Former Minnesota Vikings quarterback J.T. O'Sullivan recently critiqued the performance from Kirk Cousins in the 2022 playoffs against the New York Giants.
It's been more than four months since the 2022 season came to end for Kirk Cousins and the Minnesota Vikings when they fell to the New York Giants in the wild-card round of the playoffs.
Despite the game ending multiple months ago, the decision by Cousins to checkdown short of the sticks on a 4th-and-8 play on the Vikings' final offensive drive is still a sensitive topic for the fan base today. That infamous play, in addition to a number of others from the Minnesota quarterback, was recently broken down on film by former Vikings signal-caller J.T. O'Sullivan on his popular YouTube channel, The QB School.
4th-and-8 throw by Minnesota Vikings QB Kirk Cousins is "how you really piss off a fan base"
O'Sullivan, who had a brief stint with Minnesota in 2005, shared his analysis on multiple throws from Cousins throughout the matchup against the Giants, including a number of positive plays made by the veteran quarterback.
However, O'Sullivan's most scathing comments were shared during his analysis of Cousins' final throw of the contest on 4th-and-8 when he checked down to tight end T.J. Hockenson for a three-yard gain.
"This, essentially, checkdown throw to the tight end, it's just, it can't happen. It's either a design flaw or a Cousins flaw. It's probably both, if I'm being honest.
[That throw] is how you really piss off a fan base. It's just double middle-fingering the opportunity to get a first down."
O'Sullivan made sure to mention that the outcome of this play was the result of multiple factors, including the play-call itself, Cousins' throw, and a poor pass-blocking decision by Vikings center Garrett Bradbury.
It has always felt that this play was a great opportunity for Cousins to display how much his decision-making had changed under Minnesota head coach Kevin O'Connell. But in the end, Cousins couldn't resist his old habit of playing it safe, and this time, it resulted in the end of the Vikings' 2022 season.