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- Mar 19, 2019
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Can Cousins continue hot streak vs. Lions? | By @pcraigers
Kirk Cousins hasn't been able to find his full rhythm in 2020 the way he did in October 2019.
The quarterback, however, managed unfavorable conditions at Lambeau Field by taking what was available last week and playing virtually error free. He completed 11 of 14 passes for 160 yards, benefitting from a 50-yard touchdown on a screen pass to Dalvin Cook. Cousins' passer rating of 138.1 was a season high and wasn't inflated by late-game stats like in the season-opener against the Packers.
Now, Cousins will be back in the favorable passing conditions provided by U.S. Bank Stadium and he'll be trying to improve to 5-0 as a Viking against the Lions.
Cousins, who attended high school and college in Michigan, has gone 87-of-114 passing for 997 yards with nine scores and one interception for a passer rating of 124.8 against Detroit in his for starts with Minnesota.
The Vikings have dialed up some solid routes to defeat man coverage against Matt Patricia's squad, but Offensive Coordinator Gary Kubiak cautioned against over-preparing for that and not being ready for a different defense.
Cousins noted "a couple of new faces and a few of the same faces" on Detroit's defense.
"I think they do a good job with their scheme, mixing up their fronts, mixing up their coverages," Cousins said. "Now that they've been in a similar system for a few years now, I think it enables them to play with even more confidence. I think that makes a challenge for us. We'll have our hands full."
Zimmer said he believes the Lions are "much improved from what they were a year ago."
"They've got some different guys defensively, they've got a corner (Jeff Okudah) they picked the third pick in the draft," Zimmer said. "They've got [Danny] Shelton, who's big, inside. And then obviously offensively, they're very, very talented. So you know, each year is a little bit different.
"Hopefully Kirk has a good game this week," Zimmer added. "They have played a lot of man-to-man, so we'll see. Our guys are going to have to get open versus 1-on-1 coverage to help him, and we're going to have to do a good job in protection to help Kirk."