Kirk Cousins caught a pretty big break ahead of his return to the Minnesota Vikings, with Green Bay Packers star pass rusher Micah Parsons officially ruled out for Sunday's matchup.
And the good news might not stop there. Lukas Van Ness, who leads Green Bay with 4.5 sacks, is questionable with a back injury. There's a real possibility the Packers could be without their two most dangerous edge rushers.
For a 38-year-old Cousins, the timing couldn't be much better.
Minnesota Vikings have a chance to get aggressive with Kirk Cousins against the Green Bay Packers
Parsons being out doesn't mean Cousins will have all day to throw. Green Bay has already spent the whole season without him, so it's not like the Packers are suddenly scrambling to figure out how to rush the passer.
But O'Connell has to love not having Parsons staring down his offensive tackles.
With someone like Parsons coming off the edge, offenses have to make sacrifices. Sometimes that means keeping a running back in to help block. Other times, a tight end has to chip the defender before getting into his route.
Either way, that's one less player immediately available to catch a pass.
Without Parsons, O'Connell could have more freedom to send his running backs into routes rather than asking them to babysit the offensive tackles.
And that could be especially helpful for Cousins.
Nobody expects him to suddenly start scrambling around and making plays outside the pocket. That's never been his game. Give him a decent pocket, let him work through his reads, and he can carve up a defense.
It also opens the door to more of the deeper play-action concepts O'Connell loves running, particularly the crossing routes that can get Justin Jefferson loose downfield.
Cousins doesn't have to spend the whole game launching deep balls, but it'd be nice to see Minnesota open things up (cough -- Jefferson in the middle of the field) instead of settling for short passes all afternoon.
Kevin O'Connell has a chance to expand the Minnesota Vikings' passing attack
Van Ness is the other name Vikings fans should be watching.
The Packers pass rusher has 13 quarterback hits to go along with his 4.5 sacks this season. Those aren't numbers Minnesota can just shrug off, especially considering the questions surrounding its offensive line.
If Van Ness plays, O'Connell will still have to be careful about how often he leaves his tackles on an island.
If he doesn't? Minnesota has even less reason to play scared.
Of course, there's a catch.
The Vikings have their own injury problems, with T.J. Hockenson sidelined and Jordan Addison questionable because of a thumb injury. That limits some of the options Cousins would normally have in the passing game.
And the interior offensive line still needs to hold up. It doesn't matter who's rushing off the edge if Kirko Grillz has a defender in his grill before Jefferson can finish his route.
That's why getting the backs involved as pass-catchers could be so important. Rather than constantly keeping them behind the line to block, Minnesota can give Cousins another easy option when Green Bay brings pressure.
Cousins doesn't need O'Connell to reinvent the offense for him. But with Parsons out and Van Ness potentially joining him on the sideline, O'Connell should have a little more freedom to open up the playbook and let Cousins do his thing.
Add us as a preferred source on Google