Kirk Cousins Gets Best of Mike Zimmer in Battle of Former Vikings

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Kirk Cousins
Credit: Brett Davis-Imagn Images

The Minnesota Vikings were originally scheduled to play in the early window of games on Sunday. Instead, the NFL flexed them to Sunday Night Football against the Indianapolis Colts. That meant fans could tune into a battle of former coach and quarterback, during noon slate of games. Kirk Cousins vs Mike Zimmer, part one.

Kirk Cousins makes it look easy against former Minnesota Vikings head coach

Mike Zimmer spent eight years coaching the Minnesota Vikings. For the last four of them it was Kirk Cousins entrenched as his quarterback. The pair had plenty of moments together. Both highs and lows were experienced.

On Sunday they were adversaries for the first time in their career and the expensive quarterback got the best of the defensive coordinator. The Dallas Cowboys have been riding the struggle bus for much of the season. That’s not great news for head coach Mike McCarthy, and Zimmer’s defense hasn’t been good either.

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After going scorched earth on his former employer, he may be looking for a new job with few prospects. Atlanta quarterback Kirk Cousins, dispatched the Dallas defense with relative ease. The score was just 27-21, but this one never felt that close.

Atlanta led 21-10 in the third quarter, and 27-13 in the 4th quarter. On 24 pass attempts, Cousins had just five incompletions. He threw for three touchdowns and put up 222 yards through the air. His 144.8 quarterback rating was not far off from a perfect 158.3 mark.

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After an ugly first game of the season, Cousins has thrown for at least 200 yards in every other contest. He has three touchdowns in three of his last five games, including a 500 yard outburst against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Zimmer’s defense recorded just a pair of sacks on the afternoon, but they did recover a Cousins fumble.

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Both Cousins and Zimmer could be looking for a new team next year, but only one of them will struggle to find a landing spot. As was the case Sunday, Cousins has performed well while Zimmer has fallen flat.

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