Much has been made of the Vikings’ woes in prime-time television appearances, but did you know that quarterback Kirk Cousins has never led a team to victory on Monday Night Football?
Cousins is 0-6 in his career as a starter on Monday night, and if you throw in Thursday games he’s a combined 1-11.
But it’s not like Cousins has stunk up the joint in prime-time appearances. In fact, his numbers are damn good, having thrown for 1,669 yards (278 per game) with eight touchdowns and four interceptions while completing 67.4 percent of his passes.
- Oct. 6, 2014: 27-17 loss vs. Seattle
- Dec. 7, 2015: 19-16 loss vs. Dallas
- Sep. 12, 2016: 38-16 loss vs. Pittsburgh
- Dec. 19, 2016: 26-16 loss vs. Carolina
- Oct. 2, 2017: 29-20 loss at Kansas City
- Oct. 23, 2017: 34-24 loss at Philadelphia
Cousins has had a passer rating of 100+ in four of his six MNF starts.
And Cousins is winless largely because he played for average teams in Washington against some of the best teams in the NFL.
- The 2017 Eagles won the Super Bowl.
- The 2017 Chiefs went 10-6 and were 6-2 at home.
- The 2016 Panthers were a year removed from going to the Super Bowl.
- The 2016 Steelers reached the AFC Championship Game.
- The 2014 Seahawks made it to the Super Bowl.
The only truly bad loss was to the Cowboys in 2015, and that’s a historic rivalry that always seems to generate a close contest.
This coming Monday night against Seahawks won’t be easy for the Vikings, but Cousins might have the edge against a Seattle secondary that’s allowed 315 passing yards over the last four games, including 414 yards for 49ers quarterback Nick Mullens last week.
