The Minnesota Vikings upset the New Orleans Saints on the road over the weekend, and both Mike Zimmer and Kirk Cousins had something to do with it.
The Vikings quieted the rowdy Bayou fans in the Superdome in the NFC Wild Card Game. They snuck away with a 26-20 victory against the Saints, proving the “Minneapolis Miracle” from two years ago was not a fluke against the same team they defeated to move to the conference championship game in January of 2018.
Kirk Cousins wasn't around in the Twin Cities for that moment, but he created his own memories on Sunday when the veteran quarterback, who signed a three-year, $84 million contract with the franchise in 2018, delivered a game-winning drive and then a goal line pass to tight end Kyle Rudolph.
Head coach Mike Zimmer aired support for Kirk Cousins on Monday.
“It was just about him solidifying himself with all of the bad rhetoric that he gets all the time about this or that,” Zimmer said, via a tweet from the team's official page. “I just felt like it was time to tell a lot of people he’s our guy and he did it.”
Kirk Cousins completed 19 of 31 passes for 242 yards and a touchdown in Sunday's NFC Wild Card Game win in New Orleans. He threw a strike down the middle to wide receiver Adam Thielen for a 43-yard gain that put the Vikings on the Saints' two-yard line in the opening drive of overtime, leading to Rudolph's heroics in snagging a pass in the corner of the end zone a couple plays later to win the ballgame.
Kirk Cousins answered the critics, and Mike Zimmer wanted to magnify the moment for his quarterback, who has endured many slings and arrows this season.
Kirk Cousins was highly doubted earlier in the 2019 regular season, but solid showings in the second half and a great game under center in the wild card has turned the tide of his tenure in Minnesota.
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