The Minnesota Vikings have been looking for offense all season long, and they finally found it in a big way against the Green Bay Packers at Lambeau Field with Kirk Cousins back under center.
Cousins finished the day 21-of-31 for 207 yards, two TDs and one INT. Meanwhile, the Vikings ran the football for another 129 yards and a score while posting 30 points in a huge road win that vaults Minnesota into a three-way tie atop the NFC North Division with the Chicago Bears and Detroit Lions (all three teams hold a record of 7-2).
The Vikings’ defense also harassed Packers quarterback Jordan Love all day long, coming up with eight total sacks and four turnovers.
It was precisely the type of complementary football Minnesota head coach Kevin O’Connell has wanted all season long and exactly what Cousins was able to deliver despite just five days of preparation time.
For one of the first times this year, I thought we played complementary football,” O’Connell said following the game.
Vikings Organization in Awe of Kirk Cousins’ Performance All Week
O’Connell acknowledged that during other times in his career as the Vikings head coach the team had to ask a QB to come in with minimal prep time and perform, namely after the team lost Cousins to an Achilles tear against the Packers at Lambeau Field in October of 2023.
Still, the fifth-year HC marveled during the postgame press conference at what Cousins was able to accomplish on such short notice, as well as the impact it had across the huddle on both sides of the football.
“Clearly Kirk Cousins’ performance, and just to put it into words what he was able to accomplish from the time he arrived here … ultimately he was the one with the ownership of the plan and just brought a certain amount of poise, leadership, execution,” O’Connell continued. “[He] ran the show incredibly clean, and I just can’t say enough about him. I know everybody in our organization felt it this week.”
Kirk Cousins Excelled Without 3 of Top 4 Pass-Catchers on Vikings Offense
What made the victory, and Cousins’ performance as part of it, even more impressive was how many talented pass-catchers the Vikings were missing from the fold.
Tight end TJ Hockenson did not play due to wrist and chest injuries, while wide receiver Jauan Jennings missed the contest with a calf injury. Neither player practiced at all during the week.
Jordan Addison, on the other hand, was part of practice through Friday. But he hurt his thumb during that session and ended up missing Cousins’ return to action.
But none of that mattered as Minnesota scored its second-most points of the season and clearly re-established itself as an elite contender in the NFC after two consecutive losses, in which the offense looked horrific.
Vikings’ Kevin O’Connell Doesn’t Hold Back After Kirk Cousins Shreds Packers