Game-Changing Play of the Week: Kirk Cousins Announced Out for Game
The Vikings never stood a chance.
By TimBackes
Let's be frank here. The Vikings never had a chance.
With Kirk Cousins out due to testing positive for COVID and his vaccination status preventing an accelerated timeline for return, the Vikings were forced to start Sean Mannion. And despite Cris Collinsworth's weird complimentary nature of Mannion throughout much of the first half, he was a quarterback clearly in over his head and incapable of doing enough to win his team a football game.
The Vikings' defense played well enough in the early going that, with a competent offense in place, the Vikings pay have done enough to put some pressure on the Packers, whose offense once again got off to a slow start.
But without Cousins, who can play efficient football, the Vikings never had a chance.
The Packers held Dalvin Cook to 13 yards on 12 total touches. For comparison, Vikings center Garrett Bradbury managed 21 receiving yards on a fluke play in the third quarter.
The Vikings were unable to continue feeding Cook throughout most of the game because they found themselves in a 20-0 hole. With Cook essentially taken out of the game, the Vikings were left to watch Mannion throw short routes for little gain, or whiff badly on balls thrown longer than five yards.
One must wonder about Kellen Mond's playing ability if the Vikings judged Mannion to give the team a better chance at victory on Sunday night.
The result: the Vikings were eliminated from playoff contention, head coach Mike Zimmer will almost certainly be fired after a second consecutive season out of the playoffs, and the conversation will ratchet back up once again on Kirk Cousins' tenure with the Vikings and whether the team would simply be better off moving on.
But hey, at least the Vikings got their Super Bowl win in November!
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Tim Backes is a lifelong Packer fan and a contributor to CheeseheadTV. Follow him on Twitter @timbackes for his Packer takes, random musings and Untappd beer check-ins.
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Comments (23)
GregC
January 03, 2022 at 04:11 pm
Mannion was not terrible, but yes, Collinsworth was way over the top in praising him. Collinsworth also kept saying that Mike Zimmer was "thrilled" or whatever that his team was not farther behind in the first half. I don't think Zimmer was thrilled about anything. His team never looked like it had a chance. It was weird that Dalvin Cook was not given more carries. I think the Vikings tried to get too cute with their offensive game plan.
I was surprised there was not more speculation about Zimmer's future from the announcers. Maybe the fact that they did not defend him said something about where they are at. Personally, I think Zimmer is a pretty good coach, and he's not the reason why the Vikings have underperformed. They've had bad luck with injuries, and just when they got their offense going, too many of their defensive stars got old. If the offense and defense had peaked at the same time, they would've had a shot at winning it all.
barutanseijin
January 03, 2022 at 05:30 pm
Broadcasters and print journalists don't want to alienate coaches who provide with them with information and pre-fab material.
The main problems with that team are ones that Spielman created. The OL isn't good enough & so much cap space is going to Cousins that depth is thin.
I like Zim for not always using coach-speak. I get sick of hearing coaches say "it's all on me", which by now just means "Yeah, yeah. I take no responsibility and you'll see the same thing next week." Zim just throws guys under the bus, which they sometimes deserve.
Coldworld
January 03, 2022 at 06:34 pm
They are also trying to persuade casual viewers that there is a game worth watching.
jurp
January 03, 2022 at 10:12 pm
"so much cap space is going to Cousins that depth is thin. "
Replace "Cousins" with "Rodgers" and that could be us in a year or two.
dobber
January 04, 2022 at 07:52 am
"I think Zimmer is a pretty good coach, and he's not the reason why the Vikings have underperformed. "
I think Zimmer is the second-best coach in the NFCN, but his track record by now pretty much lays out who he is...he's probably someone who is destined to be a really good coordinator but average HC. He's the next incarnation of Lovie Smith: they have some good players, have some years where they play better than others and make a little noise in the playoffs, but never really get close to the prize. Finishing second or third to the Packers year after year doesn't sit well with their fan bases.
In all, I would argue the failing is mostly Spielman's: he's never really been able to address the offensive line or OL depth, and a team that could be outstanding offensively has always been inconsistent. Their best and healthiest OL (2017) coincided with the Packers' downturn and Case Keenum's career year. They went for flash with Cousins rather than system and cap with Keenum. Whatever the case, their defense is now aging, porous and bad, and they've got a difficult QB situation. FWIW, I think their OL is looking better over the longer term if Darrisaw and O'Neill grow and stay healthy. They're likely going to have to tear it down and build it back up under a new coach and maybe a new GM.
mrtundra
January 04, 2022 at 08:26 am
That being said, I hope Zimmer gets a lifetime extension. Spiel man, too!
dobber
January 04, 2022 at 11:14 am
YUP!
ricky
January 03, 2022 at 04:47 pm
Two thoughts. First, those slow starts are going to come back and bite the team sooner or later, Second, Love looked bad in his mop-up duties when he threw the ball. Then again, when Rodgers got his first starts in the pre-season, back in the day, he also looked terrible. We'll see.
Ya_tittle
January 03, 2022 at 05:06 pm
The last pass from Love was off, but the others looked on the mark and I loved his run for the first down.
Johnblood27
January 03, 2022 at 05:52 pm
A note to all...
Please stop comparing every breath Love takes to breaths of Favre and Rodgers.
Let him be himself and look at his development as just that... development.
He is clearly not a polished 15 year vet, give the kid a chance, he has been behind the 8-ball since he was drafted and had to endure the shit storm of covid in his rookie year.
He has had to sit far more than anyone would like, but has shown pretty decent traits in the very limited exposure he has gotten. He has also NOT had any significant time with the number ones in game situations.
He is far from Akili Smith, Joey Harrington or Ryan Leaf etc, please give him a chance to just be himself and grow into being an NFL QB. MLF and his system is very QB friendly, it will work given a chance. Neither Favre or Rodgers were anywhere near ready to start in the NFL for their first 2-3 years.
Since'61
January 03, 2022 at 08:38 pm
Good post Johnblood. However to be fair Favre went 9-5 in his first year in Green Bay. That was really his rookie season since he only threw 5 passes in Atlanta in 1991. Then he went 10-6 in his second season as the Packers starter. I don't think Love is ready to play at that level yet.
Although I completely agree with you that we need to give him a chance. It will likely take 2 full seasons for the game to slow down for him. Hopefully it will happen sooner. Thanks, Since '61
stockholder
January 03, 2022 at 10:04 pm
If we don't give him a chance. Gutey will never be able to trade him.
egbertsouse
January 04, 2022 at 07:44 am
Why? It didn’t take Burrow two full seasons. Or Herbert. Or Mahomes. Or Mac Jones. If he is really good, he should be ready to start next season. If not, maybe he is just Sam Darnold.
Johnblood27
January 04, 2022 at 10:31 am
I am not completely convinced that if Love had to start a full season now that he couldn't go slightly above .500 with the talent he has around him on the GBP.
Favre had Edgar Bennett, Sterling Sharpe, Robert Brooks, Vince Workman, etc... plus a pretty darn good roster of defensive players to actually help win games. Along with a very good - maybe the best ever - coaching staff. Having a record over .500 in his first couple seasons was not a surprise.
Similar tale for Rodgers. He didn't have the empty cupboard that many first round QB have to deal with as they become NFL ready, he was drafted onto a pretty good team already.
BTW, I am comparing situations, not QB's.
Sure, they both took time to develop. So will Love. There might be some bumps along the way, but I can pretty much guarantee that he would have a better record than Troy Aikman had his first couple of seasons...
10ve 💚
January 03, 2022 at 07:49 pm
Be real ricky. When AR12 sat out, along with him other starters also sat out. No Adams, no Aaron Jones, no AJ Dillon... not sure who else...
ImaPayne
January 03, 2022 at 07:06 pm
Zimmer does not like development players. He expects players who can contribute day one.
Mond is an emergency backup at best.
Zimmer once canned a rookie kicker who missed three field goals in a game. when asked why he didn't stick with the new guy Zimmer quoted ,' were in a win now mode not development mode'
LeotisHarris
January 03, 2022 at 08:56 pm
I remember when he cut that kicker, Daniel Carlson. Carlson missed those field goals against the Packers. When asked why he cut Carlson, Zimmer said "did you watch the game?" You bring up how the Zimmer and the Vikings are in a win now mode, not a development mode, often. When is their win now mode going to begin? You know, the one with all those players who can contribute on day one?
Whatever kind of players Zimmer likes, he looks like a man who needs to step away from coaching and take care of himself. That red nose isn't entirely from cold weather. He's a good man and I hope he gets healthy.
dobber
January 04, 2022 at 11:19 am
Carlson's been one of the best kickers in the league the last couple years...
egbertsouse
January 04, 2022 at 07:49 am
Did you see Zimmer’s post-game press conference? He made Belichick sound like Mr. Rogers. Note to Zimmer: You don’t get to act like a dick until you win 7 Super Bowls like Hoodie.
BTW-How did this angry troll get a supermodel, total babe girlfriend?
Starrbrite
January 04, 2022 at 12:07 am
I don’t loathe the Vikings (I save that for the Broncos—long story).
I do however very much dislike the Vikings silly, plastic banana, organization. I call it plastic banana because their organization and their fans can do nothing but focus on the Packers.
My very best friend, a few other friends, as well as my brother, are hardcore Viking fans, so I seldom ever chortle when we beat them; plus I remember the ‘70s & ‘80s. That said, it was pure joy watching the Packers dominate them on Sunday.
Merry New Year y’all !!!
mrtundra
January 04, 2022 at 08:34 am
If Cousins were to have played, it would not have changed the dismal performance of Dalvin Cook. 13 yards rushing and 3 yards receiving could not have been altered if Cousins were the QB in this game. Jefferson may have been targeted more but, he wasn't with Mannion, and that seemed to be the vikings game plan for Jefferson. Mannion practiced with the number 1s and they would have had to run the basic viking offense. I think our defensive efforts against both Cook and Jefferson were amazing. It would not have mattered had Kark played. He would have been targeted by our pass rushers, even more than Mannion was. The vikings are 7-9 and could be 7-10 if Chicago beats them in the next game. Think of it, 3 full games under .500! And they thought they were going to the play offs! Pipe dreams and delusions abound! Onto the next sport, Minnesota! Maybe you'll find a winner there!
Packerlifer
January 04, 2022 at 04:10 pm
"No Cousins" only gives some in Queendom an excuse for the loss, though I haven't been hearing that line too much the last two days.
Cousins doesn't play defense so that side of the game is indefensible on their part. They had Cousins at home the prior week against the Rams and how did that go down? Maybe instead of 10 points they get 17 with Kissin' in the game Sunday night. Not near enough to make a difference to the outcome or their season.
mrtundra
January 07, 2022 at 07:57 am
About half of supposed vikings fans want to see Cousins gone from the team. They feel they can get a lot of draft picks, in the right deal, for him. They think they can eat Kark's cap numbers, move on from him, and get someone like Deshawn Watson, or some other idiot, who would be foolish enough to sign with Minnesota. What a messed up place to play football, Minnesota is! Flirting with the cellar, they are!