Plenty is working in the Vikings' favor in 2019. Quarterback Kirk Cousins leads the NFL with a 131.0 passer rating on deep passes (and eight touchdowns). He looks even better when you examine passes in the intermediate range or deeper (131.6 passer rating, with 18 touchdowns and three picks on passes of 10-plus air yards). Next Gen Stats also adds that Cousins has been great under pressure, measuring a 93.3 passer rating (third best in the NFL), with 3 TDs and 0 interceptions. This is a nearly 20-point improvement from last season, when he earned a 75.2 passer rating with a 5:6 TD-to-INT ratio when under pressure. O-line play is extremely predictive, and this season, the Vikings have decreased the amount of pressure Cousins has been under by five percentage points (from 33.4 in 2018 to 28.4 this season). Outside-the-tackles rushing has been an important differentiator for playoff teams, and the Vikings' defense is the best at stopping such runs, only allowing 3.8 yards per rush. Further, Next Gen Stats counts not one but twoVikings defenders among the top five in pressures: Everson Griffen ranks fourth with 54 and Danielle Hunter is fifth with 53. Per NGS, Minnesota is the only team with two defenders in the top 12 in terms of number of pressures generated.