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By the time their game against the Dallas Cowboys was over, Kirk Cousins and the Minnesota Vikings had come crashing down to earth. They entered the game with an 8-1 record, fighting for the top seed in the NFC with the Philadelphia Eagles, who had an identical win-loss ratio.
They had defeated the much-fancied Buffalo Bills the previous week and there was talk about the Vikings quarterback leading them all the way to the Super Bowl.
As it turned out, they slipped back in relation to the Eagles as they lost and Philadelphia beat the Indianapolis Colts. The Vikings fell to 8-2, while the Eagles are now 9-1.
But more than the ground they lost in that race, it was the chastening nature of the defeat that should worry Vikings fans the most. Losing 40-3 to the Cowboys, they had a bad day all over the field. On defense, they gave up 40 points, which is never easy for an offense to counter.
The offense, led by Kirk Cousins, had an awful day as they could not score a single touchdown. If it wasn't for Dalvin Cook, who had 11 rushing attempts for 72 yards, they would not have had a sniff of scoring even a single point.
Cousins was pressured throughout the game and gave up seven sacks for a loss of 49 yards. It was such a bad performance that by the end of the game, he was pulled and backup Nick Mullens took over quarterback duties.
NFL fans were equally less forgiving toward the Vikings quarterback. They roasted his performance across the Twitterverse.
The Vikings' offensive line failed Kirk Cousins on Sunday
While much of the heat for the loss will be aimed at Kirk Cousins, a lot of the blame must go to the offensive line as well. The Vikings' offensive line came up against Micah Parsons and company and chose the worst day to take a holiday.
Cousins might not be the greatest quarterback in the NFL, but he was on a run of 39 consecutive games with touchdown passes coming into Sunday. Only legends like Drew Brees (54 and 45), Tom Brady (52), and Peyton Manning (51) have had a longer stretch.
But he faced a historic pressure rate that contributed to his woeful play. The defense did not help, giving up a score on seven consecutive Cowboys drives. Cousins certainly did not help matters, but he was certainly part of a wider problem.
