In short, Darnold is playing to win, Kirk is playing not to lose. You see if Kirk really plays to win, he can. All of those late game comebacks, late game drives to take the game is indicative of this. He has the talent and skill but not the mentality to start off aggressive and aim to win with big and more risky plays.
Kirk has always and always will play to level of the competition. Whether it's a good team or bad team doesn't matter. Nine out of ten times it will be a close game, or he gets his ass kicked. We haven't had a blowout in Kirks time here.
Sam Darnold has a decisiveness about him. Prone to make a few mistakes.. a little gunslinger in him but willing to be coached and leaves it all out on the field. Kirk, 100% safe- non mobile, processes differently not willing to take a chance unless pushed to. He reminds me of someone who cares more about his stats that winning.
My argument is that KOC (& Jets) made Kirk, more than Kirk's ascension was due to his own intrinsic improvement. Most folks acknowledged Sam's arm talent but criticised is decision making, ball security, propensity to panic and accuracy. I have argued that at Carolina there were signs of improvement in all of those things, except completion rate, and especially in his second stint under interim HC Steve Wilks. He threw some great passes there, but other than DJ Moore, he didn't have WRs that could catch, or get open. Then I found this stat in Pro Football Reference - passing accuracy - passing attempts less - bats, throwaways, drops, spikes - then divided into bad throws and throws on target. Sam's completion rate hovered around 60%, but his throws on target were improving from year to year - 72%, 74.5% and 77.1% in 2022. Kirk's throws on target ranged between 76-82%, and was 76.5% when he went 13-4 in 2022. So I concluded that Sam was plenty good enough to operate the Vikes offence efficiently. I hypothesized that the difference between Kirk's accuracy and his higher completion rate was probably due to better WRs, and the game plan putting them in better positions, i.e. KOC and Jets. Sam's completion rate in week 1 was very high at 80% and is still much higher than any other time in his career at 72%, but critically through two games his throws on target is currently 83.3% - higher than Cousins has ever achieved. So, most folks are waiting for the wheels to fall off, but Sam has now been playing at this level for over 2 years. No QB looks good under extreme pressure - look at Purdy on Sunday - so we'll no doubt see an off game here or there, but I doubt we see a house of cards. The really exciting bit, is that Sam is vastly superior to Kirk in every other facet - rushing, escaping the pocket, avoiding sacks in the pocket and even on QB sneaks. So he brings everything that we felt Kirk was lacking. If we assume Sam plays at this level throughout the season wouldn't this make the Vikes a legit SB contender? Especially with the Flores hellfire defence being top 5-10? I'm predicting a 2 or 3 score win over the Texans this week, and solid wins over the Packers and Jets to follow. If I'm right, most folks should be waking up to the possibility after week 5, when many expected the Vikes to be 1-4. Any remaining doubters should be convinced by a week 7 win over the overhyped Lions. Skol!
The difference for me is now with Sam Darnold I have a feeling of "the Vikings will win this game" whereas with Kirk Cousins, it was "I hope that the Vikings pull off a win today".
& to be clear, cousins would have had a world beater team & there would still be fumbles & stupid turnovers plus him limping not being able to sense let alone avoid & escape pressure... Coming from someone who used to apologize untill year 2 of KOC
@@hwnfrd it was difficult but to be fair, I strangely thought this would happen, the minute he beats San Fran & starts balling out offense starting to budge the needle gets his first ever season ender🤓 I said to myself yeah, if he does not take a sweetheart deal for a drafted bridge QB he's gone & it was the obvious choice
The difference to me is Kirk is a good passer but he didn't like to take risks. He could as he did in Buffalo but he usually didn't. Sam to me is a better passer (stronger arm) and takes risks. He can run and get 3rd downs, Kirk struggled with that. Kirk was too cerebral which is good to a point but held him back also.
I think much of KOC's issues with play calling and clock management were caused from having Mattison at RB1 , run plays take lesstime but if you are not a great runner you are tackled inbounds. Time is ticking, a dropped pass, the clock stops , even successful plays take more time to develope but if we were short we would run again. Running better now.
About a 15 million dollar difference this year for starters. 90 million dollar difference overall, assuming that the Falcons ditch Cousins for Penix after the '25 season.
Flores coming back as the DC is going to pay dividends because he knows most of those players and are able to get in sync with his scheme which was starting to work later in the year last season. Unfortunately, we had those QB issues, and we were unable to get any consistent play from the offense and the defense was overloaded.
One thing i will have to say in Kirks defense is he had Mattison at RB1 and he did not have good vision for lanes and just ran into the defenders. It makes a really big difference.
I get what you are sayin but even Mahomes tries to do too much (makes bonehead plays) sometimes. In I think 2022 he had to learn to hold back some but you can live with it because he makes so much magic. I think there's a ratio there that you can live with and actually starts to win you more games. I think Darnold is riding that line it may cost us some games but it will also win other hopefully more of the latter.
Everything considered, the real difference between Kirk Cousins and Sam Darnold is the defense. When Kirk was here the defense was horrible. Bottom five horrible. Every single year. Cousins had to be perfect. If Kirk threw one interception, at ANY point in the game, it was game over. Cousins literally had to throw for three touchdowns and 300 yards per game to give them a chance to win. It was a sorry sight. This year, their defense finally has it together. Six sacks, three forced fumbles and one interception vs SF. That’s complementary football and that’s what Kirk Cousins never had here. Letting Cousins walk was a mistake. Cousins with this Defense makes Minnesota a superbowl contender. They are not a Super Bowl contender with Sam Darnold.
When a players contract eats up over half of the teams salary cap due to the contracts guarantees, the overall onfield product will eventually start to suffer. I think Kirk is a very good QB, but the Vikings couldn't afford to get stuck with another fully guaranteed cap unfriendly contract like Cousins now has in Atlanta. They had to break that cycle.
Kirk Cousins is a starter, Darnold is a backup. Cousins is a 4 time pro bowler, Darnold is a 0 time pro bowler. Cousins has won playoff games, Darnold has been nowhere near the playoffs. I can go on forever. If the Vikings had Cousins this season they’d be superbowl contenders. Don’t try to gaslight the fan base into believing it’s some type of even trade. Couldn’t be further from the truth. The only advantage you have with Darnold is that you don’t have to pay him anything, and that’s because he’s never played well enough to get paid.
In short, Darnold is playing to win, Kirk is playing not to lose. You see if Kirk really plays to win, he can. All of those late game comebacks, late game drives to take the game is indicative of this. He has the talent and skill but not the mentality to start off aggressive and aim to win with big and more risky plays.
Lol, the "PREVENT DEFENSE" makes any quarterback look sensational.
Kirk has always and always will play to level of the competition. Whether it's a good team or bad team doesn't matter. Nine out of ten times it will be a close game, or he gets his ass kicked. We haven't had a blowout in Kirks time here.
He just couldn't move. If he turned to escape it would look like a take down on the Serengeti. A pass rush could work to an area and comverge.
Sam Darnold has a decisiveness about him. Prone to make a few mistakes.. a little gunslinger in him but willing to be coached and leaves it all out on the field. Kirk, 100% safe- non mobile, processes differently not willing to take a chance unless pushed to. He reminds me of someone who cares more about his stats that winning.
He'll be in the groove by week 6
My argument is that KOC (& Jets) made Kirk, more than Kirk's ascension was due to his own intrinsic improvement.
Most folks acknowledged Sam's arm talent but criticised is decision making, ball security, propensity to panic and accuracy. I have argued that at Carolina there were signs of improvement in all of those things, except completion rate, and especially in his second stint under interim HC Steve Wilks. He threw some great passes there, but other than DJ Moore, he didn't have WRs that could catch, or get open.
Then I found this stat in Pro Football Reference - passing accuracy - passing attempts less - bats, throwaways, drops, spikes - then divided into bad throws and throws on target.
Sam's completion rate hovered around 60%, but his throws on target were improving from year to year - 72%, 74.5% and 77.1% in 2022. Kirk's throws on target ranged between 76-82%, and was 76.5% when he went 13-4 in 2022. So I concluded that Sam was plenty good enough to operate the Vikes offence efficiently.
I hypothesized that the difference between Kirk's accuracy and his higher completion rate was probably due to better WRs, and the game plan putting them in better positions, i.e. KOC and Jets.
Sam's completion rate in week 1 was very high at 80% and is still much higher than any other time in his career at 72%, but critically through two games his throws on target is currently 83.3% - higher than Cousins has ever achieved.
So, most folks are waiting for the wheels to fall off, but Sam has now been playing at this level for over 2 years. No QB looks good under extreme pressure - look at Purdy on Sunday - so we'll no doubt see an off game here or there, but I doubt we see a house of cards.
The really exciting bit, is that Sam is vastly superior to Kirk in every other facet - rushing, escaping the pocket, avoiding sacks in the pocket and even on QB sneaks. So he brings everything that we felt Kirk was lacking.
If we assume Sam plays at this level throughout the season wouldn't this make the Vikes a legit SB contender? Especially with the Flores hellfire defence being top 5-10?
I'm predicting a 2 or 3 score win over the Texans this week, and solid wins over the Packers and Jets to follow. If I'm right, most folks should be waking up to the possibility after week 5, when many expected the Vikes to be 1-4. Any remaining doubters should be convinced by a week 7 win over the overhyped Lions.
Skol!
Very well said.
The difference for me is now with Sam Darnold I have a feeling of "the Vikings will win this game" whereas with Kirk Cousins, it was "I hope that the Vikings pull off a win today".
& to be clear, cousins would have had a world beater team & there would still be fumbles & stupid turnovers plus him limping not being able to sense let alone avoid & escape pressure... Coming from someone who used to apologize untill year 2 of KOC
@@000JonnyBoothworthy Hey, you and I both were watching the same games and seeing the same things.😄
@@hwnfrd it was difficult but to be fair, I strangely thought this would happen, the minute he beats San Fran & starts balling out offense starting to budge the needle gets his first ever season ender🤓 I said to myself yeah, if he does not take a sweetheart deal for a drafted bridge QB he's gone & it was the obvious choice
Kirk was the master at getting 6 when ya needed 8, but hey, its a completion!
Exactly, and that's one way he builds up his "trash stats" .
Yeah, too short of screen plays when the door was full on closed.
Kirko is Atlanta’s quarterback, but Darnold is America’s quarterback.
The difference to me is Kirk is a good passer but he didn't like to take risks. He could as he did in Buffalo but he usually didn't. Sam to me is a better passer (stronger arm) and takes risks. He can run and get 3rd downs, Kirk struggled with that. Kirk was too cerebral which is good to a point but held him back also.
@@tomvan6008 didn't understand the context of acceptable turnovers
@@tomvan6008 ya, I bet he's a good chess player
@@000JonnyBoothworthy What is an acceptable turnover?
@@tomvan6008 any turnover that doesn't lead to a loss, obviously... Name one team in history that never ever turns the ball over
@@000JonnyBoothworthy I know that I was just questioning the first reply to me.
I think much of KOC's issues with play calling and clock management were caused from having Mattison at RB1 , run plays take lesstime but if you are not a great runner you are tackled inbounds. Time is ticking, a dropped pass, the clock stops , even successful plays take more time to develope but if we were short we would run again. Running better now.
Mobility
The biggest improvement.
About a 15 million dollar difference this year for starters. 90 million dollar difference overall, assuming that the Falcons ditch Cousins for Penix after the '25 season.
Flores coming back as the DC is going to pay dividends because he knows most of those players and are able to get in sync with his scheme which was starting to work later in the year last season. Unfortunately, we had those QB issues, and we were unable to get any consistent play from the offense and the defense was overloaded.
Darnold doesn't have bricks for feet is biggest difference.
One thing i will have to say in Kirks defense is he had Mattison at RB1 and he did not have good vision for lanes and just ran into the defenders. It makes a really big difference.
Darnol can still peak znd be a grezt quarterbsck coming from a pats fan
I get what you are sayin but even Mahomes tries to do too much (makes bonehead plays) sometimes. In I think 2022 he had to learn to hold back some but you can live with it because he makes so much magic. I think there's a ratio there that you can live with and actually starts to win you more games. I think Darnold is riding that line it may cost us some games but it will also win other hopefully more of the latter.
SKOL!!!
Show some film with explanations please!
Kirk usually starts out slow, so he is likely to bring a loss or a come from behind victory
Atlanta....my second favorite team. So glad you got Kirk!!!!!!!!
Everything considered, the real difference between Kirk Cousins and Sam Darnold is the defense. When Kirk was here the defense was horrible. Bottom five horrible. Every single year. Cousins had to be perfect. If Kirk threw one interception, at ANY point in the game, it was game over. Cousins literally had to throw for three touchdowns and 300 yards per game to give them a chance to win. It was a sorry sight. This year, their defense finally has it together. Six sacks, three forced fumbles and one interception vs SF. That’s complementary football and that’s what Kirk Cousins never had here. Letting Cousins walk was a mistake. Cousins with this Defense makes Minnesota a superbowl contender. They are not a Super Bowl contender with Sam Darnold.
When a players contract eats up over half of the teams salary cap due to the contracts guarantees, the overall onfield product will eventually start to suffer. I think Kirk is a very good QB, but the Vikings couldn't afford to get stuck with another fully guaranteed cap unfriendly contract like Cousins now has in Atlanta. They had to break that cycle.
Kirk Cousins is a starter, Darnold is a backup. Cousins is a 4 time pro bowler, Darnold is a 0 time pro bowler. Cousins has won playoff games, Darnold has been nowhere near the playoffs. I can go on forever. If the Vikings had Cousins this season they’d be superbowl contenders. Don’t try to gaslight the fan base into believing it’s some type of even trade. Couldn’t be further from the truth. The only advantage you have with Darnold is that you don’t have to pay him anything, and that’s because he’s never played well enough to get paid.
Ummm…. Darnold is a starter. Go ahead and look it up for yourself.
Dang you love you some Kirk Cousins, his .500 record pretty well defines him. Darnold has a better arm and better legs to start with.
"Cousins has won playoff games" ... Plural? Sure about that buddy?
@@mcb2757 Darnold went to the Super Bowl last year…
Tell me which $35m worth of players you could take off this team and still be contenders