Who is to blame for the Vikings loss to the Chiefs in Week 9?

Kirk Cousins

Coming off one of the best four-game stretches of his entire NFL career, Kirk Cousins was hoping to continue his high level of play against the Chiefs on Sunday. Cousins’ final numbers were still pretty impressive (220 yards, three touchdowns), but there were times during the matchup where it seemed like he had a few brain farts.

This was the case early in the second quarter when the Vikings were faced with a 3rd-and-6 from their own 40-yard line.

Cousins ended up using his legs to try and get the first down and he had a clear shot at the conversion. However, the Minnesota quarterback slid too early and the team ended up falling short of the first down by a single yard.

As one of the leaders of the offense, Cousins has to know where the sticks are out on the field at all times. The play didn’t end up having a significant impact on the game, but mistakes like that are what the Vikings’ quarterback has to work on avoiding for the future.

Cousins also seemed a little too amped up for Sunday’s matchup in Kansas City. There were a number of times in which he completely overthrew Minnesota receivers who were wide open. The wind could have played a factor in this, but he was missing guys who were just a few yards in front of him.

On his pass attempts that traveled five yards or less against the Chiefs, Cousins completed just 55 percent of these throws. For a guy who had just two incompletions on these specific pass attempts during the Vikings’ four-game winning streak, this likely had a significant impact on Sunday’s outcome.

Blame Percentage: 15 percent