The relationship between a team's starting quarterback and their offensive coordinator might be the most important on the entire football field.
The communication, the awareness and the preparedness all allows a good QB/OC duo to find success against the opposition week in and week out. And while it's less than ideal to make a coordinator change midseason, or in the midst of a tough battle for the final playoff spots, sometimes it's a necessary move.
All of that is why it was a good sight to see the Vikings jump out to a 21-point lead in the first quarter of Sunday's game against the Dolphins posting 202 yards of total offense in the first quarter alone.
It came with balance on the run/pass ratios, it came with planning all week long and it came with a prior good relationship between Kevin Stefanski and Kirk Cousins.
"There was certainly some newness to it," Cousins told KFAN of his first day with his new O.C." A bit of it is learning as you go...I do think that having been in the QB room now well over 6 months, he knows what I like, he understands the offense and he knows coach Zimmer"
There are sure to be some growing pains along the way, but with a big win against Miami today, a game on the road against a familiar foe with little to play for next week, and then wrapping the season up with a game home against a Bears team with little to play for, that might be the perfect mix for the two to get some momentum rolling up leading into the playoffs.
"We played complimentary football today," Cousins continued praising Stefanski's game plan. "We ran the football well, stayed in manageable third downs really allowed us to open up the playbook."
That's exactly the kind of performance that the Vikings (and their fans) needed to instill some much needed confidence in the team heading towards the playoffs.
You can listen to the full interview with Kirk Cousins and KFAN in the player below...