Closing the Case for Kirk: Why the Vikings chose Cousins over Keenum

Playoffs?  Did you say playoffs?

In two postseason games, Keenum was inconsistent, to say the least.  The Saints used two Keenum turnovers to climb back from 17-0 and take the lead (!) before the last fourteen seconds of the game became the ‘Minneapolis Miracle’,  and they advanced to Philadelphia.

Against the Eagles…well, no one here wants to talk about that for sure, but I think we should.  Although Keenum was certainly not the only reason (and far from it) for the loss, it’s important to point out that after that stunning first drive, the Viking quarterback lead his team to zero points for the rest of the game against a defense that two weeks later Tom Brady threw for 500 yards and put 33 points on.  The Goat’s the Goat, but this was not the 2007 New England Patriots.

Cinderella picked the NFC Championship Game to turn into a pumpkin.  Two picks (one returned for a TD), and a dramatic fumble. Up in smoke went the dream of the Vikings playing in the Super Bowl at home.

Also gone was a no-brain decision to sign Keenum to the Vikings future.

On the other side of the coin, there was Kirk Cousins.  Another guy perhaps born to the NFL with the odds against him, Cousins was a fourth-round pick in 2012, approximately the same age as Keenum.  But Cousins now presented a resume that put him in a clearly upper class.  In 2016, Cousins made the Pro Bowl and took the Redskins to the playoffs with singular quarterback leadership. He also torched the Vikings D in a middle season matchup. How does a team rank 3rd in total NFL offense in a year when the rushing attack is ranked 21st?  By having a quarterback throw for almost 5000 yards. Meanwhile, Washington’s defense–in Cousins’ starting years–ranked 28th (2015), 28th (2016) and 21st (2017).

Starting to see how the argument for Cousins may have been formed?