Vikings' Kevin O'Connell Gets Honest on Defending QB Kirk Cousins

Minnesota Vikings head coach Kevin O'Connell addressed what he expects in his first matchup against quarterback Kirk Cousins since he left the team this past offseason.

Minnesota Vikings coach Kevin O'Connell / Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

It's easy to call Kirk Cousins' first visit back to Minneapolis in Week 14 a revenge game. But there's little doubt that Minnesota Vikings head coach Kevin O'Connell would love to show his former quarterback that he's doing just fine without him.

O'Connell, though, was very diplomatic when he addressed facing Cousins in front of the media this week.

"It's going to be a challenge," O'Connell said of defending Cousins, via CBS Sports' Anthony Bettin. "He's going to be very accurate. He's going to throw with great timing and rhythm. He's going to get the ball out and when he does, it's going to be going to the right guy.

"We gotta be 'all 11' mentality every single snap because he can easily put together the type of performance where he can have you scrambling on defense from a coverage standpoint.

O'Connell has seen that first hand several times. During his first season as Vikings head coach in 2022, Cousins orchestrated a league-leading 8 fourth-quarter comebacks and 8 game-winning drives.

One of those game-winning drives came in a contest when the Vikings trailed by 33 points at halftime. Behind 460 passing yards from Cousins, Minnesota scored 39 of the game's final 42 points to beat the Indianapolis Colts, 39-36.

That broke the record for the largest comeback in NFL history.

The Vikings home crowd at U.S. Bank Stadium was obviously rocking during that comeback. Cousins, though, expects a very different reception Sunday, as he returns as the road quarterback.

"They're great football fans, and I would think as a result, they'll make it as hostile as they can for us," Cousins told reporters.

Cousins left the Vikings this offseason to sign a 4-year, $180 million contract with the Atlanta Falcons. The parting can probably be described as mutual, but it was pretty plainly portrayed through the media early in the offseason that the Vikings didn't have strong intentions of bringing back Cousins at 36 years old after he torn an Achilles tendon in 2023.

In six seasons with the Vikings, Cousins posted a 50-37-1 record. He won the only postseason game of his career with Minnesota following the 2019 season.

Cousins is 10-10, including 6-6 this season, as an NFL starter since he led the Vikings to a 13-4 mark in 2022.

This year, O'Connell is 10-2 with Sam Darnold as his new starting quarterback.