New Vikings quarterback Kirk Cousins had 84 million reasons, and more, for choosing to continue his career in Minnesota. While the weather probably wasn’t one of them, avoiding the weather was.
Appearing on Friday’s PFT Live, Cousins was asked about the impact of playing in an enclosed stadium on his decision.
“That point that you’re making is one of the many on a long list of reasons why Minnesota made a lot of sense,” Cousins said. “I do think the statistics show that it’s favorable to play indoors consistently. I do see it as a competitive advantage not only as a quarterback throwing the football but when your defense is able to use that noise to their advantage and trap the sound and hopefully make it tough on an opposing offense. I do see a major home-field advantage at U.S. Bank Stadium. I think the stats show that. I look forward to being a part of that. One of the many positives of being a Viking.”
With the Lions in the NFC North, Cousins will have at least nine indoor games per year. Playing outdoors at FedEx Field for the first six years of his career (with half of them as the full-time starter), Cousins rarely played inside. Last year in New Orleans, he completed 68.8 percent of this throws, averaged 10.1 yards per attempt, threw three touchdown passes and no interceptions, and racked up a passer rating of 132.6 in a game against the Saints.
The Saints won the game. But winning and losing hinges on plenty of factors beyond quarterback play. Adding Cousins to a team that already has plenty of talent and that plays its home games indoors could be the thing that pushes the franchise back to the heights it enjoyed in the 1970s, with three Super Bowl appearances in four years.
And maybe this time at least one Super Bowl win.