MAN OF THE PURPLE Cousins moves to the Vikings in a division that’s loaded with talent at his position
The Minnesota Vikings had their heart broken by Philadelphia last season, losing to the Eagles in the NFC championship game and falling one win short of their first Super Bowl since the 1977 season.
A lot more went into the Vikings signing Kirk Cousins to a mega-deal this offseason, a quarterback who has had significant success against Philadelphia, but it’s worth noting that the Vikings also acquired a coach who was instrumental in grooming Eagles star quarterback Carson Wentz.
Hours after the Eagles had their Super Bowl victory parade, the Vikings hired their quarterbacks coach, John DeFilippo, to replace Pat Shurmur as offensive coordinator. Shurmur had been announced as head coach of the New York Giants.
It was DeFilippo who helped mold Wentz into the leading most-valuable-player candidate until the second-year quarterback suffered a season-ending knee injury last December. Nick Foles then took over as the starter and helped the Eagles to their first Super Bowl victory.
“Coach Flip, he’s a grinder,” Foles said at the time the Vikings hired him. “Barely sleeps. Fundamentals, giving us the game plan, giving us all our checks, extremely detailed. I’m grateful for him. He’s done an amazing job this year. It’s not easy when your franchise quarterback goes down.”
Five weeks later, the Vikings signed Cousins to an $84-million deal, handing the keys of the offense to him and parting ways with last season’s three quarterbacks, who signed with other teams: Case Keenum (Denver), Teddy Bridgewater (New York Jets), and Sam Bradford (Arizona).
Cousins, coming off three consecutive 4,000-yard passing seasons in Washington, is joining a team that’s strong on both sides of the ball and has a host of offensive threats, including receivers Stefon Diggs and Adam Thielen, tight end Kyle Rudolph, and running backs Latavius Murray and Dalvin Cook.
He’s joining a division that includes two of the NFL’s most prolific passers in Green Bay’s Aaron Rodgers and Detroit’s Matthew Stafford, and a promising young leader in Chicago’s Mitchell Trubisky, who started last season as a backup to Mike Glennon.
Incidentally, although some of Cousins’ career numbers are gaudy against Philadelphia (16 touchdowns, five interceptions, 99.7 passer rating), his overall record as a starter is a ho-hum 26-30-1, counting 0-1 in the playoffs.
“Is there pressure to play in this league? Yes,” Cousins told reporters recently. “There always has been. I felt a great deal of pressure as a rookie just fighting to make the team and wonder if I even was going to have a career as a professional. There’s pressure for every guy who’s out there.
“It’s a competitive league, small margin of error. And you’ve got to recognize the pressure for what it is, then put it on the shelf and go to work and not let it get in your way.”
In Chicago, Trubisky begins his second season with a new regime in place. The No. 2 pick had 12 starts as a rookie, with seven touchdowns and seven interceptions. He showed some encouraging flashes.
Former Kansas City offensive coordinator Matt Nagy takes over as Bears coach, and has implemented a West Coast system similar to the one he learned in Philadelphia in 2008 as an intern under then-coach Andy Reid.
Rodgers, a two-time NFL MVP, was knocked out of last season in Week 6 when he suffered a broken collarbone at Minnesota. He’s back now, as is former Packers offensive coordinator Joe Philbin.
A couple of significant changes to Green Bay’s offense: Jordy Nelson, Rodgers’ longtime favorite receiver, is now playing for Oakland, and five-time Pro Bowl tight end Jimmy Graham is with the Packers.
There have been significant changes in Detroit too, with former New England defensive coordinator Matt Patricia taking over as coach. But he kept the team’s offensive coordinator, Jim Bob Cooter, who helped breathe life into the offense since taking over play-calling duties midway through the 2015 season.
The reliable (and durable) Stafford is back for his 10th season, riding a streak of 112 starts, thirdlongest among active quarterbacks.