The Minnesota Vikings edged the New Orleans Saints 26-20 on January 5, 2020, at the Superdome, behind a Kirk Cousins overtime touchdown pass. For Saints fans, that moment had to feel debilitating. New Orleans had won 13 games and entered the postseason with legitimate Super Bowl aspirations, only to watch Cousins connect with Adam Thielen for 43 yards in overtime before finding Kyle Rudolph for the walk-off touchdown.
There are certain players who just become attached to moments a fan base would rather forget. For the Saints, Kirk Cousins has become one of those names. On Sunday, Cousins walks back into the Superdome, this time in Raiders silver and black. His team is 2-0, he’s thrown six touchdowns through two games, and once again, he’s standing opposite a Saints team that has started to generate buzz. Saints fans don’t need a reminder of January 5, 2020, and if that playoff loss wasn’t enough, Cousins came back last season with Atlanta and beat New Orleans 24-10 in the Superdome before beating them again in the season finale. Sure, the Saints have beaten him too, but there’s enough history there that when Kirk Cousins walks into the building, you notice.
Still, this one isn’t just about him. It’s about whether New Orleans can handle success. Two years ago, the Saints opened 2-0, the offense was humming, and everyone was buzzing about Klint Kubiak’s system. Then came the injuries. Erik McCoy went down, the offensive line was disrupted, and the season spiraled into a seven-game losing streak. This week feels uncomfortably familiar. The Saints are coming off a huge win in Baltimore, the league is beginning to talk about how good this team could be, and now left tackle Kelvin Banks Jr. is out with an ankle injury. Meanwhile, the offensive coordinator who helped lead that explosive start two years ago is now standing on the opposite sideline.
That’s what makes this Sunday bigger than the records. It’s an early gut check for a Saints team trying to prove this season can be different. Can they absorb a punch like losing Banks without allowing one injury to become the beginning of something much bigger? Asim Richards came in and was able to help get them through Baltimore, but now the question becomes whether he can handle being the guy at left tackle for a significant period of time.
And, of course, because football has a sense of humor, Kirk Cousins and Klint Kubiak are coming back to New Orleans together. Cousins represents the ghost of playoff heartbreak, while Kubiak’s return, coupled with another significant offensive-line injury, brings back memories of a Saints team that looked promising before everything suddenly fell apart.
Maybe that’s exactly what New Orleans needs right now. Instead of running from those memories, they get an opportunity to confront them. They get Cousins back in the Superdome. They get Kubiak on the opposing sideline. They get another early-season injury to the offensive line just as people are beginning to believe in them again.
The circumstances feel familiar. Now it’s time to find out if the ending will be different.
Kirk Cousins and Klint Kubiak are coming back to New Orleans, and it’s time to see if the New Orleans Saints can finally exorcise their demons.
