The Washington Commanders will face their toughest test of the season against the Minnesota Vikings on Sunday. The game’s been put on the backburner after Dan Snyder hired a bank this week to explore potentially selling the team, but the Kirk Cousins factor has done a lot to remind fans how gargantuan it is.
Sunday marks Cousins’ first return to FedEx Field since he signed a full-guaranteed three-year, $84 million contract with Minnesota during the 2018 offseason. Cousins’ rise to quasi-stardom in Washington wasn’t rewarded with a contract extension, though then-president Bruce Allen said he attempted to sign Cousins.
The former third-round pick played 2016 and 2017 on the franchise tag, and Washington has been unable to replicate his stability at QB in the five years since, cycling through an impossible 11 different starters during that span.
With Cousins returning to his old stomping grounds this weekend, let’s revisit some of his top performances with the burgundy and gold.
Ranking Kirk Cousins’ top 3 performances with Commanders
3. Cousins pummels the Packers in primetime
If you’ve followed Cousins since he left Washington, you probably know his struggles in primetime have persisted. The Vikings’ lone loss this season came on the road in Philadelphia on Monday Night Football. Cousins tossed three INTs in the 24-7 loss, giving him a 10-18 career record in primetime fixtures.
Fans in Washington remember this all too well, as Cousins began his career 0-9 in starts on Monday Night Football. Since 2015, Cousins’ first full season as the starter in Washington, his 16 primetime losses are the most among QBs.
Of all the primetime slates, Cousins has fared the best on Sunday Night Football, and Week 10 against the Packers in 2016 was no exception. In a result that stunned the country, Washington thumped Green Bay 42-24 as Cousins out-dueled Aaron Rodgers with 375 yards and three touchdowns, and he only needed 20 completions to do it.
Statistically speaking, this is right up there with the best performances of Cousins’ career, but it didn’t quite live up to these next two games.
2. Clinching NFC East against a rival
We couldn’t not include the game Cousins recalled as one of his favorite moments from his Commanders tenure. There aren’t many things better than clinching a division title — Washington accomplished that once during the Cousins era — but doing it against the hated Eagles made it so much more memorable.
In the game, Cousins went 31-of-46 for 365 yards and four touchdowns (120.3 passer rating) in a 38-24 victory. Washington needed Cousins to go scorched earth in this game, too, as the Eagles bottled up Alfred Morris to the tune of 49 yards on 2.9. yards per carry.
Like so many big games during Cousins’ time in Washington, Jordan Reed was the quarterback’s go-to target, finishing with nine catches for 129 yards and two scores. Pierre Garcon chipped in with 80 yards on seven catches.
Here’s Cousins describing why this game meant so much to him.
"“We came back from the game, pulled into the facility at 2 a.m., 3 a.m., the bus couldn’t move because it was just packed with fans. I’ll never forget that. The bus finally gets in the gate, drops us off at our cars and we’ve got to now go back out in our cars. My wife came to pick me up. So, I hop in the car with my wife, and she and I both will never forget that – trying to leave the practice facility and being unable to do it because people were just all over our cars, knocking on the window and it was just tremendous.”"
Anyone else having flashbacks after reading that quote?
1. “You like that!” game
You might be wondering what tops clinching a division title against the Eagles in Philadelphia. How about the signature moment of Cousins’ career? And it just so happened to come less than two months before that win over the Eagles.
Desperate for a victory against Buccaneers in Week 7, Washington was in danger of dropping to 2-4 after falling behind 24-0 in the second quarter. Over the final two-plus quarters, though, Cousins went on an absolute heater and delivered one of the finest quarterback performances in a burgundy and gold uniform.
Cousins led an inspired comeback, culminating in a touchdown pass to Reed (surprise, surprise) with under a minute left in the fourth quarter to complete the largest comeback in franchise history. Washington outscored Tampa Bay 31-6 after falling behind 24-0 to win 31-6, as Cousins went 33-of-40 (!) for 317 yards and three scores to zero interceptions.
Jogging to Washington’s locker room moments after the win, Cousins was captured screaming “You like that!”, and that phrase — for better or worse — has followed Cousins throughout his career in the seven years since.
Not hyperbole to say this win saved Washington’s season, as they went on to win six of their remaining nine games to secure the NFC East crown.
Let’s hope we get primetime Cousins Sunday at FedEx Field.