Welcome to the Monday edition of The Cooler, when sometimes it's actually nice when the weekend is over. Let's get to it:
*Kirk Cousins had a bad game Sunday — perhaps his worst game in purple, at least given the circumstances, at the worst possible time. These are the kinds of games you want your well-compensated quarterback to win. Instead, Cousins threw two back-breaking interceptions as the Vikings fell to the Bears 25-20 in a game that really wasn't all that close but did have plenty of meaning in the NFC North race.
Chicago (7-3) is now 1.5 games ahead of Minnesota. If the Bears can maintain that lead until the rematch between these teams in Week 17 in Minnesota, Chicago — barring a Green Bay run — will win the division. The Vikings (5-4-1) are still in decent shape to grab a Wild Card spot if they can hit reset after Sunday. We'll see.
What we saw Sunday was a flawed team, with a lot of the preseason question marks rearing their ugly heads. The Vikings could neither protect Cousins nor establish a running game, with the common denominator being an overextended offensive line that flat-out doesn't have enough talent.
The Vikings in 10 games this season have turned the ball over 16 times, tied for seventh-most in the NFL. Last year they turned it over just 14 times all year (third-fewest). Cousins has been Exhibit A in that uptick.
The good and bad of Cousins and the circumstances of Joe Mauer's $184 million contract expiring (combined with Mauer's retirement) have created a sort of passing of the torch.
As with Mauer, every failure on Cousins' part is now being micro-examined and griped about. Successes are still celebrated but they also carry a weight of "that's what he's paid for" with fans.
For a while, I thought the Wolves' Andrew Wiggins and his max contract might be the new big thing to whine about. But it's not even close. Remove the 1 from Mauer's deal, shrink it by five years, and assign it to the most important player on the most important team in this market.
