Kirk Cousins is absolutely not the problem in Minnesota

Despite his impressive numbers, the Minnesota Vikings quarterback is quickly becoming a scapegoat for the team’s mistakes this season.

During their loss to the New Orleans Saints on Sunday night, the Minnesota Vikings committed two turnovers while on offense.

One came when Vikings wide receiver Adam Thielen fumbled the ball inside the Saints’ 20-yard line as the second quarter was winding down. The other came on a play in the third quarter where Minnesota pass catcher Stefon Diggs abruptly stopped running his route, resulting in Kirk Cousins throwing an interception that was returned the other way for a touchdown.

Despite these mistakes by the team’s top two receivers, Cousins is the one being blamed by some for the Vikings’ most recent loss.

After Minnesota fell to New Orleans on Sunday night, Bleacher Report’s Mike Freeman is already jumping ship on Cousins being a good quarterback, referring to him as a, “flop” among other things.

"“An average, super-duper-expensive quarterback who wasn’t worth the cash. One of the most the marvelously mediocre, stupendously average, remarkably decent quarterbacks in recent football memory.”"

This is being said about a guy who is on pace to throw for over 30 touchdowns, less than 10 interceptions, and more passing yards in a single season than any signal-caller in the history of the Vikings.

Those who are rushing to say, “I told you so,” about Cousins at any chance they get this year are only doing themselves an extreme disservice by not also considering the multitude of circumstances the quarterback is dealing with in 2018.

First off, he is just eight games into a season with completely new teammates and a different offensive system. Despite this, Cousins has still been able to put up numbers that rank him among the top five quarterbacks in a number of categories this year.

How’s 2018 working out for Case Keenum with his new team and offense in Denver?

This season, Cousins has also had to lead the Vikings’ offense behind an offensive line that has been decimated by injuries and had to scramble to find a replacement for Tony Sparano just days before training camp due to the assistant coach’s sudden death.

Minnesota’s quarterback has been pressured on almost 40 percent of his dropbacks this year. Something that Cousins did not deal with in his three previous seasons as the starter for the Washington Redskins.

But even with all of these factors not being in his favor, the Vikings quarterback has still managed to help his team remain a contender in the NFC.

Yes, Cousins makes mistakes and he has had his share of head-scratching moments this season. But to think that he is a big problem for Minnesota this year or that the team would be better off without him is nothing more than comical.

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