If the Minnesota Vikings had even average quarterback play over their last two games, they might have won one, if not both. But that's not what they got from Kyler Murray in Week 8 and Carson Wentz in Week 9. So they were in the market for a quarterback in a short window before the trade deadline, and Kirk Cousins is coming back to try to rescue the situation.
Most of the time, trading for a quarterback in the middle of a season is not ideal. A new signal caller has to learn a new offense, new teammates, and a whole new situation. That is not the case here, of course, as Cousins was a Viking for six seasons and the last two of those seasons were with Kevin O'Connell as the head coach and play caller.
Cousins knows most everybody in the building, and they know him. In terms of O'Connell knowing what he does and doesn't do well, Cousins spoke to that during his reintroduction to Vikings reporters on Wednesday.
Garbage time in a few games has helped pad his numbers, but Cousins mostly played well for the Las Vegas Raiders this season. He is an undeniable upgrade under center for the Vikings, leaving aside his keen familiarity with the offensive scheme and the players around him.
Kirk Cousins gives Kevin O'Connell a chance to restore the Minnesota Vikings' passing rhythm
After a promising run for a game and a half, Murray struggled to keep the Vikings' passing game on track over his last couple of starts. Against the Bills, Wentz had some of the same issues at a higher, more concerning level. O'Connell should have leaned on the run game more, particularly as Wentz struggled so much, but history says he will never do that in favor of a pass-tilted offense.
During his press conference on Wednesday, O'Connell was asked how much of working with Cousins again is "just like riding a bike."
The head coach probably gave a more elaborate answer than was expected.
"I just think Kirk, you know, has played the position with principles that obviously have been very productive, and a very positive thing for him throughout his career," O'Connell said. "This is now my third time being around him as a coach.
"But also, when you look at some of the things we've been really striving for as an offense, being a completion-based offense. Putting the ball in play, in rhythm, to allow our playmakers to have an impact on the game with the routes they're running, the run after the catch."
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O'Connell then called Cousins' accuracy something "that you can really lean on, snap in and snap out." He also named the aforementioned principles he feels Cousins plays with, which have been absent from the Vikings' quarterback play for most of the last two seasons ("the rhythm, the timing, the anticipation, the accuracy").
While he has looked plenty capable this season, the current version of Cousins is three years older than the version the Vikings had before. But when it comes down to it, they really don't need the version of him from the past.
The Vikings and O'Connell just need a quarterback who can operate in any kind of rhythm, rhyme, or reason as a passer. And as a result of that, get the ball to Justin Jefferson, Jordan Addison, and T.J. Hockenson on a consistent basis.
Cousins did that before, and he can certainly do it again.
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