The Minnesota Vikings are undefeated with Kirk Cousins at quarterback... in 2026, at least.
Cousins' arrival, at the cost of a 2027 third-round draft pick, provided the sutures needed to stop the bleeding of a two-game losing streak. Kyler Murray, signed in the offseason, was sidelined by a hamstring injury and frustratingly ineffective when healthy. Carson Wentz, dubbed the team's backup over J.J. McCarthy, vacated any optimism from his early season appearances by playing one of the worst games of the decade, in primetime, against the Buffalo Bills.
Those performances put a sturdy, well-built ceiling over a team whose defense gave it an inpenetrable high floor. Murray and Wentz won games, but those were a function of coordinator Brian Flores'
unit behind them. The Vikings converted only one-third of their third down attempts in Weeks 1-9 -- third-worst in the NFL.
Imagine the fresh air breathed across the North Star State when Cousins led a first quarter scoring drive... and found the end zone on third and really, really long.
.@myles_price3 bounces off and breaks free for 6!
— Minnesota Vikings (@Vikings) November 15, 2026
📺: @NFLonFOX pic.twitter.com/XMtW3uG9E6
In two quarters, Cousins had completed more deep balls than the Vikings had had their previous three games combined. After a conservatively called three-and-out to start the game, Minnesota opened up its playbook. Head coach Kevin O'Connor used those quick-hit short passes to create space downfield and take pressure off his veteran quarterback's shoulders against a strong pass rush.
Cousins began his new chapter in purple and gold by elevating the lesser-known pieces of the Minnesota offense. Myles Price scored his first NFL touchdown to kick things off. Tai Felton, Ben Yurosek and Gavin Bartholomew had important catches early on. But in need of a response to cut off a potential Green Bay comeback, he leaned on Justin Jefferson (13 targets, nine catches, 74 yards) like the two hadn't spent the past 3.5 seasons on different rosters.
And when the Packers got sucked in by Jefferson and a playbook caked with wideout screens, Cousins played them like a youth pastor's guitar.
Gavin Bartholomew's first NFL TD makes it a three-score game!
— NFL (@NFL) November 15, 2026
MINvsGB on FOX/FOX One
Stream on @NFLPlus pic.twitter.com/LlozbGAGyJ
The result? Minnesota's first game with more than 23 points since Week 1... which, coincidentally, also came in a win over the Packers.
Cousins' arrival affects more than the Vikings offense
Cousins presence can energize that defense. Not just because of his leadership, but because of the perks a competent quarterback brings. Early leads mean more obvious passing downs, where Flores damns the torpedoes and throws blitzers at you until you die. It also means more room to breathe for the team's running backs and the chance to sustain long drives that allow that defense more recovery time of the sideline.
The Vikings' 29:45 average time of possession per game is right about at the league average, but we saw how bad things can get last week. That's when Wentz's offense held the ball for fewer than 18 minutes, creating the gaps necessary for Josh Allen and the Bills to lock down a win. In Cousins' re-debut, Minnesota held the ball for more than 35 minutes.
That's important when you're asking members of your back seven to fluster quarterbacks with pre-snap stunts and attack the pocket with reckless abandon. That unit beat the brakes off Green Bay's injury plagued offensive line. A defense that already played like a hornet's nest dropped through the sun roof of a locked sedan now played like those bees had been given a healthy supply of Red Bull.
The results translated in real time. Here's a sack that takes three points off the board for the Pack.
Dallas Turner beats Jordan Morgan so hard Jordan Love gets sacked by his own left tackle. Packers miss the subsequent field goal. -3 point play here
— Christian D'Andrea (@trainisland.bsky.social) 2026-11-15T18:22:06.234Z
Minnesota had a 72.5 percent blitz rate and a 10.6 percent sack rate through the first half of the season, both best in the NFL. Now that unit has more leverage to bombard opposing quarterbacks, knowing they suddenly have the juice to win games when an opponent puts up 20-plus points.
It's not all roses in Minnesota (but it still smells great)
Issues remain. Cousins is 38 years old. While he's still willing to put his body on the line and run for first downs, he is, to borrow a football term, pretty dang slow. The Packers have fielded a solid pass rush even without Micah Parsons and got to him with regularity. And, despite being a longtime veteran, he's still prone to gunslinging rookie behavior.
he got bailed out because his knee was down but Kirk Cousins... why?
— Christian D'Andrea (@trainisland.bsky.social) 2026-11-15T19:04:49.269Z
Or...
6th INTERCEPTION FOR XAVIER McKINNEY!
— Green Bay Packers (@packers) November 15, 2026
📺: FOX pic.twitter.com/WJ31qNmgQE
That's the other edge of a sword with a quarterback who has been given the green light to do whatever he needs to invigorate new life into his offense. Sometimes you'll covert third-and-23 and third-and-15. Sometimes you'll throw a pass into double coverage that can only be caught by the safety arriving over the top.
That wasn't an issue Sunday. The Vikings beat Green Bay so handily fans at Lambeau Field were treated to a Tyrod Taylor appearance with five minutes to play in the fourth quarter. Minnesota's losing streak stopped at two. Now the Vikings are 7-2 and look like a real problem -- at least until the postseason, where Cousins only has a single playoff win on his 15-year resume.
This article originally appeared on For The Win: Kirk Cousins showed he can funnel the Vikings' chaos into contention vs. Packers
