Early in the Monday night clash between the Minnesota Vikings and the Chicago Bears, quarterback Kirk Cousins tossed an absolutely gorgeous pass to star wide receiver Justin Jefferson to open up the scoring. Cousins was 4-4 with 32 yards on the drive, capping it off with a brilliant display of touch and accuracy.
A pass toward the end of the first half with the same target — or so we think? — didn't end quite as well. It was still a majestic pass, in its own sense. It was majestically awful.
With just a minute left to go in the half and the Vikings looking to extend their seven-point lead ahead of the break, Cousins launched a deep ball down the middle of the field. The only problem was that no purple jerseys were to be found within a massive radius of where the pass attempt landed: in the arms of Bears safety Deon Bush.
What made the play look so bad is what happened off-camera, as Jefferson couldn't stay up to continue his route, leading to a complete miscommunication between quarterback and wide receiver. The only problem? Pictures show that Jefferson was already down on the ground before Cousins threw the pass... and he still decided to chuck it up with all his might.
It's almost funnier without the knowledge that Jefferson had fallen to the ground, as if Cousins had just heaved it up unknowingly without a receiver in sight. But due to the fact that the throw clearly seemed to become after all the chaos on Jefferson's route... well, maybe it is funnier that way! And as is expected with Twitter's usual treatment of horrendous NFL blunders, Cousins was the victim of some hilarious reactions.
Whether or not Jefferson deserved to get a call for whatever the defensive players did to him that caused his stumble is, for the purposes of this article, beside the point. Sure, Cousins may have been expecting a free play or something of that sort but what good is going to come of launching a deep ball to no one, other than a Chicago Bear?
Oh well. Even the best can make really, really ugly mistakes out there on the gridiron — and it's not like the Bears are putting up much of a fight to this point, anyway.
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