Kevin O’Connell’s reaction to Kirk Cousins’ rushing TD was the same as yours

When he worked out at the 2012 NFL Combine, Michigan State quarterback Kirk Cousins didn’t exactly light up the track when he ran the 40-yard dash in 4.93 seconds. I mean, that’s a hell of a lot faster than I can run it (or most of the folks reading this, for that matter), but it’s not exactly top-end speed.

But, that didn’t matter when Cousins dropped back to pass on 3rd-and-4 from the Arizona Cardinals’ 17-yard line on the Vikings’ opening drive of their victory at U.S. Bank Stadium, when he couldn’t find anyone open, scrambled around the right side, and then blazed. . .relatively speaking. . .into the end zone for a 17-yard rushing touchdown.

NFL Films got Kevin O’Connell’s reaction to the score, and he summarized it in pretty much the same way that the rest of us did.

“What the **** was that?”

What the **** was that, indeed, coach. What the **** was that?

I’ve said numerous times on social media that Cousins’ scrambling ability is not too dissimilar from watching Bambi try to walk across the ice in the classic Disney movie. I stand by that statement, but you know what? Six points is six points. . .the NFL doesn’t award style points or anything like that and if Kirk Cousins can take off and get 17 yards, then by all means he should do that.

But the 17-yard run on Sunday wasn’t the longest run of Cousins’ career. It wasn’t even the longest run of his Vikings’ career. It wasn’t even the longest run of his Vikings’ career against the Arizona Cardinals. No, in last year’s loss to Arizona, Cousins broke off a 29-yard run that set up a Justin Jefferson touchdown catch early in the second quarter.

We didn’t know that Kirk Cousins had a 17-yard touchdown run in him. Apparently, his coach didn’t know, either.