3 things the Vikings need to improve heading into Week 3

Better decisions by the quarterback

Kirk Cousins is getting a lot of heat for his performance against the Packers and for the most part, he is deserving of every little bit of it.

Cousins missed some open receivers, he held onto the ball too long, and he also turned the ball over three times. The Vikings are not going to win many games if the quarterback continues to make these kinds of mistakes.

Cousins needs to improve his game if Minnesota is going to have a winning record this season and it needs to start in Week 3.

He needs to make better reads, put the ball in places where his receivers can make a play, and get a better internal clock when it comes to sensing pressure. He also needs to understand certain situations better.

This last part is the most confounding thing about Cousins. He’s a smart guy, probably one of the smartest in the entire league. Yet the decision he made near the end of the Packers game was so mind-boggling.

The Vikings were driving to win the game and they were getting big chunks of yardage on the ground. Cousins then threw the ball into double coverage on first and goal, while backpedaling. We all know how that turned out.

He is a veteran and he knows better than to make that throw especially on first down. From here on out he needs to be much, much smarter with the football.