Without Cousins, that turns into a beat down last night.
Cousins has carried the team in a couple different games already, most notably the DEN game... he's trying to get paid again this offseason. Cousins is a top-10 QB in basically all stats this season; he had a rough start, but has been good-to-excellent since. The offense as a whole is top-10 in scoring.
The problem with the Vikings isn't Cousins, it's the defense. They've given up 20+ in 3 of their 4 losses (as well as giving up 20+ in narrow wins against the Cowboys and Broncos). Vikings D is average,
at best. Offense (including Cousins) is above average by pretty much any measure.
Cousins is averaging 8.5 YPA, ~250 YPG, ~2 TDs/g, less than 1 TO/g, and carries a 111.9 passer rating on the season. It's not all "garbage time stats" on an 8-4 team.
That said, things could trend downward if Cook misses extended time, and we've already been hurting some offensively without Theilen.