Cliff wrote: ↑Thu Oct 24, 2019 12:36 pm
That said, Kirk will need to change my mind against KC, DAL, SEA, and GB. I expect to end the year at 10-6 having dropped those 4 games and then be in the wildcard round. Possibly against the Packers. They'll have their own future in their hands against GB and lose in week 16. Then they'll be playing for their playoffs lives against the Bears again but this time I think they win.
I think the two biggest factors for Cousins are:
- Credible play action/run game. Stefanski has Cousins taking a large percentage of snaps from under center and that makes the play action a lot more effective provided when the ball is actually handed off, the running game is effective. Against the Bears, it wasn't. Against everyone else, it has been. But if the Vikings can keep the defensive front 7 honest, or even get them to load up with more than 7 pre-snap, that is helping Cousins by creating more deep opportunities. When he's able to hit those as he's done lately, he's going to pile up the yardage and the touchdowns.
- Good pass blocking. Again, the Bears really blew up the Vikings OL with their rush, and on blitzes, blew up guys like Cook. Couple that with no effective run game and Cousins was put into a situation where he almost never looked past 10 yards downfield. Stefanski has done a nice job with some rollouts to buy time, but the OL has also done a good job of keeping Cousins pretty clean. If that continues, regardless of the opponent, Cousins will continue to make plays.
I agree that the Redskins aren't the defense to end Cousins' recent streak. They're pretty porous against the run and pass and don't generate a lot of pass rush pressure. Provided the Vikings don't completely melt down offensively, which has happened in this type of game in the past, Cousins should continue to find himself in favorable situations and be able to execute his game.
As for the "better" teams that remain on the schedule, as far as I'm concerned it comes down to how well any of those defenses can disrupt the two keys listed above. KC is a good team, but doesn't have a great defense. They are better against the pass than the run and the game is in KC, so that will favor the Chiefs, but Cousins should have ample opportunity to keep things rolling. The Cowboys, OTOH, are a much better overall defense. That will be a much bigger test of the entire Vikings offensive progress to that point in the season. The Seahawk defense is similar to the KC defense. Average overall.
The other factor is all of those games are road games. The offense will be fighting noise in addition to the defenses they face.
And actually, the Broncos might be one of the better defenses in the NFL this year. They are currently ranked above both the Cowboys and the Vikings defensively and have the 3rd-ranked pass defense to this point in the season. So, maybe not a good overall team, but one that also will test Cousins and the overall offense.
In short, I look at this recent stretch of games as a necessary confidence builder for Cousins and the overall offense. After the debacle against the Bears, they needed a stretch to get their heads right (not just Cousins, but all of them, including the coaches), and the Redskins form the tail end of that stretch of games before considerably more difficult conditions set in. After tonight's contest the Vikings will be on the road for 3 out of their next 4 games, with two of the better pass and overall defenses in the league being two of those games. We'll know pretty quickly if the recent string of games got the offense on track and capable of consistently performing at it's full potential, or if better defenses can still gum them up and expose their weaknesses.
