“To Boldly Go Where No Man Has Gone Before”- Captain Kirk (Star Trek)
“Bench Me During The Playoffs”- Kirk Cousins Minnesota Vikings
Two Kirks, about the same confidence for your teams in the fantasy football playoffs. Listen, I can’t take anything away from Cousins as he has put forth an effort this season that has him ranked as the QB 13 overall in FanDuel scoring. This ranking slots him right in between Jared Goff (sit him) and Matthew Stafford (also a sit). Cousins is bringing in an average of 18.7 points per game, so you could certainly do worse, but his matchups the rest of the way aren’t appealing. Sure, your playoff structure will fully determine this, but the Vikings next three games are against Tampa Bay, Chicago, and the Saints so let’s break this down on a game-by-game scenario.
Okay, so it is week 14, you may have snuck into the playoffs, or maybe you are vying for that final spot this week. This is actually going to be Cousins’ best matchup in the next three weeks from a fantasy perspective as the Bucs are actually ranked 20th overall in fantasy points allowed to QBs. Coming out of their bye week, the Bucs most recently faced Patrick Mahomes who torched them for 462 yards and three TDs. Cousins doesn’t have rushing in his arsenal, and why would he with Dalvin Cook in the backfield, but that also means that the Bucs aren’t going to try to have a safety valve in their defense to slow him down if he scrambles. What is going to be a plus for Cousins is that the Buccaneers are giving up an average of 255.8 passing yards (11th most) and nearly two passing TDs a game. Another benefit for Cousins is that yes, Dalvin Cook is a cheat code, but the Buccaneers are giving up the fifth-fewest fantasy points to opposing RBs, but are also giving up the ninth most to wide receivers and Cousins has two great ones in Adam Thielen and Justin Jefferson. If you are in a bind, you can roll with Cousins this week in week 14, but you are going to need to look elsewhere for weeks 15 and 16.
Speaking of looking elsewhere, Cousins and Co. host the Bears in week 15. This Bears defense is scary and if you look at Cousins’ past five games, his worst fantasy output came against, you guessed it, the Bears. The Bears defense is giving up a middle of the order 238.4 yards per game through the air, but they rank ninth in giving up the fewest fantasy points to opposing QBs. The Bears also rank 10th in stopping fantasy RBs (limiting Cook), and third in giving up the fewest amount of points to opposing WRs. In his last game against the Bears, Cousins put up 18.6 points which is just shy of his average 18.7. The Vikings came away with a win, and Cousins threw for 292 yards, 2 TDs, and an INT. If you are stuck with Cousins in deeper leagues, see if there are better options, but I just have a feeling this Bears defense is going to stifle him enough that he won’t be a top-12 QB in Week 15.
So now you have made it to Week 16, the glorious championship (if your playoffs rightly avoid week 17). You are going to be nitpicking your lineup, researching stats, and following practice involvement for all of your players to try to get an edge on your opponent to bring home the gold, and maybe even some money, but most importantly, of course, is the bragging rights. The New Orleans Saints defense has now entered the conversation and this one just spells trouble for Cousins. The Saints are giving up the fourth fewest passing yards per game (212.8), the third fewest fantasy points to opposing QBs, and the fewest fantasy points to opposing RBs. Cousins is going to get pressured in this one, and he isn’t going to be able to rely as heavily on Cook as he would like as he has a tough matchup in his own right. The Saints’ defense ranks second in lowest completion percentage for opposing QBs, fourth in the league in sacks, and eighth in the league in QB hits so it is going to be a long game for Cousins. I highly recommend avoiding this matchup for Cousins and looking another way.
