Before halftime of their season-opening game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, the Minnesota Vikings were on what might have been the deciding scoring drive.
At the Buccaneers’ 13-yard line, Kirk Cousins dropped back and threw the ball to K.J. Osborn on a second-and-1 situation.
Christian Izien, a rookie for the Buccaneers, stripped the pass out of Osborn’s hands as it was slightly behind him and made a crucial interception.
In the second half of a final loss of 20-17, the Vikings’ offense sputtered. After the game, Cousins stated that he believed it was “too aggressive” to try to fit the throw to Osborn between two defenders.
“.
If I could go back in time, I would have gone to Jordan (Addison) via the under route. I was a little too aggressive when I tried to stab it in, according to Cousins.
Disputed, says Kevin O’Connell.
In an interview following the game, O’Connell stated, “I didn’t mind the choice.
“We’ll look into it to see if there was a better location that could have been chosen. But in the end, I want him to be hostile.
Everyone agrees that it was a superb execution as we managed to fit the ball in the window and score.
“.
Kirk Cousins’ struggle with aggressive play continues.
Cousins received encouragement to play aggressively even during the Mike Zimmer era.
Late in the 2021 campaign, Cousins had just played one of his signature games, outdueling Aaron Rodgers in a 34-31 home victory over the Green Bay Packers. He completed 24-of-35 passes for 341 yards and three touchdowns, including a strike to Adam Thielen that led to the game-winning field goal.
In an unusual deviation from plan, Cousins chose to pass the ball to Thielen in the middle of his break rather than at the conclusion of a comeback route that Rasul Douglas, the cornerback, had picked out.
You don’t want to live doing that, Cousins said, according to The Athletic.
“I mean, I could point to a half-dozen throws there that were too aggressive, and I could argue that that’s one of them.”.
We may have gotten away with it a few times, I believe.
Though that play serves as an illustration of what I mean when I say that we are “on the razor’s edge,”. The probability of (Thielen) catching that and making the play he did is very small compared to the probability of it going the other way.
You’re hard on yourself working through all that because you don’t want to live in a world where you throw the ball into a covered player and cross your fingers. Tyler Conklin did a great job on his route winning on that play, so I have to go back and look at it and say, “How can we give Adam a better chance to create separation?” Maybe a different route concept for me to give to him and then even what took me there, should I have worked with Tyler instead. You don’t want to live in that society.
There are appropriate times and places for it, but you also want to be a football player with brains.
“.
In reference to Cousins’ interception on Sunday, O’Connell mentioned that “razor’s edge.”.
It might have been possible to secure the ball for a touchdown if it had been threaded just a little bit further forward to Osborn.
Cousins demonstrated a willingness to do so last season, and O’Connell has continued to urge him to take those chances.
However, Cousins’ admission on Sunday that the play was excessively aggressive was a reference to his consistent risk aversion and justification over the course of his career.
However, the Vikings offense failed to capitalize on its opportunities against.
Buccaneers.
The box score would lead you to believe that the Vikings won on Sunday.
Justin Jefferson gained 150 receiving yards, while Kirk Cousins threw for 344 yards and two touchdowns.
However, three errors prevented Minnesota from disposing of a Buccaneers team that is likely to finish in the bottom half of the league this season.
After winning 11 games by one score last season, the Vikings appeared to have outrun the problem of close games.
However, fans saw the other side of it.
The outcomes are evenly split when the game comes down to a few crucial plays.
If you can’t score points, the fact that Minnesota outgained Tampa Bay by 369 to 242 yards does not matter in the end.
On a short week, the Vikings will attempt to improve their offensive woes, but the Philadelphia Eagles will present an even more difficult test of their defense.
Cousins said after the loss to the Buccaneers, “It always hurts losing in this league.
The plays where you know we should have made that play and it’s a different game if you can make it “beat you up” because the margin for error is so small.
“.