Kirk Cousins: 47.48
Does it still qualify as surprising if it happens two weeks in a row? Not always, but in Kirk Cousins’ case, I think I’ll allow it. The much-maligned starting quarterback for the Minnesota Vikings quarterback followed up a solid Week 5 performance with an outstanding Week 6. Once again, he looks to prove his many doubters wrong, and provide some hope for the people who still believe in him.
Cousins’ conventional statistics were spectacular, throwing for 333 yards and four touchdowns, with just one interception (the result of a dropped pass). Cousins backed up those statistics with the week’s highest quarterback OSM grade so far at 47.48, easily his highest grade of the year. He performed well in just about every metric involved in the OSM grading system. His completion percentage of 75.9%, was 14.5% higher than expected, the highest differential of Week 6. Cousins achieved this despite averaging 12.9 air yards across his 29 pass attempts, and 9.8 yards on completions. In both areas, he ranks highest among quarterbacks this week. So, Cousins had a higher than expected completion percentage, while throwing the ball further downfield than any other quarterback. It was impressive to see.
The implication of these statistics is that, not only did Cousins put up big numbers on Sunday, he was the biggest factor involved in his own success, which probably comes as a surprise to his numerous detractors. Last week, I wrote that if Cousins maintained his level of play, the Vikings would put themselves back in the playoff race. Well, if he can keep playing as well as he did in Week 6, Minnesota becomes a legitimate threat to make the Super Bowl. I don’t necessarily think that will happen. After all, Philadelphia’s secondary has been decimated by injuries. Still, Vikings fans have to be encouraged.