Minnesota Vikings Quarterback Kirk Cousins After Team’s Embarrassing Loss: ‘I Won’t Finish The Season’
Minnesota Vikings starting quarterback Kirk Cousins admitted after the team’s most recent loss to the Atlanta Falcons that he will not finish the 2020 schedule if he continues to throw interceptions, as reported by ESPN. In the loss yesterday, the Vikings were dominated in the squad’s home stadium by the winless Falcons in a 40-23 upset.
In the first half, Cousins threw three picks, his first one was thrown on the very first play of the competition. The amount of picks brought his 2020 total to 10 to lead the NFL, according to Sports Illustrated. Despite the poor performance, head coach Mike Zimmer decided to let Cousins play the entire competition and not make any lineup changes.
After the matchup against Atlanta, Cousins stated in an interview that he is aware he needs to get better in order to maintain his job security.
“The reality is if the pace I’m on in terms of the interceptions, if that were to continue, I won’t finish the season,” he admitted. “I just need to improve as we look ahead to the rest of the season.”
The 32-year-old also commented that the entire offense needed to improve in order to complete the year on a high note and did not limit the losses solely to the picks he has thrown. Overall, he appeared to be optimistic.
“I need to finish the season with a different story, regarding the interceptions, so that’s something I need to improve with the remaining games we have,” Cousins said.
The 1-5 record is the worst start Minnesota has had since 2013, but the dismal beginning to the franchise is not limited to Cousins’ turnovers. Minnesota’s defense also struggled as they gave up an alarming 40 points while allowing Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan to throw for an impressive 371 yards and four touchdowns.
Ryan was able to have such a dominating game due to the fact that the Vikings defensive lineup is quite young and inexperienced, in addition to adjusting to several injuries. The inexperience was quite obvious on Sunday, as there were several times that coverages were mixed up or flat out lost, which resulted in easy scores.
Some sports analysts have said that Cousins will be unable to push his club forward in the current state of the team because he does not have standout wide receiver Stefon Diggs to rely on when he is pressured. Additionally, it is possible Cousins is struggling with the coaching changes that occurred, as assistant coach Kevin Stefanski moved to the Cleveland Browns.
