How does this disaster compare to Cassel?

[RunKC]

$84 million fully guaranteed right down the shitter.

This guy is trying to show Theilen how to run a route. Holy shit

There's some tension on the sideline between Kirk Cousins and Adam Thielen 😬

(via @thecheckdown) pic.twitter.com/b644nLTnXl

— Sports Illustrated (@SInow) December 30, 2018

[displacedinMN]

Reusse-MPLS Startrib

The greatest flop of a season in the 58-year history of the Vikings came to a bitter end with a home-field shellacking from a geographic and divisional rival. A season that started with gigantic expectations based on adding a high-profile quarterback to a tremendous defense ended in disgusting mediocrity.

And, dang, it was cold outside.

The Vikings had played magnificent defense in 1971, so much so that tackle Alan Page became the first defensive player to be voted as the NFL’s Most Valuable Player.

Yet, with eight starts for Gary Cuozzo, four for Bobby Lee and two for Norm Snead, the quarterback situation was chaotic. On Christmas Day, Dallas came to Met Stadium, starter Lee and reliever Cuozzo totaled four interceptions, and the Cowboys walked out with a 20-12 playoff victory.

Patchwork at quarterback … it had to change.

Fran Tarkenton’s five-year stay with the New York Giants had fallen into discord. He had held out briefly in a contract dispute, then the Giants went 4-10. Tarkenton passed for 11 touchdowns, threw 21 interceptions and had a quarterback rating of 65.4.

Francis said he wanted a chance to play for a winner. The Vikings wanted an starting quarterback. He came back to Minnesota in a trade with the Giants on Jan. 27, 1972.

He was greeted at the airport by emissaries from Twin City Federal and, within hours, there were TV ads with Tarkenton counseling Minnesotans to either save or borrow money from that institution.

That was the hysteria over bringing back Sir Francis. Put a productive quarterback with this destructive defense and staying on the pace of the previous three seasons — 12-2, 12-2 and 11-3 victories — was the minimum anticipated for the 1972 Vikings.

And then: The Vikings lost the opener 24-21 to Washington on a Monday night. They were 2-4 in late October, then won at Green Bay to start a run of five victories in six games.

There was a rematch with the Packers on Dec. 10. It was the second coldest game ever played by the Packers by Fahrenheit — minus-2 at kickoff (with a 19-below windchill). It was also the second coldest game played by the Vikings at Met Stadium.

So what? Put on the snowmobile suit, put a bottle of schnapps in one pocket and a bottle of Corby’s in the other, and go watch the Vikings reclaim what had become their rightful place at the top of the NFC Central.

Green Bay was 8-4 and the Vikings were 7-5. The quarterback matchup was Green Bay’s Scott Hunter vs. Tarkenton.

Fran’s going to lose a must-win game vs. Scott Hunter? Give me a break, and pass the schnapps.

The Vikings were ahead 7-0 at halftime. Yet, as had been a problem most of the season, the Vikings didn’t have a reliable running game, while the Packers had John Brockington and MacArthur Lane. They combined for 212 rushing yards in the cold; the Vikings managed only 42 plays, and 21 were runs totaling 54 yards.

The Packers punched the Vikings in the mouth on both sides of the ball. The second half belonged to them. The final was 23-7. Tarkenton threw three interceptions, two to rookie Willie Buchanon.

The lethal combination of the ’72 Vikings — Tarkenton and terrific defense — was dead. The Vikings lost again the next week to finish 7-7, allowing a New York TV publicist named Beano Cook to suggest “7-7” was what some day would be engraved on Tarkenton’s headstone.

The 1972 Vikings were the No. 1 flop in franchise history. And now we have witnessed No. 2 with what occurred on Sunday, when a geographic and divisional rival, the Chicago Bears, came into the spectacular, toasty-warm $1.15 billion edifice in downtown Minneapolis, and put an end to the 2018 Vikings with a 24-10 mugging.

The 1972 Vikings totaled 144 yards when they did their faceplant vs. Green Bay on a frozen December afternoon. It’s more embarrassing that the 2018 Vikings totaled 164 yards vs. the Bears while playing in a greenhouse, on artificial turf, in an era of huge advantages for offense.

The Packers’ incentive for pounding the ’72 Vikings was to win the division. The Bears already had done that. They just came into The Zygi and pounded Mike Zimmer’s Vikings for the giggles.

This past summer, it was Kirk Cousins, the top quarterback on the market, joining the NFL’s No. 1-rated defense. At the end of the 2018 calendar, they are failures. None of that famous heartbreak talk from Vkings fans for this team. This was 100 percent a flop.

Note: Tarkenton did redeem himself by taking the Vikings to three Super Bowls in the following four years. Go get ’em, Kirk.

[rabblerouser]

Originally Posted by Superturtle

Isn't he like 4-24 or some shit against teams with a winning record?

He's.Alex Smith Jr.

All the stats you want, won't bring you back from behind and won't beat elite defenses.

Oooh, but look at THAT comp % and TD/INT ratio!!

[FloridaMan88]

Keenum’s mobility bailed out Minnesota’s crappy offensive line last year, while Cousins’ terrible pocket presence under pressure + a worse offensive line doomed them this season.

[BWillie]

Not sure what Kirk Cousins did wrong. He's performed literally exactly as expected.

[-King-]

Originally Posted by htismaqe

He’s a “slightly better than Alex Smith” game manager, like Matt Ryan. Puts up every stat you want except wins. Been like that since college.

He's not even a great game manager cause he throws picks and fumbles every other sack.

[rabblerouser]

Originally Posted by wazu

Kirk Cousins first year in Minnesota:

70%, 4,298 yards, 30 TDs, 10 INTs.
(Done with the 30th ranked rushing attack)

Matt Cassel's first year in KC:

55%, 3,693 yards, 21 TDs, 11 INTs.
(Done with Jamaal Charles averaging 5.9 yards per carry.)

2008 was the year Cassel filled in for Brady in NE because Pollard - 21 TD/11 INT

2009 was his first year in KC - 16 TD/16 INT

2010, the year KC averaged 5.9ypc, Cassel threw a very Cousins-like 27 TD/7 INT, 15 TDs to DBowe.

For the record.

[WhiteWhale]

Originally Posted by Hammock Parties

Cousins is...basically Trent Green. Maybe a touch better. He's worth that contract.

If KC had a QB with the same record against winning teams as Cousins, you'd lose your shit.

Any casual observer knows you would.

No, he's not Matt Cassel... but the Redskins WERE better without him and with a QB I think we all know isn't that good.

[rabblerouser]

Originally Posted by WhiteWhale

If KC had a QB with the same record against winning teams as Cousins, you'd lose your shit.

Any casual observer knows you would.

No, he's not Matt Cassel... but the Redskins WERE better without him and with a QB I think we all know isn't that good.

Minny would've sucked just as bad with Chase Kreenum.

[MTG#10]

Originally Posted by Hammock Parties

Cousins is...basically Trent Green. Maybe a touch better. He's worth that contract.

[TribalElder]

[rabblerouser]

Originally Posted by -King-

He's not even a great game manager cause he throws picks and fumbles every other sack.

Damn...when you put it that way, Cousins really is Cassel 2.0.

[Tribal Warfare]

Not our problem, after Cassel and then Alex . I'm enjoying the Mahomes era knowing the total shit QB play we witnessed on the Chiefs.

[Basileus777]

Originally Posted by Mecca

He's better than Cassle, the Vikings had a ton of shit just not go their way this year, their top flight defense fell off too.

The problem is what they are paying Cousins. There's a reason that most of the top teams in the NFL have QBs on rookie contract or elite veterans over-performing their contracts. Paying a non-elite guy like Cousins a ton of your cap % leaves your team in a huge bind. There's a good argument from analytics guys that you should just let your QB walk and draft someone if the QB in question is not elite because the money situation makes overpaying mediocre QBs a losing proposition.

[srvy]

Originally Posted by Eleazar

Minnesota's offensive line has been among the worst in the league for a while, they are pitiful to watch. It's a shame that the great defense they built has been wasted on Sam Bradford teams and Case Keenum teams, but Cousins is definitely better than those guys are. He was their only option and he is what he is, an Alex Smith like option.

In the clip Thielen doesn't seem to be objecting, it looks like he did run the wrong route. If Mahomes did this people would be posting "I love the fire" and such. Winning is a great cologne, and losing is... whatever the opposite is.

They should have stuck with Keenum he gets rid of the ball quicker than Cousins who tends to hold to long for a poor O line.

[Aspengc8]

Originally Posted by RunKC

$84 million fully guaranteed right down the shitter.

This guy is trying to show Theilen how to run a route. Holy shit

There's some tension on the sideline between Kirk Cousins and Adam Thielen 😬

(via @thecheckdown) pic.twitter.com/b644nLTnXl

— Sports Illustrated (@SInow) December 30, 2018

Not so much showing him how to run a route, just on that specific play it was a timing deep out and theilen added a stem to it that threw the timing off.