After throwing no touchdowns and six interceptions in his previous three games, Atlanta Falcons quarterback Kirk Cousins was hoping to get his season back on track on Sunday in a Week 14 matchup against his former team, the Minnesota Vikings.
Unfortunately for Cousins, the Vikings had other plans.
Minnesota, led by quarterback Sam Darnold's five touchdown passes, cruised to a 42-21 victory over their former starting signal-caller and the Falcons on Sunday. And not only did the Vikings win the contest by three scores, but their defense flustered Cousins all day long, leading to him finishing the matchup with zero touchdown passes and two interceptions.
With the victory, Minnesota improved its record to 11-2 for the first time since the 2009 season, and they are still keeping pace with the 12-1 Detroit Lions for the top spot in the NFC North and the No. 1 seed in the NFC.
Atlanta Falcons should bench Kirk Cousins after terrible day in loss to Minnesota Vikings
Calls from the Atlanta fan base to bench Cousins were already happening before the team lost by 21 points to the Vikings on Sunday. But after this weekend's result, no one would blame the Falcons if they decided to replace Cousins with rookie quarterback Michael Penix Jr. in the starting lineup before their next game.
As was the case during his entire tenure with Minnesota, Cousins still made a number of impressive throws against the Vikings on Sunday. But when Atlanta needed him the most, he was unable to come up with a play, and now his struggles have become even worse than when he was with Minnesota since he's turning the ball over at a much higher rate.
There were multiple reasons why the Vikings moved on from Cousins earlier this year, and his performance on Sunday was just more confirmation for Minnesota that the right decision was made.