Kirk Cousins and the Minnesota Vikings were eliminated from the NFL playoffs after a 31-24 upset loss to the New York Giants, prematurely ending the season for one of the best regular season teams in the NFC.
The game ended with a short pass by Cousins that, while completed, was far from the line of scrimmage and did not result in a new set of downs. With the game on the line, the quarterback made the worst possible decision and ended the game despite completing the pass.
Cousins played a fine game overall but failed to step up when his team needed him the most. The Vikings had three minutes left on the clock, down seven, and they needed their quarterback to deliver in the most important drive of the season. But he did not do that.
As such, fans and analysts went hard on Cousins for his poor decision-making on the final drive.
If you pay a lot of money to your quarterback and he fails to perform in the most important play of the season, then the money spent is a waste. Since the Vikings signed him to a fully guaranteed $84 million contract back in 2018, he’s led the team to a single playoff win, which came in 2019.
That’s not good enough.
After eliminating Kirk Cousins and the Vikings, who will the Giants play next?
New York advanced to the divisional round and are set to play their divisional rival for the third time as they travel to Philadelphia to take on the Eagles at Lincoln Financial Field.
Since the Giants are the lowest remaining seed in the NFC, they automatically have to play the highest remaining seed in the divisional round. This means they’re up against the Eagles, who are No. 1 and had a bye week in the Wild Card round.
Daniel Jones and his team won’t be the favorites, but they have already created an upset during the playoffs and are one of the most disciplined and effective teams in the league. New York’s playing with house money from now on, and they have every reason to believe that they can create havoc once again.
