Kirk Cousins: Record against winning teams

Kirk Cousins is one of the most scrutinized quarterbacks in the NFL. Statistically, he has put together an amazing career. Unfortunately for him, his teams have been mostly average. That has caused his legacy to be looked at in a certain light. Whether fair or not, people expect quarterbacks like Cousins who make top money to win big games. It was interesting to see the narrative change about Cousins after everyone got to see his story from another perspective in the hit series ‘Quarterback’ on Netflix.

During the 2022 season, Cousins finished with a winning record vs teams who finished the season above .500. This was a great step in the right direction.

Unfortunately his 2023 season was cut short after injuring his achilles against the Green Bay Packers. He was having a great season and the Vikings were turning the corner. Cousins currently sits in limbo as far as his situation with the Minnesota Vikings goes.

Let’s take a look at how many times teams with Kirk Cousins as their starting quarterback have won games against teams with a winning record.

The reason for QB wins against winning teams

I started to dive into this stat for every quarterback because the new hot argument is to say that a certain quarterback didn’t beat any good teams. I often see people use this argument to say players like Kirk Cousins and Matthew Stafford are not good and just put up empty stats. At the end of the day, there is much more to the story.

Most importantly, quarterback wins are a team statistic. A great example of that is how Stafford had a horrible record with Detroit and won a Super Bowl after being traded to the LA Rams. Additionally, very few quarterbacks in the NFL have a winning record against teams who finished the season above .500 in the league. Most losses for everyone come against good teams. Go figure.

There are a lot of moving parts involved in football. While winning and losing is the most important stat, it is one that unfairly gets attributed to quarterbacks.

Kirk Cousins record against winning teams?

Kirk Cousins is 14-43 (.246) against teams with a winning record during his entire career.

Kirk Cousins vs winning teams (Minnesota Vikings 2018-2022)

With the Minnesota Vikings from 2018-22, Kirk Cousins was 10-24 (.294) against winning teams as the starting quarterback.

Most recently during the 2022 NFL season Cousins was 4-3 against teams with a winning record. Those four wins came against the Giants, Dolphins, Lions, and Bills in an overtime thriller. The losses came against the Lions, Eagles, and Cowboys.

Overall, the Minnesota Vikings finished the 2022 season 13-4 against all opponents. The season ended with a disappointing wild card loss to the New York Giants.

Kirk Cousins vs winning teams (Washington Commanders 2012-2017)

With the Washington Commanders from 2012-17, Kirk Cousins was 4-19 (.173) against winning teams as the starting quarterback.

What quarterbacks have a winning record against winning teams?

As seen on our master QB record vs winning teams chart, there are only a handful of NFL quarterbacks that have a record above .500 against winning teams.

You can digest that information on your own. The main thing I want you to take away from this is that it is extremely rare to have a winning record against teams that finished the season with a winning record.

Kirk Cousins against winning teams conclusion

Kirk Cousins is a unique case because he has performed very well in many of the losses. When you really dig into it, this stat is more a product of bad luck than poor performance.

Football is a true team game and Cousins hasn’t always had the best team or most consistent team around him. That is heavily impacting his record. Some make the argument that he just isn’t a winner and I would urge them to look at it more critically.

Things are looking better in Minnesota with coaching continuity. I am confident that this stat will end on a better note.