The Minnesota Vikings visit the Philadelphia Eagles in the NFL’s Week 2 Thursday Night Football matchup and that means Vikings starting quarterback Kirk Cousins returns to prime time where he’ll need to perform under the pressure of added eyeballs watching his every move.
Cousins and his teams have struggled historically when he starts in primetime games and since both teams will be making their 2023 primetime debuts tonight we thought we’d look at several historical metrics working against Cousins and the Vikings as they prepare to face the defending NFC champs as 6.0-point underdogs.
Now, is Cousins like Andy Dalton under the bright lights? No, not quite that bad. No offence to the former longtime Bengals starter – Dalton is a three-time Pro Bowler after all – but he was also known for not having his best performances in primetime slots throughout his career going 6-21 starting in primetime hours and 2-8 on Monday Night Football in particular.
Some notable trends working against Cousins and the Vikings as they prepare to face the Eagles: Cousins is 2-6 in prime time road games with the Vikings; he’s 11-18 all-time in night games; he’s 11-18-1 in games played in September and 15-20-1 in games that occur within the first four weeks of the season; he’s 29-39-2 on the road and 40-40-2 in his career when playing outdoors.
Ironically, Cousins’ QB rating falls between 92-95 in all of these categories so it’s not like he completely forgets how to throw the ball. Often he’s not the primary reason his teams lose.
Cousins is 4-5 on Thursdays specifically and has a chance to come back up to .500 with an upset victory. And while his 15-18 career record against the NFC East is another unfavourable trend, one thing Cousins does have going for him heading into Thursday’s contest is he’s 6-4 in his career against the Eagles.
He went 4-3 with Washington and is 2-1 versus Philly when wearing Vikings purple. His most recent game against the Eagles, however, didn’t go well at all.
Cousins threw three interceptions against the Eagles in a 24-7 Week 2 loss last season in a Monday primetime game in Philly. Cousins’ top target, Justin Jefferson, was held to six receptions for 48 yards in that game.
Jefferson, whom the Eagles famously passed on Jalen Reagor in the 2020 NFL Draft one pick before the Vikings selected him, had 150 yards receiving in Week 1 this past weekend and should see plenty of Darius Slay who picked Cousins off twice last season and had a 70-yard pick-six in Week 1 this year against the Patriots.
Cousins went 33 of 44 for 344 yards and a pair of touchdowns against Tampa Bay in Week 1, but he also threw an interception, lost two fumbles and his team was upset 20-17 in regulation.
If Cousins and the Vikings wish to avoid beginning the season 0-2, protecting the ball might just be priority No. 1 on Thursday. Meanwhile, Philly can get to 2-0 after holding on to defeat New England in Week 1.
from Sportsnet.ca
via i9bet
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