DETROIT — Mike Zimmer said Sunday that Kirk Cousins is playing the best he ever has with the Vikings. Actually, Cousins is in the midst of the hottest stretch of his eight-year NFL career.
The 31-year-old quarterback completed 24 of 34 passes for 337 yards and four touchdowns in Minnesota’s 42-30 victory over Detroit at Ford Field.
It was Cousins’ third straight 300-yard passing game and second in a row in which he tied his career high in TD passes. Cousins had a passer rating of 141.4 on Sunday, his third straight game of 138.4 or better.
Never before in his career had Cousins had two games in a row with a passer rating of 130.0 or better. He played for Washington for six seasons before signing a three-year, $84 million contract with the Vikings in March 2018.
“He’s playing very free right now,” said Zimmer, Minnesota’s head coach. “He’s playing the best I’ve seen him play since he’s been here, obviously. It’s a credit to offensive coaches, what they’re doing. I feel like we are playing to his strengths.”
Early this season, Cousins played two of his worst games with the Vikings. In a 21-16 loss at Green Bay in Week 2, he threw two interceptions, including a costly one in the end zone in the fourth quarter. In a 16-6 loss at Chicago in Week 4, Cousins and Minnesota’s offense were ineffective for the most of the game.
Those two losses seem like a long time ago. Since then, the Vikings have won three straight games with Cousins throwing for 976 yards and 10 touchdowns.
“We love it,” tight end Irv Smith Jr. said. “Kirk’s a great leader for this team and he gets us going, and when he’s going like that, it just clicks for us on all cylinders, and it’s amazing seeing him do his thing.”
Meanwhile, Cousins is trying to stay level-headed. He shrugged off Zimmer saying he’s playing his best ever with the Vikings.
“I’m not even comparing,” said Couisins, who is from Holland, Mich., and played at Michigan State. “But I think our coaches have done a great job with game plans and play-calling and keeping us in a good position.”
What about Cousins’ confidence? It’s pretty high, right?
“There’s no meter,” he said. “I’m just staying steady. I’m the same guy. You have to prove it every week and you empty this bucket out. When I go back (Monday) morning, take my file folder of Lions stuff and put it in the bin that sits next to me, and I empty my binder, I start over again. You just flush it, you move on, you learn from it.”
Next up for the Vikings is Thursday’s game against Washington at U.S. Bank Stadium, his first appearance against his former team. He declined to talk about that game Sunday, but will do so when he meets Tuesday with the media.
Cousins’ big outing came despite the Vikings losing star receiver Adam Thielen to a hamstring injury on play in which Cousins hit him for a 25-yard touchdown pass with 5:14 left in the first quarter.
It didn’t seem to matter to the offense. Cousins threw touchdown passes later to rookie wide receiver Bisi Johnson (the first of his career), to fullback C.J. Ham (his first career score receiving) and to tight end Kyle Rudolph.
With Cousins throwing the ball all over the place, Stefon Diggs had seven receptions for 142 yards, Smith five for 60, Rudolph five for 48 and Johnson four for 40.
Cousins also got ample help in the run game. Dalvin Cook carried 35 times for 142 yards, his fifth game this season of 100 yards or better.
“It’s difficult when you lose a player as a good as Adam,” Cousins said. “It’s not preferred, but I was really proud of the way players stepped up. … I can’t say enough about the way so many other skill players provided a spark for us.”
The biggest spark of all in recent weeks has come from Cousins.
“We have to do a good job of putting him in situations that make him comfortable,” Rudolph said. “When you’re firing on all cylinders and the run game is going well and we’re hitting play-action passes, that’s when Kirk is at his best. …We’ve got to continue to put him in situations that make him comfortable, and we’ve done that the past three weeks.”
