Kirk Cousins playing with 'a little more swag' as he leads Minnesota Vikings to impressive win over Seattle Seahawks

Kirk Cousins might never win over the majority of fans unless he delivers a Super Bowl in Minnesota, but he gave those that doubt him little to work with on Sunday as he out-duelled Russell Wilson to inspire the Vikings to victory over the Seattle Seahawks. 

The veteran quarterback finished 30 of 38 passing for 323 yards and three touchdowns with a 128.4 passer rating, extending his interception-free start to the campaign. His eight touchdown passes to zero picks and 73.9 completion percentage marks his best start to a season across the opening three games.

On top of that, he has now thrown 32 touchdowns and just three interceptions in his last 13 games dating back to last season.

"He has a little more swag to him this year actually," said running back Alexander Mattison. "Being around Jet (Justin Jefferson) in the locker room, the lockers are switched around a little bit. He has a little more swag to him. He's one of those playmakers, he always has been that way. He's just stepped up even more honing in on his craft and making everyone better around him. Huge credit to Kirk for the way he played today and the way he led us.

"Some of the stuff he says, it's pretty funny just coming from him. He's definitely opened up a little bit and it's awesome to see. Even how he runs and scrambles, it's a little different than it was before. He's just taking the reins and he's an amazing leader."

Cousins connected with star receiver Justin Jefferson on nine passes for 118 yards and a touchdown, while Mattison carried the workload superbly in the absence of the injured Dalvin Cook with 112 yards rushing off 26 carries as the Vikings offense registered seven more first downs than the Seahawks while converting nine of 14 third downs.

The 33-year-old was commanding throughout, one third-and-five in the fourth quarter proving as much as he retreated to buy himself an extra split second against the blitz before letting rip as the contact came for a 15-yard completion to K.J. Osborn. It was the kind of trust in his receiver that has seen him target 10 different players over the first three weeks of the season.

"It's been a different Kirk," said receiver Adam Thielen. "He's just locked in and on time, he's trusting it. I think a big part of that is our O-line and the way they're blocking and giving him enough time to sit back there and make his reads."

Minnesota could well be sitting 3-0 at the top of the NFC North having seen a Cook fumble in overtime open the door to a Cincinnati Bengals game-winning field goal in Week One and kicker Greg Joseph fire wide on his 37-yard attempt against the Arizona Cardinals in Week Two.

Vikings head coach Mike Zimmer looked past any lingering tension between him and Cousin regarding the latter's decision not to be vaccinated by praising the influence of his quarterback on the field.

"I think he's playing outstanding," said Zimmer. "But not only that, he's playing with a lot of confidence. I really appreciate the leadership that he's been doing lately.

"It's been so much better, something he wanted to work on. He's done a great job with that. He's very confident where he's throwing the football. He's very confident with these receivers. I think the offensive line has helped him do some of those things as well."

His confidence was perhaps unorthodoxly underlined in the second quarter when he tore off his cleat and threw it behind him before taking a snap in shotgun after the referee had refused to stop the play clock so he could fix it before third down.

As for Mattison's 'more swag' claim, Cousins wasn't so sure.

"Kyle Shanahan used to say that my swag was having no swag," Cousins joked. "He told me as a rookie to never change."

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