Vikings-Lions Final Thoughts Week 13

Will Cousins have usual Motor City success? | By*@LindseyMNSports*

Historically, Vikings quarterback Kirk Cousins has had tremendous success against the Lions – and especially at their home field in Detroit.

Cousins is 7-1 all-time against the Lions, the only loss being during his time with the Washington Football Team. As Minnesota’s QB, Cousins’ lowest passer rating in Detroit was 127.6 in the 2020 regular-season finale. His other two visits to the Motor City? He logged passer ratings of 137.9 and 141.5. In three road games against the Lions since joining the Vikings, Cousins has thrown 10 touchdowns and no interceptions while averaging 332 passing yards per game at Ford Field.

Will Cousins have a similar outing in Detroit on Sunday? If so, it would be a welcome “bounce-back” after a contest at San Francisco that saw a few errant throws.

“On the 2-point conversion I may have rushed it, just short-armed it, and wasn’t on rhythm. Disappointing. A poor throw by me,” Cousins explained to media members earlier this week. “The fourth down throw to Justin [Jefferson] in the back of the end zone, the ball was just too high as I was falling away. I need to drive the ball more than to try to put it up high when I’m falling away, that’s only going to cause the ball to go even higher. The last route of the game, the in-cut, the ball was up and high, and I felt like again I needed to drive it a little more, put it on him instead of trying to touch it in there, and should have just driven it with a little more conviction. Those were three [throws] that come to mind. There were a couple others where you’d love to have six inches here or there. You have to learn from them and be that much sharper this week.”

Cousins completed 25 of 34 passes for 275 yards with a touchdown and interception (passer rating of 94.6) earlier this season against the new Detroit regime and knows the division rival cannot be counted out.

“When you watch Detroit, you see what we’ve talked about with the parity in the league – and while their record isn’t certainly where they want it to be, they’re in every game, they’re playing down to the final play, the last drive, and we’ve certainly lived that, too,” Cousins said. “Having played them already once [this season], I have a lot of respect for their defense, how hard they play, the players they have, how smart they are, the way their coaches handle their scheme. I see it as a great challenge for us, especially going on the road, and we’ve got to get this bad taste out of our mouth from this San Francisco game.”