Kirk Cousins As The Savior Is A Stretch

Finally, someone is using reason and logic in their analysis. You know, like when did Kirk Cousins become Tom Brady?

Joe already mentioned a YouTube spat between former Bucs beat guy and current PFF Tribe analyst Trevor Sikkema and one of the high priests of the tribe, Sam Monson.

The latter mocked Sikkema as a Dixie Chicks “hater” for his take that Atlanta didn’t improve more than the Bucs. Joe would suggest anyone picking Atlanta over the Bucs is a Baker Mayfield hater — and there are many of those lurking.

Sikkema typed a piece for the tribe earlier this month where he just doesn’t see other teams in the division with the ammunition to overtake the Bucs in the NFC South this fall.

What blows Joe away is how many folks think Cousins is the magic elixir for the Dixie Chicks. But as Sikkema pointed out, Cousins’ numbers before he suffered his blown Achilles were down.

(If someone were to say Atlanta would win the division because fired Artie Smith was such a joke of a head coach, Joe would buy that before putting so much stock into Cousins.)

But last year, before his injury, Cousins put up career lows in both average depth of target and big-time throw percentage. He will also be 36 years old and coming off an Achilles injury.

The latter element is what Joe has been harping on all offseason. An Achilles is a major injury. Expecting a 36-year old quarterback to bounce back from that like it was a sprained ankle is a bit of a leap for Joe.

And like Sikkema also mentioned, those claiming Mayfield has a new offensive coordinator, while accurate, overlook that Cousins does, too. At least Mayfield has a history with new Bucs offensive shot-caller Liam Coen.

Maybe because “this Joe” is sitting on social media at least half the day finding whatever morsels of news on the Bucs that exists. It sure seems like the very same NFL smarty-pants who mocked Cousins for years as being a choke artist and not being clutch are all of a sudden jumping on his bandwagon.

Maybe they think an average quarterback can win in Atlanta? Joe gives Friend of Ira, Judy Battista of NFL.com, credit for having maybe the smartest take on Cousins saying he should be good enough for two wins and that’s why she’s picking Atlanta.

Still, that fully overlooks Cousins’ injury last year. And his trending-down numbers.

Joe actually thinks the Bucs may have improved with their offseason moves and with all the rookies who contributed now being one year older and wiser, and perhaps better.