Working on an overview of the Vikings, I notice that Kirk Cousins pulled off an usual statistical feat last year. He threw 20 more touchdowns than interceptions yet finished only 19th in fantasy scoring at his position. It hardly seems possible.
Yet, there it is. Cousins didn’t pass as much last year, and he wasn’t much of a factor as a runner. Eighteen other quarterbacks finished with better numbers (using standard scoring). If you want to instead look at points per game, Cousins drops down to 24th – a bottom-10 quarterback.
I had to check the numbers to see if this had been done before. I see 82 quartebacks since the merger who’ve thrown 20 more touchdowns than interceptions. Only four ranked lower than 15th in scoring, and in each case, missed games were a factor. (Drew Brees started only 11 games last year, Tom Brady had a four-game suspension in 2016, and only 10 starts for Nick Foles in 2013.)
Cousins also finished with 20 more touchdowns than interceptions in the 2018 season. He ranked 8th among quarterbacks that year.
Only five quarterbacks have put together three-year streaks, and they’re all greats – Brees, Brady, Peyton Manning, Russell Wilson and Aaron Rodgers.
20 MORE TOUCHDOWNS THAN PICKS | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Year | Player | GS | TD | Int | Diff | Pts | Rk |
2013 | Peyton Manning, Den. | 16 | 55 | 10 | 45 | 498.8 | 1 |
2018 | Patrick Mahomes, K.C. | 16 | 50 | 12 | 38 | 496.1 | 1 |
2011 | Drew Brees, N.O. | 16 | 46 | 14 | 32 | 478.4 | 1 |
2019 | Lamar Jackson, Balt. | 15 | 36 | 6 | 30 | 463.0 | 1 |
2007 | Tom Brady, N.E. | 16 | 50 | 8 | 42 | 462.1 | 1 |
2011 | Aaron Rodgers, G.B. | 15 | 45 | 6 | 39 | 455.9 | 2 |
2015 | Cam Newton, Car. | 16 | 35 | 10 | 25 | 455.5 | 1 |
2004 | Daunte Culpepper, Min. | 16 | 39 | 11 | 28 | 450.5 | 1 |
2011 | Tom Brady, N.E. | 16 | 39 | 12 | 27 | 446.7 | 4 |
2016 | Aaron Rodgers, G.B. | 16 | 40 | 7 | 33 | 446.3 | 1 |
1984 | Dan Marino, Mia. | 16 | 48 | 17 | 31 | 445.5 | 1 |
2014 | Andrew Luck, Ind. | 16 | 40 | 16 | 24 | 443.4 | 1 |
1998 | Steve Young, S.F. | 15 | 36 | 12 | 24 | 441.9 | 1 |
2012 | Drew Brees, N.O. | 16 | 43 | 19 | 24 | 437.4 | 1 |
2013 | Drew Brees, N.O. | 16 | 39 | 12 | 27 | 437.3 | 2 |
2018 | Matt Ryan, Atl. | 16 | 35 | 7 | 28 | 428.2 | 3 |
2011 | Matthew Stafford, Det. | 16 | 41 | 16 | 25 | 427.7 | 5 |
2004 | Peyton Manning, Ind. | 16 | 49 | 10 | 39 | 427.7 | 2 |
2016 | Drew Brees, N.O. | 16 | 37 | 15 | 22 | 422.4 | 2 |
2017 | Russell Wilson, Sea. | 16 | 34 | 11 | 23 | 415.8 | 1 |
2016 | Matt Ryan, Atl. | 16 | 38 | 7 | 31 | 414.9 | 3 |
1994 | Steve Young, S.F. | 16 | 35 | 10 | 25 | 413.8 | 1 |
1986 | Dan Marino, Mia. | 16 | 44 | 23 | 21 | 413.0 | 1 |
2014 | Aaron Rodgers, G.B. | 16 | 38 | 5 | 33 | 412.0 | 2 |
2012 | Aaron Rodgers, G.B. | 16 | 39 | 8 | 31 | 411.6 | 2 |
2015 | Tom Brady, N.E. | 16 | 36 | 7 | 29 | 410.4 | 2 |
2009 | Aaron Rodgers, G.B. | 16 | 30 | 7 | 23 | 409.3 | 1 |
1995 | Brett Favre, G.B. | 16 | 38 | 13 | 25 | 408.8 | 1 |
2018 | Andrew Luck, Ind. | 16 | 39 | 15 | 24 | 405.9 | 4 |
2000 | Jeff Garcia, S.F. | 16 | 31 | 10 | 21 | 405.3 | 2 |
2012 | Tom Brady, N.E. | 16 | 34 | 8 | 26 | 404.6 | 3 |
1990 | Warren Moon, Hou. | 15 | 33 | 13 | 20 | 400.0 | 2 |
1999 | Kurt Warner, St.L. | 16 | 41 | 13 | 28 | 398.9 | 1 |
2015 | Russell Wilson, Sea. | 16 | 34 | 8 | 26 | 398.5 | 4 |
2018 | Jared Goff, LAR | 16 | 32 | 12 | 20 | 397.2 | 6 |
2014 | Peyton Manning, Den. | 16 | 39 | 15 | 24 | 394.0 | 3 |
1999 | Steve Beuerlein, Car. | 16 | 36 | 15 | 21 | 390.2 | 2 |
2019 | Russell Wilson, Sea. | 16 | 31 | 5 | 26 | 383.7 | 5 |
2014 | Ben Roethlisberger, Pitt. | 16 | 32 | 9 | 23 | 383.7 | 5 |
2012 | Peyton Manning, Den. | 16 | 37 | 11 | 26 | 383.6 | 6 |
1996 | Brett Favre, G.B. | 16 | 39 | 13 | 26 | 382.6 | 1 |
2015 | Carson Palmer, Ariz. | 16 | 35 | 11 | 24 | 382.0 | 5 |
1995 | Scott Mitchell, Det. | 16 | 32 | 12 | 20 | 381.3 | 2 |
2015 | Drew Brees, N.O. | 15 | 32 | 11 | 21 | 378.9 | 6 |
2006 | Peyton Manning, Ind. | 16 | 31 | 9 | 22 | 375.5 | 1 |
2009 | Drew Brees, N.O. | 15 | 34 | 11 | 23 | 373.3 | 2 |
2015 | Eli Manning, NYG | 16 | 35 | 14 | 21 | 367.7 | 7 |
2018 | Aaron Rodgers, G.B. | 16 | 25 | 2 | 23 | 367.0 | 7 |
2001 | Jeff Garcia, S.F. | 16 | 32 | 12 | 20 | 364.3 | 2 |
2017 | Tom Brady, N.E. | 16 | 32 | 8 | 24 | 363.7 | 3 |
2015 | Aaron Rodgers, G.B. | 16 | 31 | 8 | 23 | 363.5 | 8 |
2018 | Kirk Cousins, Min. | 16 | 30 | 10 | 20 | 360.1 | 8 |
2013 | Philip Rivers, S.D. | 16 | 32 | 11 | 21 | 358.2 | 6 |
2004 | Donovan McNabb, Phil. | 15 | 31 | 8 | 23 | 357.8 | 3 |
2018 | Drew Brees, N.O. | 15 | 32 | 5 | 27 | 356.9 | 9 |
2018 | Philip Rivers, LAC | 16 | 32 | 12 | 20 | 354.1 | 10 |
2018 | Russell Wilson, Sea. | 16 | 35 | 7 | 28 | 351.9 | 12 |
2008 | Philip Rivers, S.D. | 16 | 34 | 11 | 23 | 348.9 | 5 |
2010 | Tom Brady, N.E. | 16 | 36 | 4 | 32 | 348.0 | 6 |
2017 | Alex Smith, K.C. | 15 | 26 | 5 | 21 | 347.6 | 6 |
1998 | Randall Cunningham, Min. | 14 | 34 | 10 | 24 | 347.1 | 3 |
2019 | Carson Wentz, Phil. | 16 | 27 | 7 | 20 | 344.3 | 9 |
2011 | Tony Romo, Dall. | 16 | 31 | 10 | 21 | 343.8 | 9 |
2009 | Brett Favre, Min. | 16 | 33 | 7 | 26 | 343.6 | 7 |
2014 | Tom Brady, N.E. | 16 | 33 | 9 | 24 | 343.2 | 11 |
2019 | Patrick Mahomes, K.C. | 14 | 26 | 5 | 21 | 341.4 | 10 |
2017 | Carson Wentz, Phil. | 13 | 33 | 7 | 26 | 334.7 | 8 |
2019 | Aaron Rodgers, G.B. | 16 | 26 | 4 | 22 | 334.4 | 12 |
2005 | Carson Palmer, Cin. | 16 | 32 | 12 | 20 | 331.9 | 1 |
2014 | Tony Romo, Dall. | 15 | 34 | 9 | 25 | 327.4 | 13 |
2016 | Derek Carr, Oak. | 15 | 28 | 6 | 22 | 325.9 | 12 |
2013 | Tony Romo, Dall. | 15 | 31 | 10 | 21 | 321.2 | 13 |
1997 | Jeff George, Oak. | 16 | 29 | 9 | 20 | 320.3 | 3 |
2007 | Ben Roethlisberger, Pitt. | 15 | 32 | 11 | 21 | 320.1 | 8 |
2017 | Jared Goff, LAR | 15 | 28 | 7 | 21 | 313.3 | 13 |
2019 | Kirk Cousins, Min. | 15 | 26 | 6 | 20 | 298.5 | 19 |
2016 | Tom Brady, N.E. | 12 | 28 | 2 | 26 | 298.1 | 21 |
2013 | Nick Foles, Phil. | 10 | 27 | 2 | 25 | 296.7 | 17 |
1998 | Vinny Testaverde, NYJ | 13 | 29 | 7 | 22 | 295.2 | 7 |
2004 | Drew Brees, S.D. | 15 | 27 | 7 | 20 | 291.3 | 11 |
2010 | Matt Cassel, K.C. | 15 | 27 | 7 | 20 | 276.3 | 15 |
2019 | Drew Brees, N.O. | 11 | 27 | 4 | 23 | 262.6 | 25 |
—Ian Allan