04-16-2019, 07:09 PM
(04-16-2019, 05:36 PM)fredtoast Wrote: Cousins was playing a lot better than Dalton when he got that contract.
Over the 3 seasons prior to going to the Vikings ('15-'17) Cousins was the 6th highest rated QB (97.5) in the league and 4th in passing yards (13,176).
Yeah, I use these weird forgotten about stats to evaluate a QB...stats no one's ever heard of...
You know, Win-loss record: 68-50-2 Dalton (56.66%)/ 34-37-2 Cousins (46.5%) ,4th Quarter comebacks: 20 Dalton/9 Cousins, Game winning drives: 24 Dalton/12 Cousins, taking a team to the playoffs: 4 (5 including 2015) Dalton/2 (including 1 as backup QB) Cousins.
You cite Cousin's QB rating and neglect that his best year (2015) Dalton had a better QB rating than Cousins (106.2/101.6) and in the following two seasons while Cousins graded out better in QB Rating, the gap isn't nearly as big as you make it out to be: 97.2 Cousins/91.8 Dalton in '16, 93.9 Cousins/86.6 Dalton in '17.
And 2016? Cousins was throwing to DeSean Jackson, Pierre Garcon, Vernon Davis, and Jordan Reed (who went to the Pro Bowl). Meanwhile, Andy had AJ for 10 games, Brandon Lafell, half a season (2 starts) from Eifert, Kroft and a rookie Boyd. That's a massive difference in talent to throw to between the two teams.
Cousins is a solid QB who's never won more than 9 games in a season during his career. He stepped into a starting role on the NFC runners-up as a supposed upgrade and led them to a 8-7-1 record. You can blame early struggles on the ineptitude of the Redskins if you want. However in an ineptitude battle between Washington's and Cincinnati's front offices and coaches...it's neck and neck. Cousins is like Matt Stafford, he can put up numbers, but the stat that matters most (W's) he struggles with.
If you want to think Cousins is that much better than Dalton, that's fine. I don't think either are upper-echelon QB's, but neither are bottom of the NFL either. I'd place them in about the same area if I were ranking starting QB's in the NFL. Hence why I cited Cousins' stupid contract as he's a good but not great NFL QB that conned the Vikings into 84 mil over 3 years fully guaranteed. The main difference I see is that one finds ways to win, the other finds ways to pad his stats. Is it likely Dalton'll get a contract similar to Cousins'? No, but I'd argue that age will be the key factor in that as Dalton'll be 33 when he hits free agency whereas Cousins was 29.
