The Zimmer Principle

[VikingLord]

So again, instead of pointing to his successes, he is defended by someone making excuses for the failures.

Cousins didn't throw a single pass on that final drive in the Seahawks game btw. Not sure what kind of contribution he made there. Not fumbling the handoff?

What is your argument here?

You're arguing that its valid to lay the outcomes of certain games at the feet of individual players, right? Or am I misunderstanding your argument?

And you're basing that conclusion on stats. Specifically, the stat that Cousins was the starting QB in that class of games, right?

So based on your argument, Cousins individually is teased out of each of those outcomes. He was the starting QB in those games, and if they were lost, then he lost them.

By extension, a "better" QB on the same teams in the same games would have won them, or won more of them?

Am I misunderstanding your argument?

Harrison Smith has been with the Vikings for each of the losses you associate with Cousins. Maybe the Vikings would have won those if they had a better starting safety?

Adam Thielen was with the team. Maybe they needed a better wide receiver than him?

What about the much-loved RB Dalvin Cook? I know you think highly of him. Of course, he's spent significant time off the field with injuries in a lot of those games, including the game against the Seahawks.

You're right - Cousins didn't throw a pass on that last drive. That's because the offensive coordinator didn't call a pass. What's he supposed to do? Decide to call his own plays because he needs to get more credit if they end up winning? Because the Vikings really needed him to take a risk on a drive when the run was working and they needed less than a yard to seal the game?

What do you want from the guy other than to lay the blame for every team failure at his feet?

[StumpHunter]

What is your argument here?

You're arguing that its valid to lay the outcomes of certain games at the feet of individual players, right? Or am I misunderstanding your argument?

My argument is that Cousins hasn't been good enough at the end of close games to get us more wins and that it is sad that we still need to make excuses for his failures 9 years into his career. You know, instead of pointing to his successes.

And you're basing that conclusion on stats. Specifically, the stat that Cousins was the starting QB in that class of games, right?

I am basing my argument that he hasn't been good enough on the fact he hasn't been good enough. If he had, his win % in those spots would be higher.

So based on your argument, Cousins individually is teased out of each of those outcomes. He was the starting QB in those games, and if they were lost, then he lost them.

Nope, my argument is that the stats indicate a team with Cousins at the helm is much less likely to win a game when down in the 4th than the average QB. It isn't an all or nothing thing, his being QB is an influencing factor. Sometimes Cousins contributes to the loss sometime he doesn't. The statistics indicate that he does more than most QBs.

By extension, a "better" QB on the same teams in the same games would have won them, or won more of them?

Absolutely this is true, and to deny it is to deny everything we see every year in the NFL. Bad QBs lose more than average ones. Great QBs win more than average ones and elite QBs are consistently competing for the SB. It is the most important position in sports and this is just not an opinion widely regarded as true, it is also something backed up by stats like WAR.

Am I misunderstanding your argument?

Yes, you are deliberately creating a strawman argument. I will demonstrate how this works below. See if you can find my example.

Harrison Smith has been with the Vikings for each of the losses you associate with Cousins. Maybe the Vikings would have won those if they had a better starting safety?

Adam Thielen was with the team. Maybe they needed a better wide receiver than him?

What about the much-loved RB Dalvin Cook? I know you think highly of him. Of course, he's spent significant time off the field with injuries in a lot of those games, including the game against the Seahawks.

So your argument is that positions like safety, RB, and WR are just as important to winning as the QB. Got it.

You're right - Cousins didn't throw a pass on that last drive. That's because the offensive coordinator didn't call a pass. What's he supposed to do? Decide to call his own plays because he needs to get more credit if they end up winning? Because the Vikings really needed him to take a risk on a drive when the run was working and they needed less than a yard to seal the game?

I am not blaming him for not passing, just pointing out that you used an example of a drive where Cousins didn't throw a pass as evidence that he does have instances where he does well but the team lets him down.

What do you want from the guy other than to lay the blame for every team failure at his feet?

Another strawman.

[Pondering Her Percy]

So again, instead of pointing to his successes, he is defended by someone making excuses for the failures.

But that is exactly where you are wrong. You always want to make it out to be "Cousins' failure". And I've said time and time again, this is a TEAM game. Just because the Vikings lose, that doesnt just jump to being Kirk Cousins fault. You constantly associate team records with their QBs. Has there been games where Cousins could've probably won it for them since he's been here? Sure. But I can also say the same thing regarding many other areas of this team. Like I dont know how you expect Kirk Cousins to keep up with New Orleans' 52 points. Hell, I dont even know how Mahomes could keep up. But that game will forever be tied to Kirk Cousins record. Or his record in prime time no less.

Is that truly a fair assessment? Or the close losses vs. Tennessee, Seattle and Dallas.

When Bradbury snaps a ball a mile past Cousins to bury us in a 3rd and long and take away any chance we did have.....

Or Mattison misses a giant hole to seal the game....

Or the defense folds like a lawn chair on the final drive vs. Dallas....

..... I'm not sure why you think those are "excuses"?? Those are GAME CHANGING mistakes.

Ya know, if we're driving down the field vs. a team, the game is tight, we need to score or get into FG range and Cousins makes a terrible throw right to a DB for a pick, yeah that's 100% on him. Because that is indeed a GAME CHANGING mistake too. Or if it's 3rd down and he holds the ball forever and takes a sack, yeah thats on him. How he played all game vs. Atlanta and Indy this year, yeah definitely on him (even though we had some serious OL issues vs. Indy).

But I'm not just going to jump to pointing my finger at Cousins when it really wasnt him that blew it for us at the end of the game. I'm just not. I'm going to be fair and level headed about this.

I've said this before and I will say it again, if Nick Foles can win a SB, I dont see why Kirk Cousins couldn't . But it was almost like the Keenum year was an illusion for Vikings fans. It gave us too much hope for the following year when really, guys were another year older on defense, new OC, tougher schedule, etc. Maybe the Vikings just werent quite good enough yet. Maybe Zim couldnt shake off that defensive choke job vs. Philly. I'm not really sure. But I do know that nothing has gone quite right in multiple areas since 2017.

2018-
-We bring Cousins in a year too late IMO.
-We then pair him with an OC that was completely clueless and flat out ignored that we had Dalvin and Latavius. Went with a super pass heavy approach to the point where I think it honestly scarred Zim for life. Zero balance there.
-Our defense was also past the "elite" peek and slowly trending down the hill
-Flip is fired with 3 games left but too little too late.
-One of the most underrated but key losses of Joe Berger happens and nobody attempts to replace him.
-Tony Sparano passes away
-Everson goes AWOL and the air gets sucked out of us vs. Buffalo and it was all downhill from there.

.....the end result, 8-8 because we did have enough talent to win games but just too much going wrong in one year


2019-
-Cousins is now a year in and more comfortable
-We now have an OC that brought back balance to the offense and played to Kirks strengths
-We draft Bradbury who gave our OL a boost his rookie year
-We stay fairly healthy most of the year
-Defense is still slowly trending downhill
-But overall, we have a solid balance of offense and defense. Not elite in either facet. But solid

....the end result, 10-6 and a wild card berth where they knock off an NFC favorite on the road. No surprises here with a fairly smooth offseason/regular season.

2020-
-Cousins is now on his 3rd OC in 3 years. But adapted well given the minimal change in scheme. However they leaned much heavier on the run
-Many aging veteran defenders are let go or younger guys like Waynes walk due to being overpaid in FA.
-Diggs throws a fit over the scheme change and gets traded
-Pierce opts out
-Hunter needs serious surgery and doesnt even play a game
-Barr out for the year
-Stupid Ngakoue trade
-Kendricks misses the last third of the season

....end result, 7-9 and out of the playoffs. It's almost like you can predict what's going to happen just by the events that have gone on each year. I wouldnt be surprised one bit if the Vikings are back in the playoffs this year. But if you break down the 2017 year, everything went nearly exactly how you'd want it to. Kirk Cousins isnt the one to blame here. If Cousins was sitting on the #1 defense in the NFL and had a coordinator that adapted to his strengths and balanced the offense like Keenum did, he would've been very deep into the playoffs and possibly even further. This is why I say that year was an illusion because nothing has gone that "right" since 2017. And just as we got the offense to turn a corner somewhat last year, the defense goes into the dumpster.

If anything, this points to coaching and stubbornness on Zims part. Being so set in his ways that nobody can tell him any different. Zim can be a playoff coach all day. But I dont know if Zim can be a SB coach. Because if they were to ever reach the SB, he'd get dominated due to him being behind the times and playing like it's 1975 still. Good defense and establishing the run. That will be the motto until the day Zim is gone. That to him is more important that protecting your pure pocket passing QB. I almost wish the offense had a bad year last year, because given they did what they did, Zim even came out and said "I thought we did well on offense last year". Yeah to the point where he does nothing but address the defense in the offseason and do nothing with this OL outside of trading for a below average lineman. I called this a while back. That I was worried that Zim would be so adamant about fixing his defense that the offense will be ignored. I hope they change my mind come draft day. But if not, I truly feel bad for Kirk Cousins, because you flat out are NOT putting him in a position to win.

[StumpHunter]

Excuses for failure

I like that you at one point you blame passing too much for Cousins' failures and then later on blame the failures on running too much.

Good stuff.

[Pondering Her Percy]

Excuses for failure

I like that you at one point you blame passing too much for Cousins' failures and then later on blame the failures on running too much.

Good stuff.

And that’s just an ignorant comment. Again you skewing my comments to try and prove me wrong. Classic. But I’ll play that game with you.....

Okay so if I complain about passing too much in 2018 with flip and I complain about running too much in 2020 with Kubiak? What do you think I want?

What is balance?

DING DING DING!

I’ve only said a million times before that it’s about finding balance in the offense and keeping the defense on their toes by being unpredictable. Not running 9,000 times in the first half, or flat out ignoring that you have Dalvin Cook in the backfield like in 2018.

I mean think about it.....

2017 under Shurmur- balanced offense, make playoffs

2018 under flip- ridiculously pass heavy, no playoffs

2019 under Stefanski- balanced offense, make playoffs

2020 under kubiak- ridiculously run heavy (especially in the first half), no playoffs


Kinda funny how that works, huh?

[StumpHunter]

I like that you at one point you blame passing too much for Cousins' failures and then later on blame the failures on running too much.

Good stuff.

And that’s just an ignorant comment. Again you skewing my comments to try and prove me wrong. Classic. But I’ll play that game with you.....

Okay so if I complain about passing too much in 2018 with flip and I complain about running too much in 2020 with Kubiak? What do you think I want?

What is balance?

DING DING DING!

I’ve only said a million times before that it’s about finding balance in the offense and keeping the defense on their toes by being unpredictable. Not running 9,000 times in the first half, or flat out ignoring that you have Dalvin Cook in the backfield like in 2018.

I mean think about it.....

2017 under Shurmur- balanced offense, make playoffs

2018 under flip- ridiculously pass heavy, no playoffs

2019 under Stefanski- balanced offense, make playoffs

2020 under kubiak- ridiculously run heavy (especially in the first half), no playoffs


Kinda funny how that works, huh?

Very funny.

2017: run pass ratio in the first half: 58% passes
2019: run pass ratio in the first half: 53% passes
2020: run pass ratio in the first half: 53% passes

The difference between 2020/2019 and 2017 was whopping 2 extra runs per game in the first half, which makes sense with the difference in running back talent and QB who requires play action to at least look average.

Proof your litmus test for run/pass balance is whether or not you need to use it as an excuse for the QB or not.

[J. Kapp 11]

2018-
-We bring Cousins in a year too late IMO.
-We then pair him with an OC that was completely clueless and flat out ignored that we had Dalvin and Latavius. Went with a super pass heavy approach to the point where I think it honestly scarred Zim for life. Zero balance there.
-Our defense was also past the "elite" peek and slowly trending down the hill
-Flip is fired with 3 games left but too little too late.
-One of the most underrated but key losses of Joe Berger happens and nobody attempts to replace him.
-Tony Sparano passes away
-Everson goes AWOL and the air gets sucked out of us vs. Buffalo and it was all downhill from there.

.....the end result, 8-8 because we did have enough talent to win games but just too much going wrong in one year

I've also been critical of John DeFilippo and how he ran things with the Vikings.

But here's the weird thing. In 2018, even though the run-pass balance was heavily skewed toward the run, the Vikings started the season 4-2-1 and were in first place in the division by a half game. And in three of those games, it was necessary to pass a lot. Against the Pack, we were down 20-7. Against the Bills, it was 27-0. And the Rams were scoring at will ... we had to throw to keep up.

Meanwhile, the Vikings had 466 yards rushing in the four wins.

It's also important to keep in mind that Dalvin was not himself. He still wasn't fully back from his ACL injury, and he battled a host of other injuries that year.

Compare all this to 2020, when we started 2-5 over the same stretch and would have been 1-6 had Will Fuller been able to keep the point of the football off the turf in Houston. Certainly the offense was more balanced. Dalvin was leading the league in rushing. But we lost. A lot. As you've pointed out, it's a team game. A lot of those losses are on the defense. But man, the Atlanta and Indy losses were ugly games for Cousins.

Not trying to pick a fight. The point I'm making is that run-pass balance isn't the end-all, be-all for a football team. To win, you have to play well in all three phases. That's the balance I'd rather see.

[VikingLord]

Nope, my argument is that the stats indicate a team with Cousins at the helm is much less likely to win a game when down in the 4th than the average QB. It isn't an all or nothing thing, his being QB is an influencing factor. Sometimes Cousins contributes to the loss sometime he doesn't. The statistics indicate that he does more than most QBs.

But the statistics you cite don't indicate that.

All your cited statistics show is that Cousins is on the field when those types of losses happen. They don't indicate why, nor can you extend them to individual players without more detailed analysis indicating a particular player did or didn't do something that directly led to the loss.

So your argument is that positions like safety, RB, and WR are just as important to winning as the QB. Got it.

That's not my point. My point is if you're going to extend a general result of a team sport to individual players and then claim their consistent participation in those games implies something about their contributions to the result, then all of the listed players also must suck too.

I'll give you another example. How about the playoff loss to the 49ers? Dalvin Cook did nothing in that game. Is that his fault? Is he responsible for that loss? I keep reading here that the Vikings are a run-first team and Cook is so great and special. He didn't do much against the 49ers though when the Vikings needed him to be special.

But then you'll just say "oh, Cook is still special and not as culpable because he's just a running back"...

I am not blaming him for not passing, just pointing out that you used an example of a drive where Cousins didn't throw a pass as evidence that he does have instances where he does well but the team lets him down.

One drive in a game he played well enough to win.

There is a difference between what you're claiming (Cousins is no good because he doesn't win close games in the 4th quarter) and what I'm pointing out (Cousins did nothing in that game to lose it while other units did).

I don't need to point out where Cousins wins games in the situation you list. All that is necessary to counter your claim is to point out that your general stat can't be traced directly back to him without more in-depth analysis that shows how Cousins individually led to those results.

He might just be unlucky. That is all your stat shows IMHO.

[Pondering Her Percy]

And that’s just an ignorant comment. Again you skewing my comments to try and prove me wrong. Classic. But I’ll play that game with you.....

Okay so if I complain about passing too much in 2018 with flip and I complain about running too much in 2020 with Kubiak? What do you think I want?

What is balance?

DING DING DING!

I’ve only said a million times before that it’s about finding balance in the offense and keeping the defense on their toes by being unpredictable. Not running 9,000 times in the first half, or flat out ignoring that you have Dalvin Cook in the backfield like in 2018.

I mean think about it.....

2017 under Shurmur- balanced offense, make playoffs

2018 under flip- ridiculously pass heavy, no playoffs

2019 under Stefanski- balanced offense, make playoffs

2020 under kubiak- ridiculously run heavy (especially in the first half), no playoffs


Kinda funny how that works, huh?

Very funny.

2017: run pass ratio in the first half: 58% passes
2019: run pass ratio in the first half: 53% passes
2020: run pass ratio in the first half: 53% passes

The difference between 2020/2019 and 2017 was whopping 2 extra runs per game in the first half, which makes sense with the difference in running back talent and QB who requires play action to at least look average.

Proof your litmus test for run/pass balance is whether or not you need to use it as an excuse for the QB or not.

Okay maybe I should have said first "quarter" more than first "half". But clearly you missed the part a while back where I said that Dalvin Cook had 312 carries in 14 games this year. Averaging just over 22 carries a game. And let's say you bring that up to 16 games, he would've had roughly 356 carries in 2020 if he played a full season. Outside of Derrick Henry's whopping 378 carries this year, the last RB to have more than 356 carries in a season was Demarco Murray in 2014 with 392. And in the last TEN years, Dalvin Cook would have the 3rd most carries of any RB in a single season. Are you really going to sit here and tell me we were anywhere near being balanced on offense?

On top of that, Cook had 158 first half runs this year compared to 133 in 2019. That's a large gap when look at a single half. And going even further in depth, Dalvin Cook had more first quarter carries (87) than any RB in the NFL this past year. Even more than Derrick Henry (81) and Cook played 2 LESS games than Henry did. If he played a full 16 game season like Henry did, Cook would've had 99 first quarter carries which shatters Henry's 81. That's multiple games worth of first quarter carries by Cook compared to Henry. THAT is how high our first quarter rushing attempts were.

And I've said more than once now that part of the problem is Zim started off games this year pounding the ball at a ridiculous rate to "get leads" in the first quarter and try to sustain those leads with good defense. Kirk Cousins had 97 first quarter pass attempts which was bottom 5 in the league. 15 less than he even had in 2019 (which again is a large amount when looking at 1 quarter). And 6 less than Keenum had in 2017 when Keenum had 2 LESS games than Cousins did. THAT is how low our first quarter attempts were.

Yet lets look at someone like the Packers who had similar passing and rushing attempts as the Vikings did in 2020.

Cousins 1st quarter pass attempts: 97
Rodgers 1st quarter pass attempts: 130

That is an INSANELY large gap for two guys that had somewhat similar passing attempts. Every defense knew what our game plan was to start off the game. Run, run, and run more. And that never got us far enough ahead early on in games and it forced Cousins to pass more or play catch-up following that. Whereas the Packers would pass early, get far enough ahead and then sustain that lead with the run. Aaron Rodgers pass attempts went way down come 2nd half. We do the opposite of that. We cant get far enough ahead with the non-stop early running and Cousins passing attempts went way up come 2nd half. Come 2nd half, Aaron Rodgers just had to sustain leads and game manage. However, come 2nd half for Cousins, especially with a defense that couldnt stop a JV team from scoring, had to play catch up or chase leads all game. Which at that point, can be too little too late.

This has nothing to do with Cousins and Rodgers as players. It has everything to do with game planning and overall philosophy. When I say balance I'm not referring to run vs. pass percentage by years end. It goes much deeper than that and this is one of those examples. We have an elite running back that can churn clock and keep you ahead. But we do the complete opposite and try to use him to give us those big leads early on and when it doesnt happen we turn to Kirk and say "hey, get us back in the game". The Packers dont even ask Rodgers to do that. I mean try and think of a time where we were up big going into the 2nd half. I'm not sure I can even tell you one instance from this past season. 1.) we had a bad defense and 2.) we tried doing it by pounding the rock. The Packers on the other hand 1.) had a much better defense than we did and 2.) they did it by throwing the ball earlier on to give themselves that cushion come 2nd half.

Again, it's not just as simple as overall balance run vs. pass. It's about overall game plan and philosophy.

[Pondering Her Percy]

He might just be unlucky. That is all your stat shows IMHO.

Not only does Stumps stats show that, but situations like I explained above prove that even further.....

-The fact that Mattison couldnt gain a single yard against Seattle to close the game out (when their was a massive hole to the right of him). A PLAYOFF team.

-The fact that Bradbury snapped the ball a mile past Cousins when Cousins was calling an audible vs. Tennessee on the final drive. Went from 2nd and 10 to 3rd and 22. An absolute drive killer. Another PLAYOFF team

-The fact that our defense couldnt stop the Andy Dalton led Cowboys on the final drive of the game. Which this game was a lose-lose for Cousins. Especially in Stumps eyes because if we won, we wouldnt be allowed to give him any credit because Dallas wasnt a good team. And if they lose, it's a bad loss on Cousins' part.

-The fact that Cousins put our offense in scoring position 3 different times vs. Tampa Bay just for Bailey to miss FG after FG after FG. Which not only cost us 9 points that game but also gave Tampa much better field position 3 different times than they would've had if he made them. And Tampa ended up scoring TDs following 2 of those 3 misses. A SUPER BOWL CHAMP.

And all of those games, especially the first 3, Cousins played damn good. Plenty good enough to win us the game. Like I said above, games like Atlanta and Indy, yeah he played flat out horrible. But games like the ones above, if we even win one or two of those we're easily in the playoffs.

[CharVike]

He might just be unlucky. That is all your stat shows IMHO.

Not only does Stumps stats show that, but situations like I explained above prove that even further.....

-The fact that Mattison couldnt gain a single yard against Seattle to close the game out (when their was a massive hole to the right of him). A PLAYOFF team.

-The fact that Bradbury snapped the ball a mile past Cousins when Cousins was calling an audible vs. Tennessee on the final drive. Went from 2nd and 10 to 3rd and 22. An absolute drive killer. Another PLAYOFF team

-The fact that our defense couldnt stop the Andy Dalton led Cowboys on the final drive of the game. Which this game was a lose-lose for Cousins. Especially in Stumps eyes because if we won, we wouldnt be allowed to give him any credit because Dallas wasnt a good team. And if they lose, it's a bad loss on Cousins' part.

-The fact that Cousins put our offense in scoring position 3 different times vs. Tampa Bay just for Bailey to miss FG after FG after FG. Which not only cost us 9 points that game but also gave Tampa much better field position 3 different times than they would've had if he made them. And Tampa ended up scoring TDs following 2 of those 3 misses. A SUPER BOWL CHAMP.

And all of those games, especially the first 3, Cousins played damn good. Plenty good enough to win us the game. Like I said above, games like Atlanta and Indy, yeah he played flat out horrible. But games like the ones above, if we even win one or two of those we're easily in the playoffs.

This is the one that's hard to get out of the mind.
The fact that Mattison couldnt gain a single yard against Seattle to close the game out (when their was a massive hole to the right of him). A PLAYOFF team.
To me it looked like Matti had zero vision. Perfect tunnel vision. He basically could have crawled into the end zone. I couldn't even take a guess on what happened on that play. But it looked like this no base OL we had and are still building that way for movement was driven clear into the intended hole and then our back took the hand off and straight ahead no matter what but didn't even get low enough. Bottom line one step cut and walk in. It was beyond him on that play. Head scratchier for a pro back.
Cousins has the loser label. I watched a blurb on Dak and a guy talking about how Dak brings the boys back late again a true winner. He points out a game against the Giants. A bottom feeder team that he should dominate. Big deal. Then he points out that he almost brought the boys back against the Rodgers lead Packers. The key there is Almost. Almost is another word for loser. I'll stick by what I always post about Cousins that he is the best since Fran. But I would still like to see us try to upgrade. But an upgrade is off the table right now because Zim wants his D fixed. And he's signing one year cast off fixes at a rate that far exceeds even crappy CAP management. Perfect example 10M to a guy that deserves league minimum. Even the min is a long stretch for a guy who can't run anymore.

[Raz]

177AAB6F-63CB-43A1-83A7-19559DB934C0.png (561.08 KiB) Viewed 742 times

More cousins stuff. He’s ok

[Raz]

Robbed it from Twitter

[Pondering Her Percy]

177AAB6F-63CB-43A1-83A7-19559DB934C0.png

More cousins stuff. He’s ok

Good find. Pretty informative chart

[Pondering Her Percy]

Not only does Stumps stats show that, but situations like I explained above prove that even further.....

-The fact that Mattison couldnt gain a single yard against Seattle to close the game out (when their was a massive hole to the right of him). A PLAYOFF team.

-The fact that Bradbury snapped the ball a mile past Cousins when Cousins was calling an audible vs. Tennessee on the final drive. Went from 2nd and 10 to 3rd and 22. An absolute drive killer. Another PLAYOFF team

-The fact that our defense couldnt stop the Andy Dalton led Cowboys on the final drive of the game. Which this game was a lose-lose for Cousins. Especially in Stumps eyes because if we won, we wouldnt be allowed to give him any credit because Dallas wasnt a good team. And if they lose, it's a bad loss on Cousins' part.

-The fact that Cousins put our offense in scoring position 3 different times vs. Tampa Bay just for Bailey to miss FG after FG after FG. Which not only cost us 9 points that game but also gave Tampa much better field position 3 different times than they would've had if he made them. And Tampa ended up scoring TDs following 2 of those 3 misses. A SUPER BOWL CHAMP.

And all of those games, especially the first 3, Cousins played damn good. Plenty good enough to win us the game. Like I said above, games like Atlanta and Indy, yeah he played flat out horrible. But games like the ones above, if we even win one or two of those we're easily in the playoffs.

This is the one that's hard to get out of the mind.
The fact that Mattison couldnt gain a single yard against Seattle to close the game out (when their was a massive hole to the right of him). A PLAYOFF team.
To me it looked like Matti had zero vision. Perfect tunnel vision. He basically could have crawled into the end zone. I couldn't even take a guess on what happened on that play. But it looked like this no base OL we had and are still building that way for movement was driven clear into the intended hole and then our back took the hand off and straight ahead no matter what but didn't even get low enough. Bottom line one step cut and walk in. It was beyond him on that play. Head scratchier for a pro back.
Cousins has the loser label. I watched a blurb on Dak and a guy talking about how Dak brings the boys back late again a true winner. He points out a game against the Giants. A bottom feeder team that he should dominate. Big deal. Then he points out that he almost brought the boys back against the Rodgers lead Packers. The key there is Almost. Almost is another word for loser. I'll stick by what I always post about Cousins that he is the best since Fran. But I would still like to see us try to upgrade. But an upgrade is off the table right now because Zim wants his D fixed. And he's signing one year cast off fixes at a rate that far exceeds even crappy CAP management. Perfect example 10M to a guy that deserves league minimum. Even the min is a long stretch for a guy who can't run anymore.

Yeah that Seattle game was over with one damn yard. But it ends up being another knock on cousins against a winning team in prime time. It’s exactly why I don’t buy into that “cousins vs winning teams in prime time” stat. It doesn’t tell anywhere near the whole story. Not saying he’s never played bad in prime time but Kyle Brandt on Good Morning Football dug deep into that stat a year ago. Cousins actually plays better in prime time games but his defense gave up on average, over 34 points a game in those same games. Just to put that into prospective, no defense in the nfl this year gave up that many points per game on average. The closest was Detroit with 32.4. THAT is how bad his defenses have been in prime time over his career. That’s disgustingly bad