[Dion]

Cousins explains why he made the controversial pass that ended the season for the Vikings

Asked about the decision to throw to Hockenson rather than receiver Justin Jefferson or another vertical threat, Cousins said: "Just a shell read there. Saw single high. Tried to work Justin. Didn't feel good about putting it up to Justin. And then when I went to progress, I just felt like I was about to get sacked, and I felt like I've got to put the ball in play. I can't go down with a sack, so I thought I would kick it out to T.J.

"I had thrown short of the sticks on a few different occasions in the game, and even going back a few weeks, and just felt like throwing short of the sticks isn't the end of the world. It was obviously tight coverage so he didn't have a chance to pull away. I thought I was going to go down and take a sack if I didn't put it up."

O'Connell acknowledged that he approached Cousins afterward to understand why he made that throw, and the coach said: "I could have done a better job in the moment."

O'Connell said he would have preferred a downfield throw but didn't want to load up Cousins with directives before the snap.

"The intent as a playcaller is you're not going to call a primary concept where somebody's short of the sticks, especially if it's fourth down," O'Connell said. "Looking back on it, maybe I could have been a little bit more, 'Hey, this is where you want the ball to go.' But I want Kirk to be able to play and be free out there to make good decisions. He did all night long.

"In the end, I look at it as it's as much on me with that playcall, even though we had [eligible receivers] with a chance [to get] down the field maybe. There's always a play that could be better."

https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/...-13-win-season