Aaron Rodgers and Kirk Cousins aren't often mentioned in the same breath. Rodgers is viewed as one of the best quarterbacks in the league, a two-time NFL MVP who was also named Super Bowl MVP after leading the Green Bay Packers to a championship following the 2010 season. Cousins, who has an 11-14 career record under center, is coming off his first full season as a starter and has attempted just 10 passes in the postseason.
Kirk Cousins lacks Aaron Rodgers’ playoff experience, but it might not matter
Cousins is on the hottest streak of his career, while Rodgers and the Green Bay offense have had trouble finding a groove this season.
Jeff Hanisch-USA TODAY Sports
Jeanna Kelley has been covering the Falcons for The Falcoholic since 2011 and the NFL for SB Nation since 2015.
The disparity in playoff experience may not matter when the Green Bay Packers take on Washington in an NFC Wild Card matchup at 4:40 p.m. ET in Washington.
Rodgers has played in 12 postseason games, seven of which were wins. After the Super Bowl title, though, the Packers and Rodgers have just two playoff victories. The Packers' offense has taken a nosedive this season, and Rodgers has posted a 92.7 quarterback rating, his lowest since he assumed the starting job in Green Bay in 2008. The Packers managed to score a combined total of 21 points in their last two regular season games in 2015.
After jumping out to a 6-0 start, Green Bay lost six of its last 10 games. The Packers finished 10-6, and for the first time since that Super Bowl-winning season in 2010, they didn’t earn an NFC North title.
Rodgers is just one season removed from being named the league’s MVP for the second time in his career. In Rodgers’ career as a starter, Green Bay’s passing offense has never fallen outside of the top 10 in the league. This season, it’s ranked 26th.
But Rodgers has also had trouble getting help from an offense dealing with constant health issues. He lost his top receiver, Jordy Nelson, before the season even began, while other weapons, like running back Eddie Lacy and wide receiver Davante Adams, have battled injuries and a lack of productivity. The entire offensive line has been banged up and has allowed Rodgers to take 47 sacks this season. Rodgers told ESPN's Jason Wilde, however, that he hasn't lost confidence, and that the Packers have a different level of focus going into the playoffs.
“As much as you wouldn’t want this to be the standard, that you can ‘turn it on and off,’ I think our guys are turning it on this week,” Rodgers said. “And we’re going to play better.”
The difference in postseason experience isn’t the only thing that sets Kirk Cousins apart from Rodgers. Cousins, despite taking just 11 snaps in his only playoff game, is going into Sunday’s matchup with the perception that it’s really just another game.
“The word I’ve always heard is that playoff games are faster and that suddenly the game changes,” Cousins told Scott Allen of the Washington Post. “I don’t remember that being true. I think it’s still an NFL football game, there’s still great players on the field like there were weeks 1 through 17.”
As a rookie in 2012, Cousins came into a wild card game against the Seattle Seahawks in relief of an injured Robert Griffin III and completed 3 of 10 passes for 31 yards. Cousins also fumbled once, and he posted a quarterback rating of 40.
This season, however, Cousins entered Week 1 as the starter and his play has gotten progressively better. Since Washington’s Week 8 bye, Cousins has posted four separate four-touchdown games. Cousins has completed 69.8 percent of his passes for 4,166 yards and 29 touchdowns -- all career bests. Despite earlier turnover issues, Cousins threw just two picks in the second half of the season to help Washington close out the year on a 6-2 run and an NFC East crown.
Cousins has played so well that it’s led some to raise the question of whether Cousins or Rodgers will be the better quarterback over the next few years. Washington has done a good job of protecting Cousins, allowing just 27 sacks on the season, and that’s certainly part of the difference in performance. Washington is 10th in the league in points per game with 24.2, and its passing offense is 11th in the league with 255.9 yards per game.
Cousins is less seasoned than Rodgers and hasn’t faced the pressure of starting in a playoff game. But if Rodgers can’t get Green Bay’s offense functioning more effectively than it has in recent weeks, previous experience won’t matter.
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