49ERS, VIKINGS SEEK DISTANCE IN NFC RACE
SANTA CLARA >> Kyle Shanahan’s scouting report on the Minnesota Vikings came with an expected compliment for his onetime prodigy, Kirk Cousins.
“I know how good of a quarterback Kirk always is,” Shanahan said.
Always is?
Whatever shortcomings Cousins has shown in his 56-56-2 career as an NFL starter, he’s covering them up better than ever and flourishing for a Vikings team that visits the 49ers on Sunday.
It’s a matchup of 5-5, NFC contenders — and of the NFL’s two most efficient quarterbacks over the past month.
The 49ers’ Jimmy Garoppolo boasts a 100-plus passer rating over each of the past four games to help spur a turnaround. He’s peppering the ball over the middle, doing so quickly, on target and in the clutch on third and fourth downs.
An obvious connection between the quarterbacks is their link to Shanahan, who was Washington’s offensive coordinator when Cousins broke into the NFL and won him over from 2012-13.
But both quarterbacks have their teams back into NFC playoff contention because of another similarity: they’re safeguarding the football.
“You understand when you hold the football, you hold much of the organization in your hands, so you want to take that seriously,” Cousins told Minnesota-area reporters Wednesday.
Cousins leads all NFL quarterbacks with a 21-to-2, touchdown-to-interception mark. He hasn’t had a pass intercepted in his past five games and 195 overall attempts. He’s winging it around the yard and he’s also nailing his intermediate targets.
“He’s making really good decisions with the ball, has a ton of playmakers out there helping him make those plays,” 49ers defensive coordinator DeMeco Ryans said. “Kirk is just one of the best at when it comes to delivering the ball, getting it out and making the correct read and going where the ball needs to go. If it’s not there, he is probably one of the best at getting it to his checkdown (receiver) and allowing them to get 4 or 5 yards there.”
Vikings coach Mike Zimmer gave Cousins his public blessing to not check down but keep airing it out, saying last week: “If he throws an interception, that’s life. But you keep going for the jugular.”
Cousins’ response: “I don’t want to throw picks even if the
coach gave me the green light too. I’m still pretty much playing the way I’ve always played.”
Always? There goes that word again (see: Shanahan intro).
Garoppolo has committed no turnovers in three victories since Halloween; he had an interception late in a Nov. 7 loss to Arizona for his only turnover in the past four games.
Garoppolo has never gone three consecutive starts without a turnover, something he’ll shoot for this game. Meanwhile, he’s working in the familiar shadow of a run-heavy attack. The 49ers racked up over 40 carries in each of their back-to-back routs of the Los Angeles Rams (3110) and the Jacksonville Jaguars (30-10).
Garoppolo and Cousins are forever intertwined, not so much for their matchups but rather their collision course in Shanahan’s 49ers infancy. Simply
put, Garoppolo’s December 2017 audition won him a job that Shanahan initially earmarked for Cousins’ free agency in 2018.
Since then, Cousins and Garoppolo have presided over playoff runs only once, and they met January 2020 at Levi’s Stadium. Cousins got sacked
six times and Garoppolo passed for only 131 yards as the run-oriented 49ers (47 carries, 186 yards) advanced with a 27-20 divisional playoff win.
Cousins said of he and Shanahan: “We haven’t worked together since 2013, so it has been a long time. Obviously you study
him since then and I’ve even gone watched my tape with him in 2012 and ’13 to try to learn. He’s a great coach and worth studying.
“I certainly have a lot of respect for him as a coach and how he’s led his team in San Francisco for a number of years.”