1-1 against). This with 2 of his top 3 receiving threats out for most of the season.

Washington's great defense is currently giving up the 2nd most points per drive of any D in the NFL, 4th most yards. Great take. :lol:

Those two QBs aren't taking either of those teams anywhere and neither is Cousins which is the whole point. The difference being both are costing their teams about 4 million.
CharVike
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Re: Vikings - 49ers postgame

Post by CharVike »

J. Kapp 11 wrote: Tue Nov 30, 2021 10:00 am
CharVike wrote: Tue Nov 30, 2021 9:23 am
Cousins did lead us on a drive to the 6 yard line in the second half. So he did do something it wasn't a total melt down. Once there everything fell apart. The sequence started after the Vikings (5-6) had a first-and-goal at the 6 early in the fourth quarter trailing 34-26.
Two runs by Alexander Mattison got the ball to the 3, and then Cousins threw an incompletion on third down.
That's when the confusion set in as Justin Jefferson lined up out wide on the right side, only to have Cousins run out to get him to flip to the other side. Cousins then rushed back but lined up under right guard instead of center leading to the wasted timeout.
When the game resumed, Cousins then missed Jefferson in the back of the end zone for a potential tying score.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
This below is from a different string.
Recapping Cousins in the the last two and even one minute or less mark performances.
Game winning drive against the undefeated AZ Cards, blown by short missed FG. Game winning drive in regulation against Carolina blown by missed medium FG, What would have almost certainly been a game winning drive against Cinci stopped by phantom fumble call, game tying drive against Cinci in regulation, game winning drive against the Lions with 37 seconds remaining. Game winning drive in OT against the Panthers. This is unprecedented clutch performance in late game situations over a 6 game span in NFL history.
Did I forget one?
Can you blame all of that on Cousins? I guess because he didn't complete the drives.
OK man. You obviously watch the game differently than I do.

Go back and re-watch the game. Watch the second half. Look at his throws after the interception.

Look particularly at his lining up under the right guard. Take a look at the play clock when he lined up. He had plenty of time to correct things, but he didn’t know where he was.

Again I’m not blaming the loss on Cousins. But I am saying that he can’t lift his team when things aren’t going well for the team. And he’s rattled when he makes mistakes. You’re free to disagree, but if you’re honest with yourself and quit saying things like “there are lots worse quarterbacks,” you’ll see I’m right.
We all know Cousins didn't play as well the 2nd half. He had a hard time. He wasn't throwing an accurate ball. A QB can only lift a team so far. They all need something around them. I wanted Jones in the draft for a reason. Now we have nothing behind Cousins so that means an extension because Speilman won't trade or cut him. This entire thread was good. We got beat by a good team. It's amazing that we actually had a chance considering what our own team was facing. Cousins sucked that last drive and most of the 2nd half. He fell apart. As you posted he was rattled. That last attempt looked like a guy aiming the ball. Didn't even give JJ a shot. At least get it somewhat close.
CharVike
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Re: Vikings - 49ers postgame

Post by CharVike »

StumpHunter wrote: Tue Nov 30, 2021 10:01 am
CharVike wrote: Tue Nov 30, 2021 8:43 am
Newton was never an accurate passer. Call it what it is. His arm is fine. He completed 59% of his passes when he was MVP. That sucks. Bridgewater blows. The minute that team faces a team that can play football his true colors will come out. They have a dam good team around him. They should win it all. You actually think Heineke is taking the WFT anywhere? Plus the WFT can play defense. That D is miles better than ours. They also play in a joke division. Put the Packers in there and nobody would be talking about any of those teams. They would be us. Don't forget Dak. They just lost to a joke at home. Of course there D sucks and eventually that will do them in.
Newton is a former MVP who brought his team to the SB and I don't really care if my QB throws for yards and TDs or runs for them. They both count the same. Like I said, better than Kirk could ever dream of being at one point in his career. Not anymore.

Bridgewater's damn good team has him getting pressured the 6th most of any QB in the league and sacked the 6th most. Aren't you the one always claiming it all starts at the Oline? Despite that, his team is 6-5, he has beaten the Cowboys and the Chargers (two teams we are 1-1 against). This with 2 of his top 3 receiving threats out for most of the season.

Washington's great defense is currently giving up the 2nd most points per drive of any D in the NFL, 4th most yards. Great take. :lol:

Those two QBs aren't taking either of those teams anywhere and neither is Cousins which is the whole point. The difference being both are costing their teams about 4 million.
The WFT last 4 games they gave up 17,19,21,15 points. That's playing good and that's why they have some wins. Speilman is the one that gave Cousins the money. He had no choice because he had nothing on the roster. We still have nothing and that's part of why Speilman needs to go. I agree Cousins won't lead this team anywhere. We lack the overall talent to challenge for the Super Bowl. That didn't happen this week either. Many feel FA signing is the key. IMO that's never the key. That is used to fill a hole. Our starting secondary is 3 FA signings. That was a waste of money. Sticking with the draft is key. And not a bunch of late rounders either.
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Re: Vikings - 49ers postgame

Post by makila »

VikingLord wrote: Mon Nov 29, 2021 6:26 pm To your larger point, the Vikings need a complete re-think on overall approach. Approach to the draft and players on both sides of the ball. Approach to the offensive, defensive and special teams philosophies as they relate to the players that are drafted. Approach to in-game situational football from being consistently prepared to play to consistently playing within assigned responsibilities to consistent execution.
This. This. This.
For a few years now this has been my biggest issue. I don't think they know who they are. I don't care who you are, what you do in life, part of being successful is understanding who you are, what you do well, and what you don't do well. This organization, since the Case year especially, has no clue what they are, ESPECIALLY on offense.

You sign Kirk? You need to protect him. Draft JJ? You need to use him. Sign a ton of dline? You should be able to stop the run. Etc. I realize this is a very simplistic view. It's also why it is infuriating.

Rick doesn't know what he wants, imo, and that's why he stockpiles so many late round picks, he hopes someone is gonna work out. Very little conviction of "this is our system, we want players that do this, I (scouting) identified these players, and we go get them". Instead it's throw as much against the wall as possible and hope something sticks.

General vent. Grrr.
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CharVike
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Re: Vikings - 49ers postgame

Post by CharVike »

StumpHunter wrote: Tue Nov 30, 2021 10:01 am
CharVike wrote: Tue Nov 30, 2021 8:43 am
Newton was never an accurate passer. Call it what it is. His arm is fine. He completed 59% of his passes when he was MVP. That sucks. Bridgewater blows. The minute that team faces a team that can play football his true colors will come out. They have a dam good team around him. They should win it all. You actually think Heineke is taking the WFT anywhere? Plus the WFT can play defense. That D is miles better than ours. They also play in a joke division. Put the Packers in there and nobody would be talking about any of those teams. They would be us. Don't forget Dak. They just lost to a joke at home. Of course there D sucks and eventually that will do them in.
Newton is a former MVP who brought his team to the SB and I don't really care if my QB throws for yards and TDs or runs for them. They both count the same. Like I said, better than Kirk could ever dream of being at one point in his career. Not anymore.

Bridgewater's damn good team has him getting pressured the 6th most of any QB in the league and sacked the 6th most. Aren't you the one always claiming it all starts at the Oline? Despite that, his team is 6-5, he has beaten the Cowboys and the Chargers (two teams we are 1-1 against). This with 2 of his top 3 receiving threats out for most of the season.

Washington's great defense is currently giving up the 2nd most points per drive of any D in the NFL, 4th most yards. Great take. :lol:

Those two QBs aren't taking either of those teams anywhere and neither is Cousins which is the whole point. The difference being both are costing their teams about 4 million.
You don't give that Denver team much credit. They play good defense. When they get beat they can't score. I wish our team played D like them. They shut out the Jets. Other games 13,13,10,16. That's playing D. They had some clunkers 23,27 lost those 2.
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Re: Vikings - 49ers postgame

Post by StumpHunter »

CharVike wrote: Tue Nov 30, 2021 12:35 pm
StumpHunter wrote: Tue Nov 30, 2021 10:01 am
Newton is a former MVP who brought his team to the SB and I don't really care if my QB throws for yards and TDs or runs for them. They both count the same. Like I said, better than Kirk could ever dream of being at one point in his career. Not anymore.

Bridgewater's damn good team has him getting pressured the 6th most of any QB in the league and sacked the 6th most. Aren't you the one always claiming it all starts at the Oline? Despite that, his team is 6-5, he has beaten the Cowboys and the Chargers (two teams we are 1-1 against). This with 2 of his top 3 receiving threats out for most of the season.

Washington's great defense is currently giving up the 2nd most points per drive of any D in the NFL, 4th most yards. Great take. :lol:

Those two QBs aren't taking either of those teams anywhere and neither is Cousins which is the whole point. The difference being both are costing their teams about 4 million.
You don't give that Denver team much credit. They play good defense. When they get beat they can't score. I wish our team played D like them. They shut out the Jets. Other games 13,13,10,16. That's playing D. They had some clunkers 23,27 lost those 2.
Their D has done well at times, very poorly at others. 27 points to the Steelers is a really bad game. So is 30 to the Eagles and 34 to the Raiders.

That 23 point Ravens game was a game where the D played relatively well and the team lost. Unfortunately for the Broncos, Teddy went down before the half with an injury and the Broncos had to rely on your guy Lock for the entire second half. They might as well have just punted on 1st down every drive with that guy starting.

Cleveland, a team the Broncos scored twice as many points against as the Vikings, the D did enough to get them a win as well. Case, another former Viking QB who could just as easily have the Vikings at 5-6 this season as our current QB, played decent in that one but was carried by his run game.
J. Kapp 11
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Re: Vikings - 49ers postgame

Post by J. Kapp 11 »

CharVike wrote: Tue Nov 30, 2021 10:52 am
J. Kapp 11 wrote: Tue Nov 30, 2021 10:00 am
OK man. You obviously watch the game differently than I do.

Go back and re-watch the game. Watch the second half. Look at his throws after the interception.

Look particularly at his lining up under the right guard. Take a look at the play clock when he lined up. He had plenty of time to correct things, but he didn’t know where he was.

Again I’m not blaming the loss on Cousins. But I am saying that he can’t lift his team when things aren’t going well for the team. And he’s rattled when he makes mistakes. You’re free to disagree, but if you’re honest with yourself and quit saying things like “there are lots worse quarterbacks,” you’ll see I’m right.
We all know Cousins didn't play as well the 2nd half. He had a hard time. He wasn't throwing an accurate ball. A QB can only lift a team so far. They all need something around them. I wanted Jones in the draft for a reason. Now we have nothing behind Cousins so that means an extension because Speilman won't trade or cut him. This entire thread was good. We got beat by a good team. It's amazing that we actually had a chance considering what our own team was facing. Cousins sucked that last drive and most of the 2nd half. He fell apart. As you posted he was rattled. That last attempt looked like a guy aiming the ball. Didn't even give JJ a shot. At least get it somewhat close.
Friend, you're a walking, talking contradiction.

On one hand, you say Cousins is the best QB we've had since Tarkenton. Bold statement, given that Brett Favre didn't seem to have any issue with playing in the clutch and Daunte Culpepper actually got us to the NFCC Game. On the other hand, you say we should've found a way to dump the best QB since Tarkenton in favor of an untested rookie. And now you're using the success of Mac Jones' team as validation. Well, I got news for you. Mac Jones would have bombed in Minnesota with this staff.

Moving on, I'd like to point out two interesting parts of your post.

"We got beat by a good team."
No we didn't. We lost to an average team. We lost to a 5-5 team, same as us. We lost to a team with a quarterback who is 10 times more lost than ours. Worse yet, we lost because, for the most part, we beat ourselves.

"We actually had a chance."
Yes, we did. In spite of our god-awful run defense and continued inability to get off the field on third down, we were right in the game late. Unfortunately, our quarterback threw a pick on his first attempt of the half. From that point on, he played like a high school kid who gets rejected (interception) for a date to the prom by the pretty girl (throwing to Thielen) so he settles for the ugly girl (check-downs to Ham, Mattison and Conklin) just so he doesn't have to suffer the humiliation of going stag.

You say, You say "We all know Cousins didn't play as well the 2nd half." I'm wondering if you're aware of how bad it was compared to his first half. An article in today's edition of The Athletic points out the difference. I'll paraphrase.

FIRST HALF — Cousins put together 0.41 EPA per play in the first half. In case you have no frame of reference, that's massive. A half a point every time he takes a snap! That's Player of the Week stuff. He also posted a 7.4% higher completion percentage than expected, which again is amazing. If he keeps this up, we win in a blowout. But no.

SECOND HALF — Cousins begins his half by throwing a pick on the first play, and it all goes to hell in a hand basket. He goes on to average MINUS 0.43 EPA per play in the second half. It wasn't just bad. It was the worst half of football of any quarterback in the NFL for Week 12, including the putrid play of both the Bears and the Lions on Thanksgiving.

So, back to your point about "we had a chance." Yes, we did. And if our quarterback had played, I don't know, league average in the second half instead of historically bad, we might have won. Hell, if he had managed to get his sh!t together for even a few minutes — even one important play — we could've won. But instead, he let a little adversity rattle his cage.

And STILL, we had not one, but TWO chances to tie the game late. And Cousins, in the biggest moment in the game, with the playoffs in the balance, needing a touchdown on 4th and goal, panics and lines up under the right guard. That's a blunder so boneheaded that EPA stats can't account for it.

Then he throws the ball away — THROWS IT AWAY — on the ensuing play. I mean, what the actual f---? Are you so afraid of an interception showing up on your stat line that you won't even risk a pick on 4th and goal from the 3 with the season on the line?

On the final drive, he had yet another chance, thanks to Robbie Gould turning back into a Bear. Here's how it went.
• Checkdown to Osborn for 5 yards.
• Completed pass to Justin Jefferson for 23 yards (nice).
• Checkdown to Mattison, incomplete.
• Checkdown to Mattison, 5 yards, fails to get OB.
• Checkdown to Osborn, incomplete.
• Pass to wide-open Justin Jefferson over the middle, incomplete.

Six plays, four checkdowns to Osborn and Mattison. Vikings lose.

All this to say — do not talk to me about Kirk Cousins being the best QB we've had since Fran Tarkenton. Don't talk to me about stats. Don't even talk to me about game-winning drives in contests where he isn't facing any personal adversity, such as the Green Bay game. What do you do when it's not going well? In the San Francisco game, he folded like a cheap suitcase. We didn't get beat by a better team. We lost to an average team.

Kirk Cousins has great physical tools. He's one of the game's best passers. He piles up stats. Occasionally he leads the comeback or game-winning drive. But he can't handle adversity. He can't cope when his reads don't go exactly as he planned. He can't deal with pressure. And he can't regroup when he's struggling. Those characteristics DO NOT indicate the best Vikings QB since Tarkenton. They indicate average.

Again, Kirk Cousins didn't lose the 49ers game for the Vikings. But he sure as hell didn't win it. And keep in mind, I've defended the guy all season. Heck for four seasons. I'm tired of it. Move on from all of them.
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Maelstrom88
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Re: Vikings - 49ers postgame

Post by Maelstrom88 »

CharVike wrote: Tue Nov 30, 2021 12:35 pm
StumpHunter wrote: Tue Nov 30, 2021 10:01 am
Newton is a former MVP who brought his team to the SB and I don't really care if my QB throws for yards and TDs or runs for them. They both count the same. Like I said, better than Kirk could ever dream of being at one point in his career. Not anymore.

Bridgewater's damn good team has him getting pressured the 6th most of any QB in the league and sacked the 6th most. Aren't you the one always claiming it all starts at the Oline? Despite that, his team is 6-5, he has beaten the Cowboys and the Chargers (two teams we are 1-1 against). This with 2 of his top 3 receiving threats out for most of the season.

Washington's great defense is currently giving up the 2nd most points per drive of any D in the NFL, 4th most yards. Great take. :lol:

Those two QBs aren't taking either of those teams anywhere and neither is Cousins which is the whole point. The difference being both are costing their teams about 4 million.
You don't give that Denver team much credit. They play good defense. When they get beat they can't score. I wish our team played D like them. They shut out the Jets. Other games 13,13,10,16. That's playing D. They had some clunkers 23,27 lost those 2.
I think the Broncos had back up offensive lineman across the board this last game and they did a great job. We have back up defensive lineman who were mostly mid round picks and get gashed.
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CharVike
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Re: Vikings - 49ers postgame

Post by CharVike »

J. Kapp 11 wrote: Tue Nov 30, 2021 1:12 pm
CharVike wrote: Tue Nov 30, 2021 10:52 am
We all know Cousins didn't play as well the 2nd half. He had a hard time. He wasn't throwing an accurate ball. A QB can only lift a team so far. They all need something around them. I wanted Jones in the draft for a reason. Now we have nothing behind Cousins so that means an extension because Speilman won't trade or cut him. This entire thread was good. We got beat by a good team. It's amazing that we actually had a chance considering what our own team was facing. Cousins sucked that last drive and most of the 2nd half. He fell apart. As you posted he was rattled. That last attempt looked like a guy aiming the ball. Didn't even give JJ a shot. At least get it somewhat close.
Friend, you're a walking, talking contradiction.

On one hand, you say Cousins is the best QB we've had since Tarkenton. Bold statement, given that Brett Favre didn't seem to have any issue with playing in the clutch and Daunte Culpepper actually got us to the NFCC Game. On the other hand, you say we should've found a way to dump the best QB since Tarkenton in favor of an untested rookie. And now you're using the success of Mac Jones' team as validation. Well, I got news for you. Mac Jones would have bombed in Minnesota with this staff.

Moving on, I'd like to point out two interesting parts of your post.

"We got beat by a good team."
No we didn't. We lost to an average team. We lost to a 5-5 team, same as us. We lost to a team with a quarterback who is 10 times more lost than ours. Worse yet, we lost because, for the most part, we beat ourselves.

"We actually had a chance."
Yes, we did. In spite of our god-awful run defense and continued inability to get off the field on third down, we were right in the game late. Unfortunately, our quarterback threw a pick on his first attempt of the half. From that point on, he played like a high school kid who gets rejected (interception) for a date to the prom by the pretty girl (throwing to Thielen) so he settles for the ugly girl (check-downs to Ham, Mattison and Conklin) just so he doesn't have to suffer the humiliation of going stag.

You say, You say "We all know Cousins didn't play as well the 2nd half." I'm wondering if you're aware of how bad it was compared to his first half. An article in today's edition of The Athletic points out the difference. I'll paraphrase.

FIRST HALF — Cousins put together 0.41 EPA per play in the first half. In case you have no frame of reference, that's massive. A half a point every time he takes a snap! That's Player of the Week stuff. He also posted a 7.4% higher completion percentage than expected, which again is amazing. If he keeps this up, we win in a blowout. But no.

SECOND HALF — Cousins begins his half by throwing a pick on the first play, and it all goes to hell in a hand basket. He goes on to average MINUS 0.43 EPA per play in the second half. It wasn't just bad. It was the worst half of football of any quarterback in the NFL for Week 12, including the putrid play of both the Bears and the Lions on Thanksgiving.

So, back to your point about "we had a chance." Yes, we did. And if our quarterback had played, I don't know, league average in the second half instead of historically bad, we might have won. Hell, if he had managed to get his sh!t together for even a few minutes — even one important play — we could've won. But instead, he let a little adversity rattle his cage.

And STILL, we had not one, but TWO chances to tie the game late. And Cousins, in the biggest moment in the game, with the playoffs in the balance, needing a touchdown on 4th and goal, panics and lines up under the right guard. That's a blunder so boneheaded that EPA stats can't account for it.

Then he throws the ball away — THROWS IT AWAY — on the ensuing play. I mean, what the actual f---? Are you so afraid of an interception showing up on your stat line that you won't even risk a pick on 4th and goal from the 3 with the season on the line?

On the final drive, he had yet another chance, thanks to Robbie Gould turning back into a Bear. Here's how it went.
• Checkdown to Osborn for 5 yards.
• Completed pass to Justin Jefferson for 23 yards (nice).
• Checkdown to Mattison, incomplete.
• Checkdown to Mattison, 5 yards, fails to get OB.
• Checkdown to Osborn, incomplete.
• Pass to wide-open Justin Jefferson over the middle, incomplete.

Six plays, four checkdowns to Osborn and Mattison. Vikings lose.

All this to say — do not talk to me about Kirk Cousins being the best QB we've had since Fran Tarkenton. Don't talk to me about stats. Don't even talk to me about game-winning drives in contests where he isn't facing any personal adversity, such as the Green Bay game. What do you do when it's not going well? In the San Francisco game, he folded like a cheap suitcase. We didn't get beat by a better team. We lost to an average team.

Kirk Cousins has great physical tools. He's one of the game's best passers. He piles up stats. Occasionally he leads the comeback or game-winning drive. But he can't handle adversity. He can't cope when his reads don't go exactly as he planned. He can't deal with pressure. And he can't regroup when he's struggling. Those characteristics DO NOT indicate the best Vikings QB since Tarkenton. They indicate average.

Again, Kirk Cousins didn't lose the 49ers game for the Vikings. But he sure as hell didn't win it. And keep in mind, I've defended the guy all season. Heck for four seasons. I'm tired of it. Move on from all of them.
I give you credit for your memory and knowledge. You do good research. I saw all the QBs you talked about. Cousins is our best since Fran. Yes I know that's a bunch of garbage in between. If you remember Culpepper put up 0 points in that game. Zero. We had a dam good offense with 2 HOF WRs. Plus that OL was good. He benefited from the throw it deep to Moss. He was a mental midget and that was his main problem. Farve is a hofer and had one great year and a joke the next. I saw it. That team he lead to the champ game had some good players on it. Much better than our roster over the last two seasons. He crumbled in the champ game with the pick. Gave it away. The 49ers are on a streak and were at home. There not the Lions or the Packers. But they can play good ball. They beat the Rams bad. But Cousins time is up. I'm not defending him. We only have a few players that can be kept for a rebuild.
ERIK the PURPLE
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Re: Vikings - 49ers postgame

Post by ERIK the PURPLE »

On a side note: Daniel Carlson named AFC Special Teams Player of the Week. :roll:
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RandyMoss84
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Re: Vikings - 49ers postgame

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I am ready to move on from Cook, he can not stay healthy and never played a full season
CharVike
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Re: Vikings - 49ers postgame

Post by CharVike »

ERIK the PURPLE wrote: Wed Dec 01, 2021 9:32 am On a side note: Daniel Carlson named AFC Special Teams Player of the Week. :roll:
That was the second time this season. Our guy should have got it for the KO return.
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RandyMoss84
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Re: Vikings - 49ers postgame

Post by RandyMoss84 »

ERIK the PURPLE wrote: Wed Dec 01, 2021 9:32 am On a side note: Daniel Carlson named AFC Special Teams Player of the Week. :roll:
Who cares since Carlson is not a Viking anymore? Move on please
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Maelstrom88
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Re: Vikings - 49ers postgame

Post by Maelstrom88 »

RandyMoss84 wrote: Wed Dec 01, 2021 9:42 am I am ready to move on from Cook, he can not stay healthy and never played a full season
Looked at his contract yesterday I think he's locked in for the next two years.
mael·strom

a powerful whirlpool in the sea or a river.

a situation or state of confused movement or violent turmoil.
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