StaTuesday: It’s time to consider Vikings’ Cousins an NFL MVP candidate

Kirk Cousins has been the best quarterback in the NFL since the beginning of October.

That’s right.

The Minnesota Vikings’ signal-caller is coming off what head coach Mike Zimmer called Cousins’ best game he’s played since signing with Minnesota, a come-from-behind 27-23 win over Denver.

Minnesota came out flat and trailed 20-0 at halftime. The past five seasons, 99 other teams had faced a deficit of 20+ points at the break, and all lost.

But not Cousins and the Vikings. Cousins conducted four straight scoring drives, throwing for 261 yards and three touchdowns on 18-of-23 passing in the second half alone, good for a 153.5 passer rating. He finished the afternoon with 319 yards, three touchdowns and no interceptions on 29-of-35 passing.

In classic Cousins fashion, he celebrated the win -- a win before the bye week, by the way -- with a nice dinner at the chain restaurant Outback Steakhouse.

Right on brand.

“Some people call it boring,” Cousins said of his calm mindset on the field (which also could refer to his dinner plans). “I call it being smart, being the CEO, and just staying the course.”

Since Minnesota’s 28-10 victory over the New York Giants on Oct. 6 -- a win that launched the Vikings’ current 6-1 stretch into the bye -- Cousins tops all quarterbacks in touchdowns (18), passer rating (126.5) and passes of 50+ yards (4) and ranks second in yards (2,021) as well as passes over 20 yards (31) and yards per attempt (9.1).

Cousins has tossed 177 passes without an interception, the longest active streak in the NFL.

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Cousins also heard praise from leading receiver Stefon Diggs, who just a couple of months ago reportedly demanded a trade from the team. He’s happy now, as Cousins is averaging 13.5 yards per attempt when targeting Diggs, which leads the NFL.



“He is playing lights out and doing a great job,” Diggs said. “(The media) needs to give him more credit. You are hard on him when he isn’t playing well and he’s doing everything that he can. Right now, he helped us get back in it to win the game and I want you guys to give him a pat on the back.

While Zimmer, Diggs and the rest of the Vikings organization is fully on board, the NFL as an entirety is not.

According to Odds Shark, there are 10 other players that have better odds of winning MVP than Cousins: Lamar Jackson, Russell Wilson, Aaron Rodgers, Patrick Mahomes, Dak Prescott, Deshaun Watson, Christian McCaffrey, Jimmy Garoppolo, Tom Brady and teammate Dalvin Cook.

Ridiculous.

On the season, Cousins leads the league in passes over 50 yards, ranks second in touchdowns and passer rating and comes in at fifth in yards. He ranks ahead of Rodgers and Watson in just about every category.

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If the season ended this week, would Cousins be named MVP? No. But his play this season -- especially in the last seven weeks -- should be respected.