This
Sunday afternoon Falcons quarterback Kirk Cousins will return to U.S Bank
Stadium for the first time since parting ways with Minnesota. In the offseason, Cousins signed a 4-year, $180
million deal, which includes a $50 million signing bonus, $100 million guarantees,
and holds an average of $45 million per base salary. Kirk was initially ecstatic that Atlanta viewed
him as a starting QB looking to lead their offense and team for the next four years. The Vikings were seemingly ready to move on to
either a younger veteran or draft a rookie for the future. The QB still wanted to be a starter so he
knew if he stayed there could be a possibility that during the season they may
wind up turning to another option as their starter, so he just wanted out of
that situation. Upon a possible deal
with Atlanta, it was then reported that Cousins spoke about this type of
situation that could’ve taken place if he had stayed in Minnesota and wanted
assurance that if the two sides were to reach a deal in Atlanta, he would have peace
of mind that this wouldn’t happen to him as a Falcon. He was told that they wanted him as their
starter, thus not having to worry about something like that in the peach state
of Georgia.
Then about a month
and a half after they reached an agreement on a contract, much to Kirk’s chagrin
the Atlanta Falcons drafted Michael Penix Jr., ex-Washington Huskies
quarterback who had brought the Huskies to the National Championship last year. Atlanta has mostly been a rollercoaster of a
team this year. They started this season
6-3, but over the past three weeks have gone 0-3. Fortunately, they have handled their business
inside the NFC South with a 4-1 division record. They also only have two tough games ahead this
Sunday against the 10-2 Vikings then another road matchup with the 8-5
Commanders in week 17. Cousins will look
to upset the Vikings on the road as payback moving forward without him after
his six proficient seasons in Minneapolis.
During his tenure as their starter, he earned three Pro Bowl trips, passing
for 171 touchdowns and 55 interceptions (averaged 28.5-9 TD: INT in 6 seasons). However, Kirk’s been relatively inefficient
as of late, having not thrown a single touchdown in his previous three outings.
(last game with a TD in week 10 against Dallas, went 3-0 in TD: INT)
Minnesota has played fundamentally
sound football on offense and defense all season long. The Vikings currently sit in second place in
the NFC North, trailing Detroit by only one game while possessing a stronghold
on the top Wild Card spot in the NFC playoff picture. Moving on from Cousins has proven to be a
decent decision after all for Kevin O’Connell as their new starter Sam Darnold
has thrown for 2,952 yards (10th) this season, passing for 23 touchdowns
(5th) with 10 interceptions (T-25th). Offensively, the Vikings are ranked 9th
best in passing (231.6 ypg) and points (24.8 ppg). They are 13th in the league in
total yardage (344.6 ypg) while not as great on the ground, averaging 113.0
yards per game (17th). Though
no team can ever afford to lose a game, this is not to the same degree of
importance for Minnesota as it is for the Falcons. They are locked into a playoff position with
5 games left on the schedule, but they still must play Detroit once more and have
the chance of possibly winning their division.
Three of their next five are against NFC rivals plus a game in Seattle which
are fighting to keep their playoff dreams alive, they by no means have an easy
street en route towards becoming hopeful NFC North Champions.
Falcons’ OC Zac
Robinson will look to dial up plenty of passing situations to beat the Vikings
28th ranked pass defense. However,
Vikings’ DC Brian Flores likes to bring more pressure than most teams and they
are 4th in sacks this season.
Atlanta’s DC Jimmy Lakes has had a mediocre defense at best. They are ranked dead last in the league in
sacks and will try to contain what Wes Phillips (OC) and Minnesota do best which
is throw the ball. The Vikings only have
the Division Championship to fight for at this point, having already basically clinched
a playoff berth. The Falcons on the
other hand have zero margin of error. As
I have already mentioned, Atlanta has two difficult matchups remaining, while
their top divisional foes Tampa Bay have a much easier road ahead playing four
teams that have a total of 14 wins between them. It will be quite a problematic situation for
Atlanta the rest of the way if they don’t come out of this one with a win.
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