Five extra points: Kirk Cousins gave fans and critics plenty of ammunition in playoff loss

Sunday's 31-24 upset wild-card loss to the Giants at U.S. Bank Stadium had everything the many Kirk Cousins loyalists love about him and the shrinking "that's-all-you-got?" finish in a must-win situation that his just as many critics argue makes him untrustworthy. The guy who had eight fourth-quarter comeback wins this year completed 79.5% of his passes with two touchdowns and no turnovers. Yet when the Vikings were trailing 31-24 and needed that big-time QB finish, Cousins ended a 13-win season by doing this in his last two drives: Completed 2 of 3 passes for minus-1 yard in a three-and-out; Threw six yards behind the sticks for a 3-yard completion on fourth-and-8 to seal the loss. In nine throws with the season on the line, he never once targeted Justin Jefferson, a unanimous All-Pro selection. Cousins didn't lose this game. He was tough, making several big throws while being knocked down. But … he also shrank when the game needed saving.

Cousins is still too good to move on from. The same probably won't be said for defensive coordinator Ed Donatell when the Purple glitter settles on Kevin O'Connell's first season. You never would have known the Vikings had just played Daniel Jones three weeks ago looking at how they played him Sunday. Jones had his second 300-yard passing game against the Vikings while also leading the Giants in rushing with 78 yards on 17 carries. When pressured, he ran for 7 yards on second-and-7, 15 yards on first-and-10, 14 yards on second-and-7 and 8 yards on third-and-2. He escaped the pocket to complete throws of 32 and 19 yards. "They came at us with a lot of four-man rushes," center Jon Feliciano said. "A lot of them, even if they worked, it worked to our advantage because there were just big holes for Daniel to run through."

In picking the Giants to win this game, this NFL guesstimator sensed the Vikings' takeaway train had stalled while the Giants were becoming more and more careful with the football. Bingo! With no takeaways in a turnover-free game Sunday, the Vikings finished the year with only seven takeaways in their past nine games. They were 8-0 when they met their goal of at least two takeaways and 5-5 when they didn't. So, Vikings safety Harrison Smith, did you feel like you needed at least two takeaways to win with this defense? "Yeah, little bit," he said. "If you look at how we played, it would be hard to argue with that." The Giants finished with only five giveaways in their past eight games, including two in losing to the Vikings on a 61-yard walk-off field goal on Christmas Eve. "The Giants, they're built to not turn the ball over," Smith said. "We needed to take the ball from them. And we didn't."

The Giants' Adoree' Jackson hadn't played in seven games when he drew heavy coverage responsibilities against Jefferson. "The guy caught four balls [for 31 yards] on me the first drive, so I got a ton of respect for him," Jackson said. Yeah, but after that game-opening touchdown drive, Jefferson caught only three more passes for 16 yards, including one for 4 yards in the second half. "I'd say the only thing that changed was I was getting back in the groove," Jackson said. Jackson also made the tackle on O'Connell's worst play call of the season — a sweep throw-back pass from Jefferson to Cousins on third-and-1. "That worked out pretty good for us," Jackson said. "Me and [nickel back] Darnay Holmes were a little hesitant, but we had a good call. And I wouldn't say the tackle was easy, but we got [Cousins] down." The Vikings' three-and-out there came between the Giants' two touchdown drives to open the game.

Vikings fans love to hate those NFL officials, but this season has seen a number of favorable calls go the Vikings' way. Another one came late in Sunday's game when Giants nose tackle Dexter Lawrence did nothing wrong but was flagged for roughing the passer, turning an incompletion on second-and-4 at the Vikings' 18 into a first down at the Vikings' 33 with 2:30 left and the Vikings trailing by seven. "I can't explain it," Lawrence said. "I'm going to appeal it if they try to fine me for that." Two plays later, Lawrence destroyed center Garrett Bradbury and pressured Cousins into a 2-yard check down to Dalvin Cook on second-and-10. "I was ticked off, so I took it out on their center, I guess," Lawrence laughed. "I didn't want a bad roughing call to cost us the game. Yeah, I spun [Cousins] down. But he landed on me, on my legs. Bad call there."