NEW ORLEANS – Wearing a dark suit and wheeling a black suitcase, Vikings Quarterback Kirk Cousins strode across the field at the Superdome late Sunday afternoon. On the surface, the previous few hours seemed likely to rank among the most meaningful of his life.
In the wild-card round of the NFL playoffs, Cousins and the Vikings made the trip to one of the loudest stadiums in pro football, where most pundits expected them to lose by double digits, where oddsmakers had made them eight-point underdogs. Minnesota had taken a – point lead, lost it and gone to overtime. And they had triumphed,–
As Cousins walked across the same turf where he netted his first career playoff victory, it seemed fair to wonder if his baggage had lightened over the course of the afternoon. He had already fielded roughly a dozen inquiries as to his record in primetime and playoff games (7 -************************************ before Sunday), and each time, he had insisted there were no lingering hurt feelings and dismissed the idea that one win would validate his eight-year career.
But what if all the external emphasis on doubt had instead obscured what really mattered in Cousins’s story? What if what mattered was the team thatdidbelieve in him, that guaranteed all ($) ******************************************************** million of his three-year contract in , that cashed in its big bet on Sunday? (Obligatory disclaimer: yes, this was only one game; yes, the Vikings will again be underdogsnext week at San Francisco; yes, the top-seeded 70 ers could blow them out after Cousins throws a bunch of interceptions. None of that mattered against the Saints Sunday night.)
Cousins wouldn’t cop to that. He said he didn’t feel “believed in” during six tumultuous seasons in Washington, and he said that if he didn’t define himself the way his critics did, he couldn’t define himself by his answer to them, either. “Ultimately, you’ve gotta earn things,” he told SI. “I felt like we would be here. I felt like we had a chance. ”
The quarterback had stood before his teammates in the locker room, taken one of two game balls handed out by head coach Mike Zimmer and shouted the same three words he famously screamed after a Redskins’ victory in 2015: “You like that!” The moment seemed to say what Cousins wouldn’t, that he understood the magnitude of what had transpired on that field. But hours later, as he walked across the same turf, all he’d say was “It’s a phrase that’s followed me. Certainly after a big win, it’s something that comes to mind. ”
Cousins exited the Superdome, wheeled between barricades and found his family waiting for him outside the team bus — his father, Don; his brother, Kyle; his wife, Julie; and three friends. Tears welled in his dad’s eyes. His brother raised both arms skyward. Everybody hugged. This was the moment that showed what Sunday meant to Cousins.
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What a weekend: the (Texans ‘comeback, the Titans’ upset, theend of the Patriots’ seasonway earlier than normal, the Seahawks ‘takedown.
What a game: the Vikings, according to linebacker Eric Kendricks, wanted to pressure Brees and limit the Saints’ dynamic plays. They stifled shifty running back Alvin Kamara ( (total yards), limited (as much as anyone can) record-setting wideout Michael Thomas (seven catches, 70 yards) and forced brees into a fumble and an interception. Only Taysom Hill, who plays like 84 positions for New Orleans, hurt them. Hill almost beat them on his own.
The Vikings turned early to their running back, Dalvin Cook, feeding him handoffs, sending him off tackle, creating space for him to operate. Cook had missed the final two games of Minnesota’s season, both losses, but as he carved through the NFL’s fourth-ranked run defense with surprising ease, he announced that he was both healthy and more rested than he would have been had played the entire season.
Between the Vikings ‘stout defense, the Saints’ ill-timed miscues and Cook’s day ( (carries, 94 yards), Minnesota controlled the tempo. The Vikings went ahead, – (********************************************************, on a Cook touchdown scamper just before halftime. They extended that lead on another Cook score late in the third. They believed, Cook would say later, when others did not. He remembered what Zimmer had told the team shortly before Minnesota departed for the game. “We’re in the dance,” Zimmer told the Vikings, “and we’re going down to New Orleans to win.”
“We’ve got some fighters,” Cook said.
The Saints came back; Brees cut the Vikings lead to a field goal with a 28 – yard touchdown pass to Hill and kicker Will Lutz tied the game with a field goal just before time expired in regulation . The roar at the Superdome grew so loud the building seemed to shake. Sure, the same fans who had endured so much playoff heartbreak — losing to the Vikings in the playoffs two years ago on the“Minneapolis Miracle” touchdown, then falling to the Rams last year after referees blew an obvious pass interference call — were booing the officials and cursing some of Payton’s time-management decisions. But maybe, just maybe, fate or luck or fortune or whatever helps decide close playoff football games would turn their way this time. Minnesota, of course, has its own tortured history, and it’s longer and more painful. Perhaps New Orleans could add to that.
And yet, the team expected to lose this playoff game then went out and seized it.
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