4 must-watch games on the Commanders 2022 schedule

3. Week 9 vs Vikings

A week 9 date against an NFC North team wouldn’t normally fall under the must-watch designation, but it’ll mark Kirk Cousins’ first return to FedEx Field since he departed for Minnesota during the 2018 offseason. That almost seems impossible, but the Commanders and Vikings have only played once since Cousins left the nation’s capital and it came at US Bank Stadium in Minneapolis.

Despite leaving four years ago, Cousins won’t soon be forgotten in Washington, as he’s famously remembered for being drafted the same year as Robert Griffin III, eventually supplanting the former No. 2 overall pick, and signing two pricey franchise tags after extension negotiations fell by the wayside.

Widely regarded as the team’s best QB of the 2000s, Cousins started three full seasons under center for Washington, finishing with a 26-30-1 record while leading the team to the playoffs in his first year as the starter in 2015. He led the league in completion percentage that year with a sublime 69.8% mark.

In 57 starts, Cousins completed 65.5% of his passes for 261.4 yards and 99 touchdowns to 55 interceptions. He led eight fourth-quarter comebacks, 12 game-winning drives and finished with an impressive 93.7 passer rating.

Will Cousins be greeted with boos? Will Washington’s former quarterback unleash another “You like that?!” postgame? Stay tuned.