This was the definition of an 'arm punt.'
How do Vikings fans put up with this?
Vikings fans should be happy they were playing a team as inept as the Bears on Monday night, because anybody else would have wiped the floor with them. Minnesota did win 17–9, but managed only a measly 193 yards of total offense, thanks to the most inefficient game of Kirk Cousins’s career. He completed 12 of 24 passes for 87 yards, with two touchdowns and an interception, the only time in his career that he’s attempted at least 20 passes and thrown for less than 100 yards. (He’s also the first quarterback to do so in a win since Marcus Mariota in 2018.)
But the real lowlight of Cousins’s night was that interception. Vikings fans are used to seeing their quarterback make confounding decisions, but this was on another level. Late in the first half, Minnesota faced a third-and-8 from its own 34. Cousins had great protection, stepped up in the pocket and lofted a deep pass over the middle of the field—right into the arms of Bears safety Deon Bush, who was so alone that it looked like he was fielding a punt.
A wider, slow-motion replay paints a clearer picture of what happened but doesn’t really bail Cousins out. He was targeting Justin Jefferson (No. 18, lined up in the slot on the far side of the field), who fell to the ground after what should have been a defensive holding penalty.
“I was expecting him to get over there,” Cousins said after the game. “I threw it before I knew he had fallen down.”
Jefferson was on the ground for a while before the ball was thrown, but it makes sense that Cousins wouldn’t be able to see him over his linemen. Still, throwing up a prayer like that was a risky play even if Jefferson had kept his footing. Shouldn’t Cousins want to see if Jefferson had any separation from his defender before throwing the pass to where Bush was providing help over the top? And Cousins totally telegraphed the destination of the pass. Watch Bush closely in the replay. Once he sees Cousins lock his eyes on the middle of the field, he drifts over to where the ball is obviously going. Even if Jefferson had been there, the throw would have had to have been a perfect one to avoid being broken up (or picked off) by Bush.
It should also be noted that Cousins’s terrible game came against the Bears’ second-string defensive backfield. All four members of Chicago’s starting secondary missed the game after being placed on the COVID-19 list. And Cousins still struggled.
Cousins is one of the most confounding quarterbacks in the NFL. He’s a two-time Pro Bowler who is more than capable of taking over a game and lighting up the stat sheet, but he also makes head-scratching decisions like this one. You truly never know which version is going to show up.
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