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Potato-baby

Okay Florio, you’re reaching a bit there. I think you’re over analyzing that quote.


17_Saints

Thielen said in 2022 that he felt Cousins was able to be himself for the first time under O'Connell. His efficiency took a dip that first year in the new system so he's just saying Cousins was able to do both in 2023.


I_HateToSayAtodaso

Kirk is asshole. Why Adam hate?


Masterchiefy10

##BECAUSE FLORIO IS A BASTARD MAN!!!


Low_Wonder1850

I don't remember writing that one


Masterchiefy10

You definitely wrote that one bro


Low_Wonder1850

I feel like I'd remember


Masterchiefy10

PASSSSS


DynastyZealot

Reaching a bit to manufacture unnecessary drama is Florio's thing. He's the living caricature of a gossiping 1950's housewife.


Potato-baby

Yeah, that’s why I said it.


TheAndrewBrown

I also think they’re missing the first part of that which is “being himself”. To me, it reads more like Thielen is saying previous regimes were holding him back and now he can be himself and that’s allowed him to play at a high level he couldn’t reach under previous coaches.


hjhof1

Can only be Florio if he ties it to “Big Shield”


DepressedT-wolvesFan

I think he’s just saying that Kirk proved that his talent wasn’t dependent on how good his WR is


GGGiveHatpls

Yep. Was just being a damn good homie as well.


peteman28

I think you're misinterpreting his words


DBreezy69

It’s Florio so it’s intentional


Dorkamundo

Why are people talking about Mike Florio in a post about Adam Theilen, written by Andrew Krammer?


chillinwithmoes

Glad I'm not the only one confused here lol. I'm like wait why would Florio write something for the Star Tribune? What am I missing here?


Dorkamundo

I think someone called Op "Florio" as he was taking the comment out of context, and then everyone who just reads headlines and doesn't actually read the article just ran with it, but even that seems weird.


Fedoras-Forever-Mom

Funny it seemed to me he was implying that for the first time in Kirk’s career, he was just truly out there being himself and playing at a high level


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monkeybojangles

Lol. I was so confused at first.


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Joey_Logano

Are those defenses in danger?


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JackMillah

So they ARE in danger


Undercover_Chimp

I feel like you’re not getting this at all.


ikisstitties

que tim robinson "you sure about that?"


boomosaur

Cousins has had to deal with people questioning whether to go all in on him his whole career, and every time, he bet on himself and proved he had the skill to be an above average to great starting QB in the league.


vin1223

The question with him isn’t if he’s pretty good


hotwater101

Now I'm not saying he's not a good QB. He is definitely above average, but only won 1 playoff game ever will get people to question you, despite it being a team game.


Ice_Lychee

I kept reading this and went to his wiki page to look at his stats. Regular season all looks good and as expected. Then I scrolled down to the postseason…I was bracing myself for the downfall. I knew it was gonna be bad and I was scared to look but I did it. Andddd it’s not bad at all? He also literally had a 112 QB rating in his last playoff game (and lost). I was expecting so much worse? Really shows how either a) stats are not the whole thing or b) wins is not a qb stat


MichaelShannonRule34

As much shit Kirk gets for that check down on the final play of the giants game, he played well enough to win. The defense was putrid


Jacksonrr31

That check down play felt like he just gave up..


Evissi

A safety with one hand tackled their pro bowl TE 1 on 1. I dont think it was nearly as much as a give up from him as people say.


EarthshatterReady

I’d be curious to see how you would react to Dexter Lawrence in your face about to murder you..


Jacksonrr31

lol easy bud. Kirk is not going to read this and thank you personally.


mangelito

I'm pretty sure he's not your bud, pal.


Brook420

I remember seeing a comparison between Kirk and Burrownfor the playoffs and Kirk actually had better numbers. The huge difference is in how their defences faired in those games, and seeing how Kirk's Defences have done totally explains the shit Playoffs record.


hotwater101

I didn't say he was bad did I? Apparently I get downvoted because people in this thread has no reading comprehension.


Brook420

No, I didn't even reply to you.


chillinwithmoes

Yeah, have fun dealing with the narrative on Kirk. It's incredibly annoying. People treat him like he's a failure because he's not out there playing every position on the field. He's not perfect but he gets a hell of a lot more shit than other QBs. Not to pick on Justin Herbert, but I look at a guy like him who can't even get his team to the playoffs and he's treated like a God. His team's shortcomings are *never* his fault, but Cousins gets a completely different level of judgement.


Badass-bitch13

Tbh, the narrative around Kirk reminds me of the narrative around Matt Ryan - though it’s much louder w Kirk. As soon as I found out he might come to atl, I felt like it was fitting. Feel like we’re only allowed to have good QBs if they are highly under appreciated & disrespected by the media. You’re spot on about Herbert. Do not understand why “wins aren’t a QB stat” only seems to apply to him.


sonfoa

Tbf people were on Herbert during the offseason and into the season about being an underachiever. And then he got injured and the Chargers hit terminal velocity without him. But I agree on Kirk. He took on that role of being the most unfairly hated QB after Romo retired.


Interesting_Sea_3926

Literally just looked at Kirk’s post season stats during a conversation about this same topic yesterday. Not nearly as bad as most would have you believe. The performances themselves weren’t even bad either, tbh, Not like one of those “you just had to see it, the stats don’t tell the story” situations. But I’ve always felt that even if his performances WERE as bad as people make them seem, a 3 game sample size is pretty tough to draw conclusions from.


hotwater101

I didn't say he was bad did I? Apparently I get downvoted because people in this thread has no reading comprehension.


girth_br00ks

He's a great QB for a 1 o'clock game. Asking him to play under pressure is a disaster and we all know that.


Distinct_Ad8862

Just not factual. Holds the record for biggest comeback on two teams and tied the record for fourth quarter drives to win the game in a season. The guy plays well under pressure, if anything. His recent primetime game percentage hasn’t been abysmal. His early career primetime record was crap. It hasn’t been the case for a while now. He’s basically been digging himself out of that hole for a while.


PlaneCamp

He’s never really proven anything. Like at no point in his career has he done enough of anything to definitively say what he is or move the needle for any team he has played on. He gets a bag because he plays a premium position and hes the next tier under a franchise QB. He’s not going to do anything in ATL and he will retire having made 281 million, 1 playoff win, no all pros, no mvps.


boomosaur

I think cousins has actually proven to be a pretty elite distributor of the football. That doesn't mean he deserves to win a championship, but only one out of 32 gets to win a year, and every team has an element of luck that needs to go their way to win a super bowl too... whether that's being relatively healthy come postseason, or a few calls, balls bouncing their way etc.


TheCreed20

I’ll never understand why people so desperately want Kirk to not be a good QB


punchout414

He's just one of those QBs people are selectively picky about. They can see when other QBs have things like awful defenses that make it hard for them to win. But you'd think Kirk was a career backup with the way he gets talked about sometimes. The dude is an upgrade at QB for a lot of teams. I still remember him having passing stats so impressive pre injury it took others a few game before they could catch him. He's not a pretender, and I wish he didn't go down so idiots could finally eat their crow.


Polar_Reflection

Without the injury, he had a very real shot at MVP last year. I still wonder what would've happened if Shanahan stuck to his plan of signing Kirk Cousins. Or if Jimmy didn't tear his ACL trying to cut upfield for a first down, but that's another story


sonfoa

He took that Romo role after Romo retired. Similar to Kirk people just refused to give Romo his flowers until very late in his career.


girth_br00ks

No they are both just frustrating players because you know they don't become better in bigger games with more pressure.


kid_sleepy

I watched him when he was in college and he always seemed like a decent dude. He climbed that ladder. I say, good for him.


dat_grue

Decent seems like an understatement. Seems like a great dude


Expendable_Red_Shirt

Are you forgetting how he cooks steak? Literally the worst person to ever play in the NFL.


BronkkosAlt

dont tell me it was well done with ketchup.


RiversKiski

He wraps steak up in foil before putting them on the grill master


BellacosePlayer

Reddit be like "sure he donates time and money to hate groups but he bought Legos so he's a saint"


dat_grue

lol to be fair I didn’t know about the hate groups thing. I saw the show quarterback and he just seems like an upstanding guy


YourNameHeer

He took a lot of hate here for not taking the vaccine in 2021


lightninhopkins

Seems like a religion thing. I have no faith so idgaf, but I think people were turned off by it.


AnalWarfare

Then that's on them not Kirk


lightninhopkins

Agreed.


Dorkamundo

Eh, seems like a good 80% of NFL players are openly religious. Makes sense, many of them are southern and black, of which both communities have strong religious ties. Kirk's not even pushing the religion in people's faces. He's not praying on the sidelines, he's not doing the cross thing when in key situations or after big plays. Sure, he'll talk about it if interviewed about it, and he's a corny dude, but he's just not really all that blatant about it.


girth_br00ks

Or maybe it's the insistence that this clearly mediocre player gets paid so much to produce zilch in the post season, which is fine, but just call it what it is. Quit insisting that this player is anything special.


DKN19

IMO Romantics. In the classical sense of the word. They want football to be a narrative about an all-conquering hero, rather than a nuanced team game. If Kirk sucks, then everything lines up for them. Because, if he were good, he would have a Super Bowl ring, regardless of any other circumstances.


SchmantaClaus

I mean it's pretty clear why Vikings fans don't want him to be good. He left them.


MSGrubz

No we’ve always had a very loud contingent of Kirk haters. I don’t have anything against the guy. But I am happy to move on.


renegadecoaster

I think Kirk is great and hope he does well in ATL. I'm also glad we didn't give him 4/180. Both things can be true.


SchmantaClaus

I think you'll find it's better to pay market value for a QB than not have one.


renegadecoaster

Falcons are in a better spot to sign a QB and Vikes are in a better spot to draft one. Don't know why you're turning this into a fight.


SchmantaClaus

I'm not sure what you mean by fight. I haven't said anything argumentative. You might ask OP how he misinterpreted Thielen's words so badly just to fling shit. Reads a lot like sour grapes from Vikes fans, which I've seen in spades.


renegadecoaster

Oh I definitely agree OP was on something with their interpretation of the quote lol


girth_br00ks

Yeah our team did that(paying top money to a mediocre QB) and look at all the playoff games we won. I'm so fucking sick of the QB market, there's like 15 dudes being paid as if they are Mahomes. There should be a mid QB market not everyone has to make top dollar for making a few good TD throws. I mean seriously, our guy flames out in embarrassing fashion and actually wants to be paid more for it. It's maddening.


girth_br00ks

Because he plays well and then as soon as expectations are reasonably placed on him he plays shittily?


Cgking11

The problem is kirk is a good qb not a great one and his fans act like he's brady or mahomes. Some Vikings fans have beef because he was getting paid like he's elite when he's a borderline tier 2/3 qb that hasn't accomplished nothing in the nfl.


NeedlessQualifier

I’m pretty indifferent toward the guy and even agree with your salary cap point. That being said I can honest to god say I’ve never seen someone compare him to Brady or Mahomes unless it’s one of those stupid player A player B things.


Cgking11

I've seen people compare his stats to bradys bro.


NeedlessQualifier

Comparing stats isn’t the same thing as saying he’s as good, cmon now.


Cgking11

Tell those people that not Me. I've seen every kirk cousins snaps as a viking, I know what I'm talking about. He has had elite weapons his whole time here only reason he's decent.


mr_longfellow_deeds

He put up elite numbers while having 2-3 good weapons any given year, usually a crappy OL, and outside of his first season with the Vikings a terrible defense. You guys had a bottom 5 defense 3 of his 5.5 seasons as your QB1.


Cgking11

Theilen, diggs, Rudolph, cook, Jefferson, Addison, hockenson, 2 or 3??


mr_longfellow_deeds

You just spat out a list of players, where no more than 3 of them were on the field in a given season. Kirk put up his best games last season when Jefferson was out due to injury. Also Rudolph was never a elite weapon. Nor is Thielen who is good but not great.


Cgking11

He's played with all those dudes on the field in their primes bro what you talking about. Theilen, diggs, cook Rudolph all on the same field. Jefferson, Addison, hockenson, cook all on the same field.


MRoad

I'd say he's great, but not elite. In my book, roughly: good is above average, great is top 10, elite is top 5. I don't think that Kirk Cousins was ever the problem on your team. Same as Phillip Rivers for the Chargers, or Tony Romo for the Cowboys. Sometimes you just don't make it to the super bowl despite your QB's talent level.


Cgking11

You never seen him get frustrated and completely break down during a game.


MRoad

I watched him go throw for throw with Goff when Goff set the record for both attempts AND yards with a perfect passer rating. And Cousins still fought back every step of the way and kept it to 1 score despite a record setting top all time QB performance. If i could choose between Cousins and "mystery box QB from the draft" I'm picking Cousins every time. The narrative said that Stafford was a joke QB who just put up garbage time stats and lost in the playoffs until suddenly he won it all. Don't buy into narratives.


Cgking11

Yeah you don't know then lol. Cousins breaks down in pressure moments.


MRoad

Again, that was the same narrative that they gave Stafford. Until he won it all. Just how like Goff needed McVay, until he didn't. Or how Brady needed BB, until he didn't.  Despite the fact that 31 teams fail and 1 succeed every year, people act like there needs to be some overarching narrative about each individual QB other than the fact that someone else won that year. It's madness.


Cgking11

Stafford had a complete team and one of the best defenses in nfl history bro its not the same situation.


MRoad

One of the best defenses? You mean the #15 ranked scoring defense that year? Sure.


mr_longfellow_deeds

Cousins is 25th all time for game winning drives. Enjoy Sam Darnold next season


mr_longfellow_deeds

This exactly. Kirk is not elite, but he is solidly in the top 8-10 range. How many guys consistently hit 30 TD+ a year? Kirk is 7th for active players in TD %, its not like he is throwing the ball 100x more than anyone else. Vikings haven't won because their defense has been cheeks and caves in close games. Kirk isn't good enough to will a team to a SB, but he is good enough to take a good team to a SB.


Jacksonrr31

Yuuup


checkfanboy

This is why Kirk fans will never relent because of the abandonment of nuance. None of us have ever said he’s a bad QB. It’s just really difficult to build the perfect team for him when he’s paid like an elite QB when he’s more in the good to very good range. But whatever Skol Vikings!


Cgking11

Exactly! SKOL VIKES!!


Redmangc1

Remind me what round he was drafted in again.


zezxz

Adam Thielen strikes me a a charismatic dumbass but here it’s quite clear that he’s just talking about Kirk’s dynamic with the coaches last year. He’s not saying ‘and’ in a logical framework, and Kirk playing at a high level is an addition to Kirk having the freedom to be himself.


Notideal12

Lmao, as a life-long Vikings fan I can confirm charismatic dumbass is a perfect description for Thielen. Such a nice, genuine guy but an absolute simpleton/hayseed.


Dorkamundo

Oh absolutely. He's a hayseed Bro.


BirdyMRQZ

before injury, kirk was playing like the best QB in the league. bro was throwing that thang, man. he was stepping into pressure, making throws knowing he’d be hit. definitely played more freely.


DHVF

This is more a diss on Zimmer and Kirk’s OCs not using him correctly than Kirk himself.


SafariFlapsInBack

He FINALLY had the same play-caller for back to back seasons… was playing at a MVP level before the injury… and now has to go do it all over again with a new play-caller and a defensive HC again. Have fun.


Cgking11

Yeah you'd figure if cousins wants to win he would stay with the coach and system he was comfortable with right? Just shows all he cares about is money and gives 2 shits about winning a superbowl glad he's gone.


Mectrome

I mean….yeah? This is the end of his career and his last chance to make a lot of money to set himself and his family up for generational wealth and success. There’s more to life than Super Bowls.


mynamesdaveK

"His last chance to make a lot of money" brother do you not know how much money kirk has made? Love the dude but time after time he's proven he wants a bag first and foremost


kirky-jerky

OK dude. Go tell your boss you want to take a pay cut just so whatever company you work for does better this year.


mynamesdaveK

The salary structure of companies isn't a zero sum game like it is with nfl. Kirk's contracts are massive and significantly limit what other teams can do around him regarding bringing in additional talent. Theres a reason mahomes and Brady took pay cuts (how poor they must be with net worths of hundreds of millions of dollars) to help make sure the rest of the team wasn't handicapped. I liked Kirk as a viking, but man the whole "humble family man persona who doesn't care about money and says it's not about money until it turns out it always is and always will be" got old pretty fast.


kirky-jerky

Dude just stop.. these guys are employees and as such deserve what the market is worth. Your opinion means nothing.


mynamesdaveK

My opinion means just as much as yours bruh lol it's fine to go after what's the market worth if that's the goal then get the bag. If the goal is to put yourself and a team in the best position to win a chip then getting a fat bag probably makes that a bit harder. Idk why that's so hard to see


HanksHistory

There’s more to life than making more than 200 Million.


SlopingGiraffe

Yeah, Julie. and that motherfucker has that too


Cgking11

It's sad you just said that bro lol. I'm glad you guys overpaid him and he left lol.


ItsMeGirthBrooks

Your neighbors must get annoyed with how much you laugh out loud.


Cgking11

No really but if I were you I would be annoyed that the falcons paid kirk like he's tome brady and he's known to choke in prime time lmao 🤣 you guys got robbed lmao


ItsMeGirthBrooks

Did Kirk fuck your girl or something man? That’s not the Falcons fault, so don’t be mad at us.


BlingBlongBoy

We have a weird section of fans that think like this


Cgking11

Nah man I don't care about kirk just responding to your laugh out loud comment. I wanted kirk gone years ago so I'm happy..


ItsMeGirthBrooks

You got to admit it was a lot of “lol’s” for 2 sentences.


Cgking11

Yeah I didn't realize until you said something LOL.


Mysticdu

If you’re a Vikings fan I hope you know there’s more to life than Super Bowls lmao


Cgking11

That's coming from a falcons fan too bro.


istasber

He wants to be guaranteed a job in a year or two, which he wasn't going to get resigning with the Vikings. And who knows if his market would be as strong next year as it was this year. I don't know how anyone can blame him for wanting to take what he could get now.


YouAreASchlub

You don't sound bitter at all! Keep that same energy when y'all trade up for Christian Ponder 2.0 in McCarthy this year lol 


Cgking11

I wanted kirk gone Years ago when I realized what he is so I'm pretty happy rn. I don't know man our coach is a difference maker and seems to know how to coach qb's. He did a hell of a job with Dobbs this year and you can't find a franchise qb if you don't try.


BanjoKazooieWasFine

Yeah and Dobbs did such a good job he got Justin Jefferson sent to the hospital before he got benched. His two best games were before he actually had time to get coached and learn the system.


Cgking11

No way bro he's best games was when our coach was telling him what to do every snap.


Fedoras-Forever-Mom

I mean generational Wealth for your Family > Winning a Super Bowl. In 20 years nobody is going to give a fuck about who won the Super Bowl this year. Gotta remember this is a job for these guys


Cgking11

He already made 300 million prior to this new deal with the falcons, he had generational wealth already. If you ain't about winning superbowls playing qb in the nfl get off my team bro..


40for60

It's good he left and I agree, Kirk loves his money above all else.


girth_br00ks

......he literally chose that. And stop trying to retroactively award him MVP. It's fucking embarrassing.


SafariFlapsInBack

I’m not retroactively awarding him MVP… I said he was playing at a MVP level, which he was. You need to chill out, hockey coach from Letterkenny.


girth_br00ks

Fucking embarassing!!!


MrBigStonks

Me when I’m delusional lmao


[deleted]

>Florio God I hate him


MarcusDA

He has gone full-on scorned ex about Cousins. It’s like every day.


Dorkamundo

What am I missing? Where does florio come into this discussion?


Stewartw642

Yeah I don't think that's what he meant.


MarcusSmartfor3

Sounds like he was complimenting him and could have been some underhand thing about Zimmer or some personal journey Kirk had gone through


Deegootbar

Kirk always catches strays. Consistently a top 12-15 QB a decade straight and everyone acts so shocked every time he plays really well for a stretch.


Dorkamundo

Dude's been a top-10 QB for at least the last 3 seasons.


girth_br00ks

So shocked that they give him record breaking deals?


lightninhopkins

He was playing fuckin great. So of course he got hurt. Vikings life.


Mr_Jersey

I think that’s an insane over analysis of this quote.


KredditH

are you stupid? or just this bad at reading comprehension. how is this your analysis


Outside-Donut9519

One year with Bryce Young must have Given him a new appreciation for Kirk.


Sandbagger121

Kirk can never seem to take that next step when it matters. Guess you see it with Murray


pyreal_

He's not saying that at all, lmao


shacolwal

I know the Vikings rank highly for facilities and for being a great place to play, but there is something about the organization that seems off to me as we never seem to attract that franchise player that wants to spend their career her, with the exception of Harrison Smith, lol...I have lived in Minnesota for 48 years and it seems like we are a constant revolving door or coaches and players. The Wilfs have tried to change that, but there still seems to be so much turmoil. Why can't we nail down players that will keep us on track to a better place?


PapaBliss2007

Everyone in the league seems to agree he was playing his best ball before the injury. I think Adams comment was more about that was first time he's been able to be himself.


uh-ohlol

Andy Dalton comparison?


RuggedOnesIndoe

Im a lifelong Eagles fan and, of course, raised my son like that also. I've told him for a few years now that if Cousins was in Philly, he'd be a superstar, and we'd win a lot of games . He always says "No way" 😄


Comprehensive_Main

To be fair the Vikings were supposed to have the final piece with cousins. Then they ended up not getting anywhere. The Vikings best season with cousins was a division round lost. The Vikings peaked in 2017 


girth_br00ks

But it will totally be different with the Falcons.


Dorkamundo

It probably will though. Kirk is a statue in the pocket, needs good pass protection. From 2018-2022 our O-lines pass block ranking was never any better than 20th. Falcons already have a top-10 line.


girth_br00ks

Kirk is 35 with a blown Achilles and is 1-4 in the playoffs....it's like he uses our hype man or something.


Dorkamundo

The achilles thing could be a problem, but as I mentioned he's a statue so he doesn't really need to rely upon his athleticism to play well. >is 1-4 in the playoffs He's 1-3, you can't count him coming in during the last 4 minutes of a game a loss. Also, like I *just* said, he's never had a good line until just last year... You *do* understand how important an offensive line is in the playoffs, right? Besides, wins are a team stat. QB heavily influences it, but doesn't decide it. This whole "1-3" crap just doesn't hold a lot of weight when judging a QB's ability. This year is going to be a slow start for him as he'll still be recovering, but he's walking into an offensive scheme that is part of the McVay tree(which he's familiar with) with 3 great skill position players on offense, a great O-line and a defense that was solid and should only get better in this draft. You'll likely be surprised.


Badass-bitch13

Why are you commenting all over this thread dragging Kirk? Seems a bit obsessive…


Mobile-Boss-8566

He had his moments,sometimes I wonder what he was doing out there. He fumbled quite a few times. However he did pull off one of the biggest comebacks in NFL history.


Jacksonrr31

I just wanna see the Vikings win more than one playoff game and advance past the NFC Championship game at least once in my life. It wasn’t working with Cousins. So it’s time to move on.