Can Cousins take the next step?
Cousins had a better QBR last season than he did the year before and it showed in the team’s overall performance.
However, Cousins and the Vikings ran into the buzzsaw that is the 49ers defense in the playoffs. San Francisco knocked Minnesota out of the postseason and eventually the 49ers represented the NFC in the Super Bowl.
It’s a lot to ask of Cousins — that he gets better, and takes the team further into the postseason, despite losing his leading receiver and having a different offensive coordinator. But that’s where this team is at. Mike Zimmer and Rick Spielman have contracts that run through the 2020 season. Those two need to show that the Vikings are just as good as they were in 2019.
Cousins has high expectations, but that’s what happens when you’re the starting quarterback on a team that has to contend. Now more than ever, the Vikings need Cousins to thrive in big moments.