5 best back-to-back seasons by a Vikings quarterback

1. Kirk Cousins (2018 – 2019)

• Record: 18-12-1
• 7,901 passing yards
• 56 touchdown passes
• 103 passer rating

When we started to put together the data for the ranking, it was expected that Kirk Cousins would compare favorably with the quarterbacks on this list. That he rises to the top was a little bit surprising.

While he did not top any of the statistics emphasized, he was consistently near the top in many of them. The stat that Cousins came out on top was for his 69.7 completion percentage. While not a lot of emphasis was placed on this stat, along with his win total, it was enough to nudge him past Daunte Culpepper for the overall top spot in the ranking.

Cousins’ 18 wins are the second-most in the ranking behind Fran Tarkenton and his 56 touchdown passes are second to Culpepper. Cousins’ 30 touchdown passes in 2018 are a career-high in five seasons as a starter. His 7,901 passing yards are the third-most in Minnesota franchise history for any two-year period behind Warren Moon and Culpepper.

While the number of games played was not taken into account for the ranking, it is another stat that Cousins led the group in. Since becoming the full-time starter in 2015 for Washington, Cousins has missed only one matchup—and that one was last year’s season finale in order to rest for the playoffs.

Cousins has played much better for the Vikings than he did in Washington. His passer rating improved from 93.7 to 103 and his touchdown to interception ratio has almost doubled going from 1.8:1 to 3.5:1.

With at least another three more years with Minnesota, Cousins has the opportunity to finish among the top three in passing yards and touchdowns. This should be easily accomplished if he continues to be as durable as he has been in his career.

Of course, nothing short of Cousins winning a Super Bowl and removing that two-ton gorilla off the back of the franchise will be enough to satisfy some Vikings fans.