Netflix 'Quarterback' doc makes Vikings' Kirk Cousins look good — just not as good as Patrick Mahomes

The powers that be must immediately form a search committee to discern whether there is anything in the world that Peyton Manning is not good at.

This weekend I binge-watched "Quarterback," the Manning-produced Netflix docuseries highlighting the 2023 seasons of Chiefs star Patrick Mahomes, Vikings striver Kirk Cousins and Falcons journeyman Marcus Mariota.

It's exceptional. Beautifully shot and edited, the documentary takes you into the private lives and thoughts of three quarterbacks at different levels of the game.

Mariota shines for a half-season, loses his job and leaves the team, opting to have knee surgery, and we see his conversations with his pregnant wife and the uncertainty of his profession.

Mahomes is the star of the show, as it chronicles him overcoming the loss of his best receiver, Tyreek Hill, and his insistence on playing through a high ankle sprain to win his second Super Bowl. The most insightful passage of the eight-part series is seeing Mahomes, during the season, working with his personal trainer away from the Chiefs.

Without this documentary, observers could have watched Mahomes make spinning sidearm throws and attribute his skills to DNA or divine providence. In "Quarterback," we see him not only practicing those skills, but enduring grueling workouts specifically designed to develop the strength and flexibility that makes those plays possible.

For Minnesotans, Cousins may be the most intriguing of the three. He has been an accessible and professional figure since signing with the Vikings. He has also earned his reputation as a robotic player and personality.

This documentary won't alter that perception, but it might make him a more likable android. He comes off as an earnest, driven and tortured quarterback and devoted family man, which dovetails with all we've heard about Cousins from teammates and team employees.

The timing works well for Cousins, too, catching him during a 13-victory season under a coach in Kevin O'Connell with whom he has a warm relationship, instead of when he was playing for Mike Zimmer, who could barely contain his disdain for a quarterback we now know he didn't want.

Mahomes doesn't do Cousins any favors, though. The documentary constantly cuts from Cousins to Mahomes, and it's like switching from "Mister Rogers' Neighborhood" to "Die Hard."

Cousins always looks like he's contemplating a chess move. Mahomes always looks like he's starring in a movie about the greatest football player who ever lived.

I covered his father, Pat Mahomes, when he was a Twins pitcher, and Pat, always a popular figure in baseball, makes cameos. But the camera spends more time on Patrick when he is with his wife and children, his personal trainer, and Chiefs coaches.

Mahomes is loud, profane, athletically arrogant and yet lovable. This documentary, along with his eagerness to spend his entire career in Kansas City, will cement his reputation as the most endearing of superstars.

During last season's playoffs, Mahomes was building his dream house near Kansas City, featuring a golf hole, a basketball court and an expansive gym. His memorabilia room now holds two Lombardi Trophies, with room for many more.

Cousins takes the cameras into his home in his native Michigan, and his trophy room. Mahomes' is a place to celebrate; Cousins' is tucked away behind a hidden door, making it seem more like a child's hidden playroom than a franchise quarterback's lair.

Cousins had the contractor build a "notch" into one wall, where he hopes to one day keep his Lombardi Trophy.

That open ambition contrasts with his play during the Vikings' home playoff loss in January to the Giants, an inferior team the Vikings had already beaten weeks earlier at U.S. Bank Stadium. Cousins looks nervous before and during the game, which ends with him throwing a short pass on fourth down that had almost no chance of keeping the Vikings' chances alive.

The final episode features Mahomes insisting on playing throughout the playoffs despite that high ankle sprain, an injury that usually sidelines athletes for weeks, and winning the Super Bowl with a long run that had to be excruciating.

This documentary will do Cousins some good, but he could have done without the direct comparison to the inspirational and artistic Mahomes, maybe the best football player we've ever seen.