Vikings finally join the ranks of NFL teams needing to find a starting quarterback

Vikings safety Josh Metellus was shown a piece of paper with the number of quarterbacks who have started for the NFL's 31 other teams since Kirk Cousins joined the Vikings in 2018.

"Man," he said. "That's crazy."

The number: 184. An average of six starters per team.

Ironically, Washington — the team that let Cousins walk in free agency after 49 consecutive starts — leads the way with 11.

"Crazy," Metellus said.

Carolina and Indianapolis have had 10 apiece.

"Crazy," Metellus said again.

Until now, there's been only one game Cousins was unavailable to play. He missed the game at Lambeau Field during the 2021 season after testing positive for COVID-19.

"Kirk's done a great job being so durable his whole career," Metellus said. "To see him go down, it feels really weird."

Indeed.

The Vikings have had only two starting quarterbacks since 2018: Cousins (51-39-1, including playoffs) and Sean Mannion, whose 0-2 record includes the 2019 regular-season finale, when the starters were being rested.

Two starters since 2018 ties Green Bay and Seattle for the fewest in the NFL. The Chargers and Chiefs are next with three. The Bears are tied for fourth-most with eight, while the Lions are tied for 16th with five.

"I don't think our season is lost. You can look at examples of how other teams have managed to win after losing a quarterback."

The Jets, for example, lost Aaron Rodgers to an Achilles injury on the season's fourth snap and are 4-3. They just played one of the ugliest NFL games of the modern era — more punts (24) than points (23) — but beat the Giants 13-10 in overtime.

"Winning ugly is OK," Metellus said.

The NFL heads into Week 9 having used 42 starting quarterbacks. That number will rise by at least two, with Cousins out and Jaren Hall likely in for the Vikings, and Arizona starter Joshua Dobbs benched and traded to the Vikings to make way for either Clayton Tune or Kyler Murray. But the number could go even higher. Atlanta's Desmond Ridder, the Rams' Matthew Stafford, Pittsburgh's Kenny Pickett and the Giants' Tyrod Taylor also did not finish their Week 8 games because of injuries.

Last year, the NFL used 69 starting quarterbacks, up from 60 in 2021, 58 in 2020, 57 in 2019 and 54 in 2018. Since 2018, 41 quarterbacks have started for more than one team. Fifteen have started for more than two teams, five have started for more than three teams and Andy Dalton has started for a league-high five: Cincinnati, Dallas, Chicago, New Orleans and Carolina.

Outside of Mannion's starts, the Vikings haven't had to turn to the likes of these guys and what they have produced since 2018:

• Kyle Allen, who has gone 7-12 with Carolina, Washington and Houston.

• Colt McCoy, who has gone 4-7 with Washington, the Giants and Arizona.

• Jeff Driskel, who has gone 1-9 with Cincinnati, Detroit, Denver and Houston.

• Brian Hoyer, who has gone 0-4 with Indianapolis, New England and Las Vegas.

And …

• Nick Mullens, who has gone 5-12 with the San Francisco and Cleveland, and who is now one week from being eligible to come off the Vikings' injured reserve list.

"Someone will step up," Metellus said. "And the rest of us have to step up, too."