The Vikings’ playoff loss to the Giants is six months old at this point but thanks to the release of Netflix’s Quarterback, Vikings fans can feel the pain that Kirk Cousins felt after the gut-twisting defeat.
Cousins is one of three quarterbacks featured in the eight-episode series, which had a camera crew follow him, Patrick Mahomes and Marcus Mariota throughout the 2022 NFL season. The NFL playoffs are the focus of episode seven, titled “Win or Go Home.”
“I think at this stage in my career now, my 11th season, I want a lot more than just one playoff victory,” Cousins told the Netflix crew. “I want a lot more than just one division title.”
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In the end, the Vikings fell 31-24 at home to the Giants. It was a crushing defeat that ended with Cousins throwing short to tight end T.J. Hockenson on 4th-and-8. Dejection and regret were evident emotions Cousins felt on his ride home from the stadium.
“It doesn’t feel like it should be over,” said Cousins, who agreed with his wife Julie about being in “shock” over the loss.
“The plays that you go back and beat yourself up over, it’s just…misery. There weren’t a ton, but there were… probably three. And you feel like if you just had those three back, you might win the game,” Cousins said.
“One of the early third downs I took too quick a footwork, so I was ahead of the read,” he continued. “It was open for a first down, and then we had to punt. And then third down, second-to-last play of the game, we got the coverage we wanted, I got the read I wanted, I was dropping back, thinking, ‘This is perfect.’ And, uh, the ball was, like, maybe a foot too far behind him or on him. It wasn’t in front of him. If the ball’s in front of him (KJ Osborn), the ball should’ve been out in front of him. He catches that, and we’re going. Terrible. But when you only run 50-some plays, you know, the two or three that you want back really loom large.
“The hardest part is that when you go to OTAs, you know, 13 wins this year has no bearing. You’re back to… nothing. It’s hard. It’s hard to build, build, build, build and then, you know, there’s nothing to really build from there anymore. It’s over. Frustrating.”
Netflix 'Quarterback' series shows dejected Kirk Cousins on ride home after playoff loss pic.twitter.com/T8ylP8mgV6
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Down by seven with just under three minutes left in the game the Vikings got the ball on their own 12-yard line.
“Last possession of the game, and I was fully expecting us to go down and score and get a two-point conversion and go for the win,” Cousins said about his feeling heading into the final drive.
The Vikings season ended seven plays later with Cousins’s ill-fated 4th-and-8 pass.
“When your throw is short of the sticks like that and he’s tackled, you know, you get a lot of grief for it, but Justin was doubled, and instinctively, it felt careless to throw it to him with the game on the line,” Kirk said when reflecting on the final play. “It came down to TJ. He was matched, and I didn’t really want to work him, but I felt, with the rush closing in, it was, I’m either getting sacked, or this ball’s going to TJ. They’re two bad options. We should have won that game. The Giants executed better than we did. Just felt like the standard wasn’t met.”
Related: Everything we learned about Kirk Cousins from the Netflix series
