The Minnesota Vikings notched a 22-17 win over the San Francisco 49ers in Week 7.
That loss may have come back to haunt the latter 14 weeks later. They became the latest victims of the “Kirk Cousins Curse”. If the 49ers were unaware of the curse before the night, they might be well versed in it.
Fans on social media jumped on it after the 49ers blew a double-digit lead, falling to the Kansas City Chiefs 25-22 in the Super Bowl.
https://twitter.com/VikingsDynasty/status/1756889119001616460
The original “curse” was that no team that lost to Cousins in the regular season made it to the Super Bowl in that same campaign. With that out of the way following their NFC Championship victory over the Detroit Lions, the 49ers’ loss paved the way for the curse to be “reinvented” as one fan put it.
“The Kirk Cousins curse, reinvented,” the fan said in a post on X, formerly Twitter, on February 11. “No team has ever lost to Kirk Cousins in the regular season and gone on to win the Super Bowl.”
https://twitter.com/verysadvikings/status/1756891004785893469?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1756891004785893469%7Ctwgr%5E056a5e7327dadd6f00e676dc1b394378f605318a%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fheavy.com%2Fsports%2Fminnesota-vikings%2Fcousins-curse-49ers-super-bowl-chiefs%2F
That fan was not alone.
“The Kirk cousins Super Bowl curse lives on,” another fan said, echoing the sentiments of many others on the platform following the loss.
The Kirk cousins Super Bowl curse lives on
— Vikes crusader (@Vikescrusade123) February 12, 2024
Perhaps the biggest twist of fate for the 49ers is that Cousins had to leave early the following week after tearing his Achilles versus the Green Bay Packers. The Vikings did win that game 24-10 too, though, with Cousins passing for 274 yards and two touchdowns.
“The Kirk Cousins curse reigns SUPREME,” said yet another fan.
This is the second time subscribers to the theory can attribute a loss to Cousins. He is now 3-1 versus the 49ers in his career. This is after rumors linked him to the organization for years.
He is 2-1 with the Vikings, including in 2018 when the 49ers went 4-12. Their quarterback that season? Current Vikings backup Nick Mullens who went 3-5 as a rookie starter filling in for an injured Jimmy Garoppolo and C.J. Beathard.
Cousins finished this season with 2,331 passing yards, 18 touchdowns, and five interceptions.
The ‘Kirk Cousins Curse’ & the Vikings
“But there’s still another Kirk Cousins curse that will last forever,” a different fan said in response to a suggestion that Cousins was holding the Vikings back. “No team with Kirk as their starting QB has ever made a championship game.”
Cousins finished the season with a 4-4 record. The Vikings won four of his last five starts, including three straight, though. But the Vikings also have just one winning season in the last four campaigns with him under center. He has a 50-37-1 overall record with the franchise.
As he heads into free agency as one of the top players on the market, it’s something the Vikings should be mindful of.
It could also explain why General Manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah entertained a “step back”.
Could Kirk Cousins Walk Leave Minnesota in Free Agency?
“Ultimately, taking a step back in the short term isn’t a big deal if you don’t think you’re actually close [to a championship],” Adofo-Mensah told the media during his season-ending presser on January 10. “And those are always the conversations we try and have and go about.”
Most projections have Cousins commanding a multi-year contract worth roughly $40 million annually. He will turn 36 years old during the preseason and is coming off a serious injury.
His recovery appears to be on track and he is as anxious to learn his fate as Vikings fans are.
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