5 things to know about the Vikings and Bears for Week 10

3. Suddenly, Kirk Cousins has a 97.7 passer rating

Cousins has scripted two awful games in 2020 — one at Indianapolis, the other at home against the Falcons. The kneejerk rejoinder is to call for his exodus via release, trade, or long-term benching. We live in The Digital Age, and when a sports player struggles, the thirst is to adjudicate him/her on the basis of “what have you done for me lately.” Ergo, Cousins struggled, and it was time to move on.

But not so fast. The 32-year-old has rebounded nicely in the last two contests. It’s a big boost to have Dalvin Cook lineup in the backfield, but Cousins was the one to dime three touchdowns against the Lions. Nobody else threw the football to those pass-catchers.

Because there is more to a season than two bad football games, the uptick of Cousins’ passer rating to 97.7 seemed to happen all of a sudden. The 97.7 mark is better to date in this season than Lamar Jackson, Jared Goff, and Matthew Stafford, among others.

It is far more likely that Cousins’ success will continue than it is for him to arrive at a stalemate as a “bad quarterback.” His tenure in the league [and production that comes with it] indicate he’s more likely a 100.0 passer rating guy than the 70-80 range. He just succumbed to a nasty rut to start the season.