Vikings vs. Eagles NFL Week 2 odds, trends: Kirk Cousins winless against teams other than Bears in ugly 11-game Monday night career
Vikings quarterback Kirk Cousins has not been good on Monday nights in his career.
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If you bet Major League Baseball, you will find trends on how teams fare on certain days because obviously they play seven days a week (for the most part). This writer doesn't put much stock into those type of trends in that sport, but how teams or quarterbacks fare on Monday nights in the NFL has some legitimacy simply because it's usually one of the marquee matchups of a given week… and that brings us to quarterback Kirk Cousins and the Minnesota Vikings tonight in Philadelphia. The Eagles are 2.5-point favorites at Caesars Sportsbook. . Both teams are seeking their first 2-0 start since 2016.
As a glass half-full type, I'll tell you that Cousins has won two straight starts on Monday night. As a realist, however, I will tell you that those two wins were against middling Chicago Bears teams (2021 & '20), and that he's 2-9 on MNF overall dating to his days with Washington. In those 11 games, Cousins' averages are 22.2 completions in 34.8 attempts, 241.3 yards, 1.5 touchdowns, 0.7 interceptions and 1.9 sacks taken. His overall rating on Monday nights is 89.3. The 34-year-old's career rating is 98.8.
The last time the Vikings played a team other than Chicago on Monday night was Week 16 of the 2019 season at home vs. Green Bay, and Minnesota lost 23-10. Cousins was terrible, completing 16 of his 31 passes for 122 yards, a TD and a pick. The Vikings have had MNF issues dating back to even before Cousins came to town, as aside from those two Bears victories, the previous Vikings MNF victory was Oct. 6, 2008, at New Orleans.
After not playing a preseason snap for new head coach Kevin O'Connell, Cousins looked good in Minnesota's 23-7 win over Green Bay in Week 1, completing 23-for-32 for 277 yards, two TDs and no picks. He averaged 8.66 yards per completion despite throwing only two balls more than 20 yards in the air, never came close to an interception and completed 6.7% more of his passes than expected, according to NFL Next Gen Stats. Cousins is 2-0 straight up and against the spread in his Vikings career against the Eagles, but the teams haven't played since 2019.
The Eagles were 38-35 winners in Detroit in Week 1 but nearly blew a 38-21 fourth-quarter lead. Philly was the NFL's top rushing team last year and gashed the Lions for 216 yards. Four different players had a rushing score, a first for the Eagles since 1961. That was the 20th career NFL start for Eagles QB Jalen Hurts, and he became the only player in NFL history with at least 4,000 passing yards and 1,000 rushing yards through 20 career starts. Hurts is 1-3 in his career in prime-time games.
One sidebar story line here: In the 2020 NFL Draft, Eagles fans were livid that Philly GM Howie Roseman took TCU receiver Jalen Reagor at No. 21 overall instead of LSU wideout Justin Jefferson, who went 22nd to the Vikings. Jefferson might now be the best receiver in the league, while Reagor was a bust and was traded to Minnesota in late August for a 2023 seventh-round pick and a 2024 conditional fourth-round pick that becomes a fifth-round pick if Reagor doesn't reach certain statistical plateaus.
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