Players that you think weren't appreciated on your team enough this year

[GhostOfPoverty]

Kirk Cousins. I've voiced complaints about him enough times, but in all reality, when you look at the stats, it's hard to hate on the guy's overall performance this year: 701. cmpl %, 4,298 yds, 7.09 yards per attempt, 30 TD's/10 INT's, 40 sacks.

That puts his stats as comparable to Goff (64.9 cmpl %, 4,688 yds, 8.36 avg, 32 TD/12 INT, 33 sacks), Aaron Rodgers (62.3 cmpl %, 4,442 yds, 7.44 avg, 25 TD/2 INT, 49 sacks), Phillip Rivers (68.3 cmpl %, 4,308 yds, 8.48 avg, 32 TD/12 INT, 32 sacks) Ben Roethlisberger (67.0, 5,129, 7.6, 34 TD/16 INT, 24 sacks) Tom Brady (65.8, 4,355, 7.64, 29 TD/11 INT, 21 sacks), and some other big names. Not exactly bad company to be in the same conversation as for a given year in terms of stats. People point to his record against winning teams, and that's a valid point. That being said, I'd also note that he made comparable stats to the guys I mentioned while also being among the most heavily pressured QB's in the league in 2018, with one of the worst O-lines in football. That also has to count for something.

Finally, as far as his impact on the Vikings team itself goes, let's compare him to Case Keenum. Keenum turned back into the Keenum everyone knew him to be this year in Denver, a middle of the road journeyman backup level or low-tier starting QB. Even his 2017 career year performance was still below what Cousins did in 2018. So given all of that, I think it's really bizarre how Cousins takes so much heat for the Viking's downfall this year. The main issues were the defense being off and the O-line being among the worst in the league. I just can't put a significant amount of blame on a guy who put up similar stats to Brady, Rodgers, and Goff this year.

 

[NWPATSFAN]

James Develin. But a close second is the GOAT, Alex Guerrero and who could forget the equipment guys.

 

[dbldwn711]

Kirk Cousins. I've voiced complaints about him enough times, but in all reality, when you look at the stats, it's hard to hate on the guy's overall performance this year: 701. cmpl %, 4,298 yds, 7.09 yards per attempt, 30 TD's/10 INT's, 40 sacks.

That puts his stats as comparable to Goff (64.9 cmpl %, 4,688 yds, 8.36 avg, 32 TD/12 INT, 33 sacks), Aaron Rodgers (62.3 cmpl %, 4,442 yds, 7.44 avg, 25 TD/2 INT, 49 sacks), Phillip Rivers (68.3 cmpl %, 4,308 yds, 8.48 avg, 32 TD/12 INT, 32 sacks) Ben Roethlisberger (67.0, 5,129, 7.6, 34 TD/16 INT, 24 sacks) Tom Brady (65.8, 4,355, 7.64, 29 TD/11 INT, 21 sacks), and some other big names. Not exactly bad company to be in the same conversation as for a given year in terms of stats. People point to his record against winning teams, and that's a valid point. That being said, I'd also note that he made comparable stats to the guys I mentioned while also being among the most heavily pressured QB's in the league in 2018, with one of the worst O-lines in football. That also has to count for something.

Finally, as far as his impact on the Vikings team itself goes, let's compare him to Case Keenum. Keenum turned back into the Keenum everyone knew him to be this year in Denver, a middle of the road journeyman backup level or low-tier starting QB. Even his 2017 career year performance was still below what Cousins did in 2018. So given all of that, I think it's really bizarre how Cousins takes so much heat for the Viking's downfall this year. The main issues were the defense being off and the O-line being among the worst in the league. I just can't put a significant amount of blame on a guy who put up similar stats to Brady, Rodgers, and Goff this year.

Ghost, you know I’m a big fan and I really appreciate your post. Why? Because to me it really illustrates why stats don’t come close to telling the whole story. On the Wentz thread plenty of Wentz fanboys would lob stats up to “prove” he was the better QB when in reality they were really using stats to cover up his inefficiencies. Cousins, like Wentz, isn’t a reliable QB bc he doesn’t win! Rivers is the poster child for great stats but no big wins.

Give me a QB who’s a Leander, plays well in the clutch and WINS any day over a “stats guy”.

 

[GhostOfPoverty]

Ghost, you know I’m a big fan and I really appreciate your post. Why? Because to me it really illustrates why stats don’t come close to telling the whole story. On the Wentz thread plenty of Wentz fanboys would lob stats up to “prove” he was the better QB when in reality they were really using stats to cover up his inefficiencies. Cousins, like Wentz, isn’t a reliable QB bc he doesn’t win! Rivers is the poster child for great stats but no big wins.

Give me a QB who’s a Leander, plays well in the clutch and WINS any day over a “stats guy”.

By no means am I saying that he's as good as guys like Brady and Rodgers by naming their stats. Obviously, stats don't tell the whole story, as you say. But on the flip side, I do think that there comes a point where the stats are good enough to make it hard to act like 1 guy was the biggest problem on a team. For all of Cousins's faults, I'm not quite willing to write off his time with the Vikings yet for two reasons: 1) We have no choice, we're stuck with him for 2 more years whether we like it or not and 2) There were absolutely other glaring issues with the team, namely the defense getting a lot worse and the O-line being as terrible as ever.

I think people - namely Vikings fans upset with Cousins - are quick to forget that everyone knew what we were getting in Cousins when they signed him: A solid QB who can't get the job done on his own. Yet our team did nothing to improve our horrendous O-line despite this knowledge, as well as the fact that he's less mobile than Keenum, who relied heavily on his greater elusiveness to succeed the year prior in 2017. I also think that some people are forgetting just how bad things could have gotten this year if we had rolled with Keenum or Bridgewater instead. That's all I'm saying; not that he's a top-tier QB or anything like that. Because guys who have stats like Keenum's 18 TD/15 INT this year or Teddy's 29 TD/23 INT 4 year career certainly wouldn't have done any better for us this year.

 

[ROMOTOOWENS]

Cowboys

C- Joe Looney
DT - Antwan Woods
DT- Malik Collins
OG- Xavier Sua Filo

 

[SteelersPride]

Kirk Cousins. I've voiced complaints about him enough times, but in all reality, when you look at the stats, it's hard to hate on the guy's overall performance this year: 701. cmpl %, 4,298 yds, 7.09 yards per attempt, 30 TD's/10 INT's, 40 sacks.

That puts his stats as comparable to Goff (64.9 cmpl %, 4,688 yds, 8.36 avg, 32 TD/12 INT, 33 sacks), Aaron Rodgers (62.3 cmpl %, 4,442 yds, 7.44 avg, 25 TD/2 INT, 49 sacks), Phillip Rivers (68.3 cmpl %, 4,308 yds, 8.48 avg, 32 TD/12 INT, 32 sacks) Ben Roethlisberger (67.0, 5,129, 7.6, 34 TD/16 INT, 24 sacks) Tom Brady (65.8, 4,355, 7.64, 29 TD/11 INT, 21 sacks), and some other big names. Not exactly bad company to be in the same conversation as for a given year in terms of stats. People point to his record against winning teams, and that's a valid point. That being said, I'd also note that he made comparable stats to the guys I mentioned while also being among the most heavily pressured QB's in the league in 2018, with one of the worst O-lines in football. That also has to count for something.

Finally, as far as his impact on the Vikings team itself goes, let's compare him to Case Keenum. Keenum turned back into the Keenum everyone knew him to be this year in Denver, a middle of the road journeyman backup level or low-tier starting QB. Even his 2017 career year performance was still below what Cousins did in 2018. So given all of that, I think it's really bizarre how Cousins takes so much heat for the Viking's downfall this year. The main issues were the defense being off and the O-line being among the worst in the league. I just can't put a significant amount of blame on a guy who put up similar stats to Brady, Rodgers, and Goff this year.

racking up stats against crap competition, sucking when it matters, and cant beat winners, yep he was appreciated just right

 

[SteelersPride]

Ghost, you know I’m a big fan and I really appreciate your post. Why? Because to me it really illustrates why stats don’t come close to telling the whole story. On the Wentz thread plenty of Wentz fanboys would lob stats up to “prove” he was the better QB when in reality they were really using stats to cover up his inefficiencies. Cousins, like Wentz, isn’t a reliable QB bc he doesn’t win! Rivers is the poster child for great stats but no big wins.

Give me a QB who’s a Leander, plays well in the clutch and WINS any day over a “stats guy”.

cousins isnt clutch, or "wins"?

 

[eaglesnut]

Kirk Cousins. I've voiced complaints about him enough times, but in all reality, when you look at the stats, it's hard to hate on the guy's overall performance this year: 701. cmpl %, 4,298 yds, 7.09 yards per attempt, 30 TD's/10 INT's, 40 sacks.

That puts his stats as comparable to Goff (64.9 cmpl %, 4,688 yds, 8.36 avg, 32 TD/12 INT, 33 sacks), Aaron Rodgers (62.3 cmpl %, 4,442 yds, 7.44 avg, 25 TD/2 INT, 49 sacks), Phillip Rivers (68.3 cmpl %, 4,308 yds, 8.48 avg, 32 TD/12 INT, 32 sacks) Ben Roethlisberger (67.0, 5,129, 7.6, 34 TD/16 INT, 24 sacks) Tom Brady (65.8, 4,355, 7.64, 29 TD/11 INT, 21 sacks), and some other big names. Not exactly bad company to be in the same conversation as for a given year in terms of stats. People point to his record against winning teams, and that's a valid point. That being said, I'd also note that he made comparable stats to the guys I mentioned while also being among the most heavily pressured QB's in the league in 2018, with one of the worst O-lines in football. That also has to count for something.

Finally, as far as his impact on the Vikings team itself goes, let's compare him to Case Keenum. Keenum turned back into the Keenum everyone knew him to be this year in Denver, a middle of the road journeyman backup level or low-tier starting QB. Even his 2017 career year performance was still below what Cousins did in 2018. So given all of that, I think it's really bizarre how Cousins takes so much heat for the Viking's downfall this year. The main issues were the defense being off and the O-line being among the worst in the league. I just can't put a significant amount of blame on a guy who put up similar stats to Brady, Rodgers, and Goff this year.

That 7 ypa is weak. Especially with those two wideouts the Vikings have. Look at the other guys in your comparison.

I think he looked better with Jay Gruden and the Shanahan's in Washington.

 

[GhostOfPoverty]

racking up stats against crap competition, sucking when it matters, and cant beat winners, yep he was appreciated just right

See where I elaborated in post #4.

Is he overpaid? Definitely. Was his signing a complete and utter bust? Maybe, but IMO it's unfair to write his signing off entirely already until the front office actually does something about their horrendous O-line, which anyone and their mother should have realized Cousins was going to struggle behind. They naturally overpaid for an an imperfect FA QB with consistent, quality stats under his belt, but did nothing to acknowledge the realities of his well-known weaknesses. If they address the O-line to at least elevate it from bottom 30 status to top 16 status and he still manages to throw numerous games away, I'll be ready to be a lot more critical of him and the signing of him. But the real idiots in all this are the Vikings decision makers who decided to chase a Superbowl run by signing an immobile, easily rattled QB to $28 mil/year without doing anything about their storied horrendous O-line.

 

[Godstree]

Cowboys

C- Joe Looney
DT - Antwan Woods
DT- Malik Collins
OG- Xavier Sua Filo

Hard to disagree.

But I would add Heath to the list.