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After a rollercoaster season where the Minnesota Vikings pieced together 11 thrilling single-score victories en route to a playoff appearance, Minnesota’s final fourth quarter of the year fizzled out in anticlimactic fashion.
Trailing by seven late in the fourth quarter and facing fourth-and-8 against the New York Giants in the NFC Wild Card round, Kirk Cousins looked right and saw Jefferson double-covered, opting to check down underneath to T.J. Hockenson. Hockenson was stopped well short of the first-down marker in what proved to be the final play of the season, halting what had the makings of a Cinderella season.
It’s left a sour taste in the organization, players and fans’ mouths as the Vikings continue to fall short of making their first Super Bowl appearance since 1976.
Becoming the third Vikings player to win NFL Offensive Player of the Year, Justin Jefferson spoke openly about the disappointing end of the season — admitting he should have gotten the chance to make a play he had made several times in the regular season (most notably his fourth-and-18 catch against the Buffalo Bills that won NFL Next Gen Moment of the Year at the NFL Honors this week.).
“There was many moments where Kirk gave me that type of ball and I was able to go up and grab it. I definitely felt [against the Giants] I wanted it. Of course, the best player on the field, I should have gotten that ball, but it is what it is,” Jefferson said on Pro Football Talk on February 9.
Although Jefferson was disappointed, he understood it wasn’t an ideal throw for Cousins in that moment.
“Of course, I wanted the opportunity to get that first down for us to go make a game-winning drive,” Jefferson added. “But I understood I was doubled-teamed. It’s a tough throw to make. I wasn’t tripping on it. Of course, I would have wanted to opportunity.”
Kirk Cousins Threw Caution to the Wind Earlier in the 2022 Season
Time and time again, Minnesota Vikings quarterback Cousins made winning throws throughout the 2022 season.
It led to the Vikings quarterback leading the league and tying an NFL record with eight game-winning drives this season.
Jefferson thanked Cousins for being part of the miraculous catch against the Bills, where Cousins, with his back against the wall, put his faith in Jefferson.
All those late-game situations seemed to be building toward something with a Vikings team that refused to lose close games. Minnesota was 11-0 in single-score games this season as arguably the best fourth-quarter team in the league.
However, the regular-season mojo did not materialize in the playoffs, with Minnesota folding in the fourth quarter in the playoffs.
Poor play design and pass protection impacted Cousins’ option on that final play of the season. However, with the game on the line, much like in Buffalo, Jefferson admitted wanted the ball regardless of the circumstances.
And that’s led to some scrutiny of whether Cousins can play up to this new winning standard or if he’ll regress when it comes to the postseason.
Jefferson’s former LSU teammates, Joe Burrow and Ja’Marr Chase, have made hay in jumpstarting the Cincinnati Bengals franchise to back-to-back AFC Championship games. Burrow’s trust is unwavering toward Chase and was put on display on a fourth-quarter conversion two weeks ago in the AFC title game against the Kansas City Chiefs.
Cousins has had to both learn and unlearn many elements of his game in his first year with Kevin O’Connell. After years of Mike Zimmer harping on Cousins to play safe and be secure with football, O’Connell has urged Cousins to throw caution to the wind.
It was a solid first season for the head coach-quarterback duo, and Cousins still has plenty of room to improve.
Kevin O’Connell Addresses Future With Kirk Cousins
The Vikings have committed to Cousins for at least the 2023 season — and for the first time in his career, Cousins will have the same offensive coordinator in back-to-back seasons.
In an end-of-year media conference, O’Connell addressed the first-year install of his offense and how he hopes to see Cousins improve now that the learning process is over and they can now adapt and evolve next season.
“When I envisioned this offense and his fit within the offense and then watching him really flourish throughout the year and come to life in big moments,” O’Connell said, per Vikings.com. “his toughness, his durability, his ability to go out there each and every week and try to put our offense in optimal situations through his play and his leadership, his ownership of the offense.
“I thought his growth from the beginning to the end and just our personal dialogue week in and week out with the game plan. I’m excited for not only Kirk but a lot of our players who will now have a year in the system and can really build off that,” O’Connell added. “We can evaluate all the things that we did and all the things that we did well, things that we need to improve and then tie our players into that, as far as how we foundationally build that, starting day one of our offseason program. We’re going to want to have a clear-cut plan of where we want to take our offense and continue to grow roles and responsibilities within it, and I think Kirk will be leading the charge with that, with his ability now one year in to know there is not so much learning that needs to take place of the base way of doing things. Now we can tweak, now we can adapt, now we can evolve and continue to allow him to feel as comfortable as possible with what we’re asking for him to do, and I think that’s where real growth can come.”
