3 reasons why Kirk Cousins deserves to be in the MVP race
By Adam Patrick
There are a number of candidates in this season’s MVP race and the Minnesota Vikings quarterback deserves to also be in the conversation for the award.
After falling one game short of the Super Bowl in 2017, the Minnesota Vikings went searching for a quarterback during the 2018 offseason who could get them over the hump and actually capture that coveted Vince Lombardi trophy.
Following six years with the Washington Redskins, Kirk Cousins became a free agent in 2018 and he was viewed as the biggest prize on the market by numerous teams around the league. Cousins eventually ended up choosing to sign with the Vikings, who gave the quarterback a monumental three-year, fully-guaranteed $84 million contract.
Minnesota was immediately vaulted into the conversation as a Super Bowl contender after they landed Cousins and their expectations for 2018 were extremely large. Unfortunately, the Vikings fell flat on their face during their first season with their new quarterback and unsurprisingly, he took a bunch of the blame.
This year, Minnesota’s first few games seemed to include a lot of the struggles they encountered towards the end of the last season and many feared the team was heading into another disappointing campaign with Cousins in control.
But then something happened, a switch or something was flicked on and the Vikings quarterback began to play at the level everyone knew he was capable of. Cousins went on to have an impressive stretch of games in October and it even led to him being named the NFC Offensive Player of the Month.
Since October, the veteran passer has continued to keep his play at a high level and he’s easily been one of the best quarterbacks in the league during the last month and a half. Cousins’ performance has been so impressive during the last few weeks that he’s even got some of his doubters believing in him.
That alone should be why the Minnesota quarterback deserves to be among those being considered for the NFL’s MVP this season, but there are a few other reasons why he should be in the conversation for the award as well.