Baker Mayfield, Kirk Cousins Still Out To Prove Themselves

With the regular-season opener for the Bucs rapidly approaching against the Vikings, it is worth discussing who is under center for both teams – Baker Mayfield and Kirk Cousins.

For Mayfield, it will be his opening act to demonstrate that he can turn his career around at 28 years old and parlay his performance into a long-term home either in Tampa Bay or elsewhere. While Cousins has found a home in Minnesota and heads into his sixth season with the team, postseason success has eluded him. He has long had impressive counting stats and Pro Bowl selections, but at 35 years old, time is running out to improve his 1-3 playoff record.

There is a changing of the guard in the NFC without Tom Brady and Aaron Rodgers now with the Jets, leaving both quarterbacks jockeying to lead their teams to success.

Baker Mayfield’s Fresh Start Begins With Facing Vikings

No one is more excited for a fresh start to establish himself than Baker Mayfield. While he came into the league with much fanfare, that has dissipated as the public consensus is that his best football is behind him and he is now a bridge starter at best.

Despite the outside noise, he has felt the newfound energy within the Bucs building, and will surely feel it at U.S. Bank Stadium on Sunday afternoon with the echoing of ‘SKOL’ chants. It is now his time to go out and win some games.

“It is a fresh start – a new organization, they do it extremely well,” Mayfield said. “This is a veteran group – yeah, we have a lot of new, young pieces, but there’s still a lot of key veterans that have won a lot, a lot of games.

“For me, it’s to cherish that moment – take advantage of the opportunity. I know what’s at stake here, but it’s one game at a time. If I take care of business here, we’re going to win a lot of football games.”

Taking care of business includes handling the first foe ahead of Mayfield and the Bucs – the Vikings. Coming off a 13-4 season, they have the chance to invade the top spot of the NFC North for years like the Scandinavian pillagers they are named after. Mayfield has the challenge of directing the offense in enemy territory, and he recalled what that experience was like the last time.

“The ‘SKOL’ chant is awesome,” Mayfield added. “It’s one of those traditions that you kind of look around and you enjoy it as an away team. They’re extremely loud on third down and when you’re backed up in the red zone or close up, about to score. It’s just a fun environment to play in and those are things that you always look back…it’s one of those football moments that you truly enjoy as being an opponent.”

Vikings Looking To Remain A Contender Led By Kirk Cousins

When the Vikings signed Kirk Cousins back in 2018, they were hoping to finally end the cycle of quarterbacks post-Brett Favre earlier in the decade. While they have found stability with Cousins, they have yet to truly have the success they have hoped to. Still, they remain a formidable opponent for the Bucs in Week 1, and Cousins is the nucleus, the one at the center of it all.

“He’s accurate, co-defensive coordinator Larry Foote said. “He’s got a lot of numbers in this league, he’s been playing great ball since he got in this league. I remember [him] from Michigan State, but he’s a good guy. He’s a weapon, we got to disguise stuff. He’s seen it all, so we just got to make plays.”

They have had a solid core on defense for years, but they had to fill holes there in recent seasons.

Vikings QB Kirk Cousins – Photo by: USA Today

It was a seamless transition moving on from Everson Griffen with Danielle Hunter solidifying himself as a standout pass rusher, but longtime inside linebacker Eric Kendricks was let go and signed with the Chargers. Safety Harrison Smith remains, but at 34 years old, how much longer can he truly be a ballhawk?

That puts more of a burden on Kirk Cousins’ shoulders, and he will have to adjust without Dalvin Cook as his lead running back, and Adam Thielen as his security blanket at wide receiver.

In a lot of ways, their time is running out, and regression may come this season as the Lions and Bears trend upward and the Packers confident in their young core surrounding new quarterback Jordan Love.

It can be argued that Cousins’ legacy hinges on the outcome of this season, and if he can be more than just the sum of the team around him. He has two 10-win seasons as an NFL quarterback in eight seasons as a starter, but it will be tougher for the team to repeat at 13-4 if they revert to the median outcome of close games and losing key players.

But as he has shown on more than just his appearance on the Netflix show “Quarterback,” he’s not going to back down when things get tough. “He’s not afraid,” Foote added. You see he steps up in the pocket, he does a good job waiting for the routes to get open. The main thing when you see those quarterbacks, when you take those hits, you’re displaying that you’re not afraid. The good ones, they’re not. That’s why he’s been one of the good quarterbacks in this league for some time.”

Bucs-Vikings Is An Early Look At The Trajectory Of NFC

Bucs WRs Chris Godwin and Mike Evans, QB Baker Mayfield and OC Dave Canales – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

One can come to the conclusion that this matchup will be an early barometer of the competition level within the NFC. The Bucs and Vikings have large question marks around them on whether they can still be playoff-caliber teams, and those questions will only be answered by how far Baker Mayfield and Kirk Cousins take them.

Both quarterbacks have a lot to prove, and face plenty of obstacles ahead of their respective paths to the playoffs. That only adds to the allure of their Week 1 showdown.

“It’s finally here,” Mayfield said. “It’s what you work all year for. The real thing is finally here. We’re ready to finally go out and play somebody else for real and just see all the things that we’ve been working on – see how it comes to life, all the little details, all the offseason workouts, the foundational stuff that we’ve been trying to get installed and to see how it plays out and just to see how guys handle it throughout the game.

“It’s football. It’s the highest level you can play at, so there are going to be ebbs and flows, ups and downs during the game. We’re built to handle that adversity and I’m excited to see how we do.”