Quarterback Kirk Cousins joined NFL Network during Super Bowl weekend and said he needs to be a better quarterback late in games if the Vikings are going to to have a chance next season.
Specifically, Cousins said he’s aiming to become a much more productive quarterback in the final two minutes of close games.
“If I can have better production in the final two minutes of football games, I think I’m really going to like 2019,” he said.
“I feel like I’m accurate. I got a strong arm. I can make good decisions. I can complete the football. I can avoid sacks. All those different things, create explosive plays. But I think you gotta do it in crunch time, and I’ve been .500 pretty much every year I’ve played.”
That’s a fact. The Vikings were 8-7-1 this past season while the Redskins went 7-9 with him in 2017, 8-8 in 2016 and 9-7 in 2015, which was his first season as the full-time starter.
“That’s getting old. It’s gotta turn here. It’s gotta get to 11-5, 12-4, 13-3 and then you gotta win in the playoffs,” Cousins added. That comes down to crunch-time performance. That’s where I gotta take another step. If you look at the different metrics, the production is there except for it’s it’s been accompanied with a .500 record.
According to NFL.com, Cousins’ situational stats were pretty good in the final two minutes of either half as he completed 75.6 percent of his passes for 915 yards, seven touchdowns and two interceptions.
But when the score was separated by seven points or fewer in the fourth quarter, Cousins was 15-of-21 for 161 yards, zero touchdowns and one interception.
Overall, Cousins’ statistics look pretty good, and maybe he wouldn’t have to worry so much about the final two minutes if the Vikings develop any kind of running game in 2019.
