5 most disappointing Vikings in the loss to the Eagles in Week 2

Kirk Cousins – QB

Kirk Cousins and “Monday Night Football” go together like toothpaste and orange juice and that was proven again in Week 2. Cousins had another bad performance under the big bright lights, and it was one that snow-balled into one of the worst outings of his career.

Things weren’t horrible for Cousins in the first half. He did force some balls into tight coverages, and he seemed especially locked onto Irv Smtih Jr., but he didn’t make any egregious mistakes.

There was a moment where Cousins threw a perfect ball to Smith that would’ve gone for a huge score, but it went right through the tight end’s hands. That was a game-changing mistake by Smith and one that led to Cousins unraveling.

Cousins threw three interceptions after that, and the first wasn’t his fault. Minnesota wide receiver Justin Jefferson went deep on a route when he should’ve cut in front of Eagles cornerback Darius Slay, and that resulted in an easy turnover.

Later, as the Vikings tried to claw back into this game Cousins made bad decisions on his own. He was sloppy with the ball and was picked off trying to force one to Minnesota receiver Adam Thielen, and then later trying to force a jump ball in the end zone to Jefferson over and over again.

Cousins was put in a bad situation by the coaching staff as they abandoned the run and just kept chucking the ball. Some quarterbacks thrive in that situation but Cousins folded and failed. It was disappointing for a guy who was getting MVP talk prior to the start of the season.