Our OC may not be the answer

[CharVike]

In the examples he's given, Cousins had time to throw. He just didn't make the right decision, even if it meant to tuck and run for a loss of yardage. I'm glad you admit he has limitations. I don't agree that he doesn't take chances as Diggs and Thielen were up there in contested catches. Cousins does get bailed out quite a bit. I just want people to admit his ball security and decision making is very suspect and needs to be addressed. In essence, he is part of the problem.

Fumbles are failures to protect the ball. Its the ball carrier's responsibility to protect it, and its not the OL's fault if they don't.

Again the QB gets blind sided it's his fault if he fumbles. OK that make sense. A ball carrier is running with the ball and is expected to get hit. Even AP couldn't hold onto the ball and he is a ball carrier. I don't see how a QB standing still looking downfield is also a ball carrier. Sure once they are on the move they are a ball carrier. I seen Joe Montanna get decked and the ball come flying out and him being carted off the field. What happened is a DL decked him from behind, blind sided, while he was looking for a target. That isn't a ball carrier. Now for the first game Diggs has a hammy issue. Well if he can't go or is limited our QB is F'ed. Don't even throw just hand off all day and let the D win it. Then it will be Theilman and ??? I don't know who. Not much decision making there.

[StumpHunter]

In reading my response to Fiesta, I can see where you are coming from. And to be fair to Fiesta, I intermixed what he wrote with other things I'm reading about Cousins and the Vikings, which wasn't fair to him.

I guess what I understood Fiesta was saying is that Cousins is a game manager, albeit a highly paid one, along the lines of a Christian Ponder. A QB who is not a strength and in fact is a liability in many key situations.

What I was trying to say is that I see Cousins as a very good QB who has some flaws that can really stand out. So I think we each perceive a different floor and ceiling for him.

I think we are not analyzing Cousins all that differently, just disagreeing on the impact his particular strengths and weaknesses will have on the ceiling and floor of the teams he plays for.

You are absolutely correct that there are parts of has game that are elite, and that he has talent in many areas to be MUCH MORE than a game manager...BUT, his areas of weakness are so pronounced that really for him to succeed you need to build the kind of team, and call the kind of plays that you would in order to find success with a game manager type QB. The way you would have to play with Kirk to have a team that can realistically win 3 or 4 playoff games against top competition is similar to the way you would have to play with a lesser, game managing QB, and the difference in production in those circumstances might well be negligible. In the end, I'd take a cooler customer with a bit less arm talent in those games, but that doesn't mean you can discount Cousins physical gifts entirely...he is nearly a great QB.

I think you hit the nail on the head. This isn't like Ponder or Teddy arguments, where people had varying opinions about how good they could be. This is more like arguments Vikings fans had about Cassel and Bradford, where we knew how good those QBs could be, but some thought it wasn't good enough, while others thought he was.

I think the majority of people think Cousins is a 12 to 16 range QB, who can play well with most everything going right. Some think that is good enough, others don't.

[CharVike]

I think we are not analyzing Cousins all that differently, just disagreeing on the impact his particular strengths and weaknesses will have on the ceiling and floor of the teams he plays for.

You are absolutely correct that there are parts of has game that are elite, and that he has talent in many areas to be MUCH MORE than a game manager...BUT, his areas of weakness are so pronounced that really for him to succeed you need to build the kind of team, and call the kind of plays that you would in order to find success with a game manager type QB. The way you would have to play with Kirk to have a team that can realistically win 3 or 4 playoff games against top competition is similar to the way you would have to play with a lesser, game managing QB, and the difference in production in those circumstances might well be negligible. In the end, I'd take a cooler customer with a bit less arm talent in those games, but that doesn't mean you can discount Cousins physical gifts entirely...he is nearly a great QB.

I think you hit the nail on the head. This isn't like Ponder or Teddy arguments, where people had varying opinions about how good they could be. This is more like arguments Vikings fans had about Cassel and Bradford, where we knew how good those QBs could be, but some thought it wasn't good enough, while others thought he was.

I think the majority of people think Cousins is a 12 to 16 range QB, who can play well with most everything going right. Some think that is good enough, others don't.

How many current NFL QBs can play great when everything around them is breaking down. I've seen Rothelisberger look like crap when his D couldn't stop a team and his run game was shut down. People expect us to get a guy that will take this current roster to the SB. I was looking at Athlons player rankings, this might be a bad choice, but we have one player, Hunter, in the top 50. The Pats have 3 guys including a CB and a WR. That's what you need. I never realized this but the Rams guy Donald had 20 sacks. Thats unbelievable. Our top 2 didn't have that combined. We need 3 to match 1. But to some this is a SB roster that only needs a game manager. Basically a Joe Flacco or Case Keenum. I don't think Brady could lift our team to the SB and he's the best. He gets the Bears twice and he will get a beating at some point. Say hello to Mack. That's just the start of it. For us to make the SB we need to be strong across the board. Unfortunately I don't see that talent level at this point. But we better spanked this Falcon team today. Give them a good beating at home. Let's start it off right and get a roll on. Make the Falcons sorry they ever made the trip. That's what I need to see and that's what a SB caliber team would do. Make them give up. Shut Ryan down.