Kirk Cousins Has Identified the Problem, Just Needs to Fix It

Kirk Cousins is a sharper than your average van-driving Nickelback fan, so it's no surprise that he's picked up on the fact he isn't playing very good football right now. He was quite candid about the situation today.

Cousins completed 14 of 32 passes for 230 yards and a score in Sunday's loss to Green Bay. The Minnesota Vikings quarterback also threw two picks and fumbled twice. He was very much the lackluster, uneven signal-caller who oftentimes could not be trusted last year, his first disappointing campaign with the team after signing a rich contract.

By the numbers, Cousins wasn't all that bad in 2018. He completed 70 percent of his passes and had a 3-1 touchdown-interception ratio. The problem is that he looks like a top-tier player one week and a bottom-of-the-barrel one the next. Like Kit from Cold Pizza, he's nothing if not unpredictable.

Being a self-starter is a nice attribute for an NFL quarterback to have. It's admirable that Cousins knows he has to play better. But his backup is Sean Mannion, so things would have to get pretty, pretty bad for Mike Zimmer to pull that particular fire alarm.