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Additional Minnesota Viking Commentary

Attrition
Why is it exactly that someone with the level of talent possessed by Kirk Cousins has not develop into a winner?  Why is it that no one, outside of this franchise, believes that Kirk Cousins possesses the ability to lead this franchise to its first NFL Super Bowl Title?  It is because he is not partnered within ATTRITION! 

When we now think back upon Dan Marino, maybe one of the greatest pure passers, partnered with maybe one the NFL's greatest coaches, we contemplate one Super Bowl appearances resulting in 0 Super Bowl championships over his career.  Could we now clearly state that Dan Marino was his own worst enemy?  What might he have done with a viable ball controlled running game so apparent in that 1973 season under fractional Bob Griese?  How important was that running game to John Elway?  On the other hand, if you think an improved running game, combined with last years model of Kirk Cousins ... will bring this franchise its first NFL Super Bowl Championship ... then you'd be fooling yourself.     

If we consider the toughest distance in golf ... the 6" between your ears ... then you'd get the fast track to what ails Kirk Cousins.  Sure he's athletically gifted with a great smile & a huge contract but that doesn't change a thing. 
 
  
By comparison to Case Keenum's remarkable year just prior to Kirk Cousins arrival in Minnesota, we see marked differences.  Like Dan Marino, Kirk Cousins can do a great deal that Keenum could not do, as it was clear that he did not posses the skills of an elite quarterback, but Keenum was a winner nonetheless.  He understood his role & he relished his role under Coach Zimmer's world of attrition.  

To be direct, by comparison, Kirk Cousins is a first ball fast ball hitter.  So what's the problem with that ... as he could be successful at it right?  Didn't he hit Adam Thielen in the end zone playing the Packers up in Green Bay.  Well sure he did, but anyone can get a hit and point to it ... but can you do it consistently?  If you're a loser, and Kirk Cousins record clearly states that he is, then you must come to grips with these issues.

So someone said to Kirk Cousins, the best pitch that you'll ever see in your pitch count will be that first ball fast ball.  Get prepared for it, practice that mind set, then jump on it ... and then fail.  Any hitter worth his salt knows that that utterance might be true however the pitch count is going to be worked with foul balls, deep into the count until I can get, something to demolish.  Sure I might not get that clean hit but I know the name of the game is Attrition.  If I can get you to throw me 12 pitches in my at bat ... in time ... the team will get what it needs to win.    

So what do I think of first ball fast ball hitters ... well ... I'd like to rip their lungs out.  It's the most petulant, inconsiderate, selfish idea ever perpetrated on the sport of baseball, except in one case, and I just can't do it, because I'm a team player first & foremost..    
 
  
Under Keenum in that 2017 season, he'd get 2 first downs followed by the ball being punted down inside their 20 yard line.  He knew that going over 80 yards against a fresh legged Viking defense would result in a punt of their own, and there was great incentive for the defense to either achieve a 3 or only 1 first down.  The result would be a flipped field for the offense followed by points.     

How many times in 2018 did you see Kirk Cousins sail that ball down the field 18 yards or more on a 3rd & 2.  The result was a 3 & out of our own or only one 1st down followed by the field flipping followed by points be scored against us.  Sure you could blame the offensive line for running the ball for only 1 yard on first down but Selfish First Ball Fast Ball Kirk Cousins doesn't understand a lick about attrition, when it count.  Sure you could hit it big against the hapless Miami Dolphins but you're not going to be successful versus the elite in this league.     

Someone has to plant that seed in Kirk Cousins mind that his big strike abilities are meaningless as compared to realizing Attrition.  Converting that 3rd & 2 means absolutely everything to the team. 

Which brings me to Joe.  Joe was a 6' 3" banger (Power Forward or Center) playing in a league of mighty mites (guards).  What Joe wanted to do is toss that 3-point shot from the perimeter as he relished the thought of being this great point guard.  Trying to break that mind set was to destroy his dream until we had a sit down.  I told him, look around.  You're in a sea of guards.  You Joe are a banger (under the boards).  This is where you belong but still what followed was that outside shot ... that is ... right up to me say.  OK deer JOE!  When everyone repeated those same words, he understood that he needed to be what he was meant to be.   The point here being that Kirk Cousins will never be a winner until his mind set it changed.  There is much more at stake that his meaningless stats. 
 
  
Sure, Tom Brady threw the ball to Randy Moss, but the bulk of his passes are short dinks & dunks .... ATTRITION!  Do you think Bill Walsh invented that dink & dunk offense or did you see a different form of it under Burns & Grant.  It's all about Attrition.  

Kirk Cousins needs to be have these words ingrained into his brain.  To win you need erosion.  Think of a millennium of rain to erode the Rockies into foot hills.  To win you need Abrasion.  Sand on a wheel can cut stones to build pyramids ... mans greatest accomplishment. An abrasive wheel can cut the strength of steel into two separate pieces.  To win you must eat away at your opponent as if you were a large vat of acid.  An Eagle is beautiful but the earth will be taken over by the perpetual gnawing of the Rat.  To defeat a defense you must grind it down by applying never ending pressure, resulting is wear & tear.  Again, the big strike might work with floundering franchises, but to be a winner you must embrace Attrition.   

The Viking Ghost Writer
http://MyVikingBlood.org
Date: June 2, 2019


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