Kirk Cousins is going to be rich.
All right. Let's amend that. Because unless you're, say, Joe Flacco or Eli Manning, you read that first sentence and said to yourself, "Kirk Cousins is already rich." And you're right. Cousins is playing this season on a one-year franchise contract that's paying him $19.953 million. But this much is also true: As long as he finishes the season healthy, Cousins is going to get a monster raise -- and likely a monster long-term contract -- in the offseason.
The Washington Redskins franchised Cousins because they wanted to see more. They didn't want to turn over a hefty franchise-quarterback deal to a guy who had an 11-14 career record, even if he had just led them to a 2015 NFC East title. They basically told Cousins, "Do it again."
And he has. After a rough 0-2 start to the season, Cousins' team has gone 6-1-1 to stay not all that far behind the surprising Dallas Cowboys and the surprising New York Giants in the division race. Cousins threw an interception on 2 percent of his attempts last year, and he's at 1.8 this season. His yards per attempt last season were 7.7, and this year they're 8.0. If Cousins' mission was to show Washington that last year wasn't a fluke, he's doing just that. And Sunday night's 375-yard, three-touchdown eye-opener, in which he was the best quarterback in a game that featured Aaron Rodgers, was the latest negotiating point in his favor.
Washington could franchise Cousins again for next year, but it will cost them at least $23.94 million to do that. The more likely outcome is that he does get that long-term deal this time, and that it at least challenges -- if not surpasses -- the $24.594 million average annual salary of Andrew Luck's new deal with the Colts.
Cousins isn't the only quarterback playing himself into unheard-of money this season. Detroit's Matthew Stafford, signed through 2017, could get a contract extension next summer that pushes him well past that $25 million average. Atlanta's Matt Ryan has two years left on his deal. But based on the way this season has gone so far, when those guys try to set benchmarks in their next contracts, it could be Kirk Cousins whose deal they're trying to beat.
Some other stuff we learned in Week 11:
The Buccaneers might want to think about moving
Or becoming one of those full-time "rover" teams that plays only road games. Tampa Bay is 1-4 at home this year and 4-1 on the road, including wins at Atlanta, Carolina and, most recently, Kansas City. Jameis Winston said after the game that the Chiefs fans' in-game chant fired him up because it was the same one he used to hear at home games at Florida State. Bit of a research failure by the Chiefs' fans, that.
In all seriousness, though, Winston had eight interceptions in his first four games this year but has only two (to go with 12 touchdown passes) in his past six. His passer rating over that time is 102.2 -- eighth-best in the league. The Bucs are only a game out of first place, but even if they don't have enough to make a serious run this year, there's a lot to feel good about in Tampa. The only hitch is that the fans may have to get on a plane to see the team win.
The Vikings can't win when their offense has to provide all of the offense
Six of Minnesota's 22 touchdowns this year have come on defense or special teams. The Vikings are 4-0 when they get a defensive or special-teams touchdown, and 2-4 when they don't. They needed a 100-yard Xavier Rhodes interception return and a 104-yard Cordarrelle Patterson kick return to beat the Cardinals by six points at home on Sunday.
Only the Browns, Bears and Rams have a lower average of offensive points scored per game than Minnesota's 16.3. No team averages fewer yards per offensive play than the Vikings' 4.67. This is not a sustainable formula. But at least you know, if you're watching the early game Thursday and the Vikings score a non-offensive touchdown, that they're probably going to end the day in first place.
The new extra point rule is totally in the kickers' heads
NFL kickers have missed on just 10 out of 251 field goal attempts 33 yards or shorter this season. However, on Sunday alone, NFL kickers missed TWELVE extra-point attempts. The extra point, as of the start of the 2015 season, is the distance equivalent of a 33-yard field goal.
Obviously, it's not equivalent in a lot of other ways, because otherwise these professional kickers wouldn't be turning to pudding when they line up for a one-point kick. In Week 11, NFL kickers were a perfect 23-for-23 on field goal attempts of 33 yards or shorter -- and 41-for-47 on field goals of any distance. But 52-for-64 on extra points.
Potential solace: Buccaneers rookie kicker Roberto Aguayo, who only last week succeeded in officially having the word "beleaguered" removed from in front of his name on all documentation, was 4-for-4 on field goals and hit his only extra point attempt Sunday. So it can get better, kickers. It can get better.
Jared Goff is a project ... and that's OK
The Rams have made it clear they're determined to take things slowly with the No. 1 overall pick, who made his debut Sunday against a tough Dolphins defense and looked like a young player with a lot of work still to do. Chris Weinke, the Rams' quarterbacks coach, told me last week that Goff was "mentally ready" after a half-season-plus of working on his cadence, his huddle presence and his fluency in the Rams' offensive terminology. But it's clear that the Rams viewed Sunday as simply the latest step in Goff's development. They drafted him to be the answer for the long term, and if he's not the answer for 2016, they all have to live with that.
And it's not fair to laugh because Dak Prescott was taken 134 picks later and has led the Cowboys to a 9-1 record. Prescott has a monster offensive line, a true No. 1 wide receiver and a star running back. Goff has, at best, one of those things. We all want to see what it looks like when someone gets open down the field and Goff airs it out. But we have to wait, and so does he, and so do the Rams. That doesn't mean he wasn't worth taking No. 1 overall. We won't know for years whether he was. It just means that not every recipe takes the same amount of time to cook. If there's a concern about Goff, it should be about whether this Rams coaching staff is the right group of chefs to help him become great -- and about how long they'll get to prove it.
The NFC playoffs could look a lot different this season
Of last year's six NFC playoff teams, only Seattle and Washington would make it if the playoffs started today -- and Washington would be the No. 6 seed. The Packers, Vikings and Cardinals are a combined 3-10-1 over the past five weeks, showing no sign of turning things around. Defending conference champ Carolina has won three of its past four to improve to 4-6, but two of those wins were three-point squeakers wrapped around a crushing collapse against Kansas City. With road games in Oakland and Seattle the next two weeks, things look bleak for Carolina, and 2015 disappointments such as the Cowboys, Giants, Lions and Falcons see opportunity.