2 weeks in and it's clear Kirk Cousins is the best QB in the NFC North
Two weeks of NFL action are nearly in the books and the only thing we know for sure about the NFC North is that the Chicago Bears are going to have really long season with Justin Fields at quarterback.
The Lions? That win over the Chiefs really should have an asterisk since Travis Kelce and Chris Jones didn't play because Detroit responded by giving up 37 points in their home opener and lost to the Seahawks, who looked pathetic in a Week 1 loss to the Rams.
The Packers? Their blowout win over the Bears was basically a right of passage and they followed up by blowing it on the road against the Falcons. They were up 24-12 in the fourth quarter and lost 25-24 thanks to three consecutive drives without a first down to finish the game.
The Vikings? They have seven turnovers in two games. No other team has more than four and Minnesota's six lost fumbles are the most in the NFL by four. But if you take the turnovers off the board, the Vikings could very well be 2-0. Then again, they have the worst rushing offense in the NFL so all the pressure is on Kirk Cousins and his pass catchers.
Cousins threw for 366 yards and four touchdowns in the loss to the Bucs and he leads the NFL in yards and passing touchdowns after two weeks. Is he a product of having to play catchup when the Vikings get behind – a la the "big box score" quarterback – or is he actually better than Jordan Love and Jared Goff?
Let's take a closer look...
Cousins leads NFC North passers in completion percentage and yards and he's tied with Love with six touchdown passes. Love hasn't thrown an interception while Cousins has thrown one – a costly one at the goal line against the Bucs in Week 1.
Love has the best passer rating in the NFC North but he's thrown for 312 fewer yards than Cousins and his completion percentage (55.8%) is the worst in the division.
Love was 14 of 25 for 151 yards and three touchdowns against the Falcons, but he fired incomplete on his last six attempts with the game on the line and had one of the strangest false starts in recent memory when the Packers had a chance to put the game away.
What is Jordan Love doing? Packers lose to Falcons 25-24... ouch#Packers #ButtFumble
— Out Fox Sports (@MarkHolder27) September 17, 2023
pic.twitter.com/r8tSE8GB88
Goff has put up solid numbers but he threw a critical pick six with just over eight minutes left in the fourth quarter that put the Lions in a 10-point hole. They clawed back to tie it late, only to lose in overtime.
JARED GOFF THROWS A PICK SIX
— JPAFootball (@jasrifootball) September 17, 2023
THE STREAK IS OVER!
pic.twitter.com/p075KCU8BN
Cousins has looked sharp despite Minnesota's 0-2 record. So sharp that he's put up those numbers despite the Vikings supporting him with the worst rushing attack in the NFL at a measly 34 yards per game. Defenses know Cousins is throwing the ball and they still haven't been able to slow down Justin Jefferson, Jordan Addison and T.J. Hockenson.
Cousins has lost three fumbles, but it's hard to blame him for any of them because Tampa Bay safety Antoine Winfield wasn't blocked and he smacked Cousins for a strip sack and left guard Ed Ingram knocked the ball from Cousins on another. And then against Philly, Josh Sweat ran around Oli Udoh like Udoh was tied to a post and stripped Cousins from behind.
How do Cousins, Love, Goff and Fields compare based on ESPN's QBR metric? Here are the top 5 scores:
- Dak Prescott and Brock Purdy - 83.7
- Tua Tagovailoa - 79.0
- Jordan Love - 76.3
- Jared Goff - 75.3
- Kirk Cousins - 71.6
Fields checks in at No. 31 with a 23.0 QBR.
It's a close call, but based on yardage, completion percentage, passer rating and QBR, Cousins has the edge as the top quarterback in the division.
Title: Bring Me The Sports co-owner, editor Email: joe@bringmethenews.com Twitter: @JoeBMTN Education: Southwest Minnesota State University Location: Minneapolis, Minnesota Expertise: All things Minnesota sports Nelson has covered Minnesota sports for two decades, starting his media career in sports radio. He worked at small market Minnesota stations in Marshall and St. Cloud before joining one of the nation's highest-rated sports stations, KFAN-FM 100.3 in the Twin Cities. There, he was the producer of the top-rated mid-morning sports show with Minnesota Vikings announcer Paul Allen. His radio experience helped blossom a career as a sports writer, joining Minneapolis-based Bring Me The News in 2011. Nelson and Adam Uren became co-owners of Bring Me The News in 2018 and have since more than tripled the site's traffic and launched Bring Me The Sports in cooperation with the Sports Illustrated/FanNation umbrella. Nelson has covered the Super Bowl and numerous training camps, NFL combines, the MLB All-Star Game and Minnesota playoff games, in addition to the day-to-day happenings on and off the field of play. Nelson also has extensive knowledge of non-sports subjects, including news and weather. He works closely with Bring Me The News meteorologist Sven Sundgaard to produce a bevy of weather and climate information for Minnesota readers. Nelson helped launch and manage the Bring Me The News Radio Network, which provided more than 50 radio stations around Minnesota with daily news, sports and weather reports from 2011-17.