Nincompoop of the Week: Week 4 (Panthers)

Have to be honest, the game Sunday didn’t have me excited at all. There aren’t a ton of Nincompoop nominees this week, but the entire team is sleepwalking right now. Hopefully T-Swift wakes them up.

Kirk Cousins – Why is Kirk a Nincompoop? He is so slow out there. The last two weeks he has looked slow, but against the Panthers it was bad. He tossed a terrible pick six in the red zone where he stared at the receiver and was late on an out route. He had another where he got hit as he threw. The turnovers are killing this team. They were losing to the Panthers until the defense put the Vikes in front. If it weren’t for JJ, Kirk would’ve had nothing on Sunday and most of his yards were on a free play. Kirk is playing very indecisive, and he needs to snap out of it. Not sure if the rash of turnovers has him playing scared or if he just isn’t feeling it, but the team needs Kirktober to happen if they have a shot at the playoffs.

Kevin O’Connell – Why is KOC a Nincompoop? I bash on KOC a lot, but I don’t see the energy from this team. They came out flat against the Panthers and it isn’t like KOC made adjustments to win the game. The defense was great in this game, but it might be more because of bad offense from the Panthers. There is no juice right now and hopefully the Chefs coming into town changes that. Glad he gave Cam Akers some play time. Also hoping Risner is coming soon too.

Ezra Cleveland - Why is Ezra a Nincompoop? Ezra can’t open a hole in the run game to save his life. He is just incapable of giving room to run. If the RB is running left, they must go off tackle. His pass blocking isn’t much better, but at least it is competent. He’s in his last year of his rookie deal and I don’t see him back next year. Hoping Risner can displace Cleveland in the starting lineup soon.

Dean Lowry – Why is Dean a Nincompoop? Many fans might not even know who he is. He’s playing roughly 1/3 of the defensive snaps. He does absolutely nothing out there. He is stealing money. The Vikes signed him to a 2 year $8.5M contract in the offseason. The dead cap of $1.8M is just going to be wasted when he is cut in the offseason.