Kirk Cousins' Second Chance, Fernando Mendoza's First Shot | The Story with Rachel Nichols

Kirk Cousins is getting back with his ex in Minnesota, and Fernando Mendoza finally gets control of the film room remote. Let's just hope Kirk doesn't take the batteries. Hey, I'm Rachel Nichols, and welcome to The Story. And I want to start with the biggest story in football this week. Yep, Kirk Cousins and Fernando Mendoza. Yesterday, they both went to work for the first time in their new roles, and they both walked in facing some big questions. Can Cousins fix a Vikings offense that has looked so feeble, you occasionally have to poke it with a stick to check for signs of life? Is Mendoza ready to be the face of the franchise this early in his NFL career, Especially considering his His first at-bat will be Sunday's game against the defending champion Seahawks. Now, those of you who watched our show after the Raiders-Vikings deal went down know I call this trade a win-win-win-win-win-win. The Raiders get to bring out their shiny new toy without enduring a quarterback controversy. Mendoza gets to make the start that he's been dreaming about most of his life. Cousins is no longer just keeping his seat warm for someone else. The Vikings, whose Super Bowl hopes just rocketed, and Justin Jefferson, who has finally found an oasis in the passing desert he's been forced to wander through all season. In fact, this was probably the most posted meme after the trade, with captions like, Justin Jefferson when he sees Kirk Cousins walking back into the facility. Nice. As for the sixth winner, well, that would be all of us who get to watch these new situations play out because they're both pretty spicy. Here was Cousins yesterday when asked if he felt he had unfinished business in Minnesota. I think my whole career has felt like unfinished business. I don't know that I would say today is any different than so many other years or moments where you feel like you've got something to prove, you've got something to accomplish, and there's more to go get. And I think that was why even this winter I felt I wanted to go back and play again was I just felt like there was more meat on the bone. You know, he's not wrong about the whole career part. Cousins is a fourth-round pick who waited three years to start in Washington, then played on back-to-back franchise tags. He's finally got his big guaranteed contract from the Vikings, but then came a torn Achilles and relatively short stops in Atlanta and Vegas. Now he's back with the best scoring defense in the league. And if he starts Sunday, it'll be at Lambeau Field. Oh, and here's the really nice thing for Kirk. In a move we really don't see much, ever, the Raiders brass actually asked him whether he wanted to be traded, saying it was completely his call. Kirk apparently answered in his usual all-shucks way, an imprint that he is leaving on the guy, replacing him. In fact, here was Mendoza yesterday in his first press conference as the Raiders' new starter. Yeah, I wanted to make a statement where I really, truly, from the bottom of my heart, wanted to thank... On Sunday, we find out if Mendoza is ready to apply all those lessons Cousins taught him. Just remember, he's getting the job because the plan the team laid out at the start of the season worked, not because something broke. And the Raiders say that at 4-5, they're not giving up on this season. So, We'll see what happens, because yeah, the trade was a six-way win, but y'all know the wins that really matter come on Sundays, and this weekend is coming quick. All right, let's get to the NBA, where, you know, the usual rule with hyped-up teenagers is that the bigger the build-up, the harder the landing. See Williamson, comma, Zion. But now we have Cooper Flagg, who teams spent literal years tanking for, who came into the NBA as the most anticipated draft pick since LeBron James. But instead of getting flattened by the weight of all those expectations, here Cooper is in year two, not just living up to the hype, but somehow running ahead of it. In fact, let's do the LeBron math. In LeBron's second season, he averaged 27 points, 7 rebounds, and 7 assists. So far in Cooper's second season, he's at 26 points, 7 rebounds, and 7 assists. That's so close, you have to squint to see the difference. And Cooper has also already done some things LeBron never did when he was Cooper's age. Like last season, when he became the first teenager in NBA history to score 50 in a game. And Cooper is still so early in his development, both on the court and in the weight room. Actually, he's trying to get bigger even when he's on the bench. Yeah, those shots you've seen of Cooper eating a full-on sandwich during games? Those are to help him bulk up. Remember, all of what we're seeing is even more impressive considering that the Mavericks team he was initially drafted onto was, to put it in the most polite terms, a dumpster fire. Fans were incensed with the decision to trade Luka. Kyrie Irving was injured for the entire season. That absence then led Jason Kidd to try playing Cooper as a point guard. Spoiler alert, he is not a point guard. He's a forward. This year, the vibes could not be more different. Yeah. The Luka trade will forever be the haunting specter that eats at Maverick fans' souls. But beyond that, you've got so many positives happening in Dallas. Start with Coach Dusty May, who was hired fresh off a national championship at Michigan. He's done a great job relating to the players while still holding them accountable, and he's built the team's schemes around Cooper instead of on top of him. And then there's Kyrie. He's 34 years old, so he's on a completely different timeline than Flagg, but still such a difference maker that multiple teams have inquired about trading for him. Now, honestly, Kyrie himself could easily have asked out, hoping to go to a contender. Instead, he said, quote, I'm in love with this place and that he absolutely wants to stay in Dallas. Now, that quote was during training camp. Fast forward to this week when he and combined for 26 fourth quarter points to pick up another win. You know, when Dallas drafted Cooper, the question was whether a teenager could rescue an ailing franchise. Now it's clear he doesn't have to do it alone. And that might be the scariest warning to the rest of the league that they've had yet. Okay, let's get back to football, where the Los Angeles Rams went into this season as the overwhelming favorites to win the Super Bowl. Like, huge. Now though, well, as y'all woke up today, the betting odds said this team isn't even likely to make the playoffs. What's wild here is that the Rams are actually on a three-game winning streak. But in this NFC, five and four still leaves them a game behind Green Bay for the final wildcard spot. Life goes fast, friends. So how did the Super Bowl favorite end up here? Start with the opener in Australia and the team's disastrous travel plan to treat a 15-hour trip like a commute and land only the day before the game. Then there was star pass rusher Myles Garrett hurting his knee and missing seven games. Matt Stafford, last year's MVP, suddenly seemed old. And don't get me started on the whole kicker thing. And now, just when the Rams look like they're on a roll, their receiver room is in shambles. Davante Adams is already on injured reserve with a bad hamstring. Then last Sunday, All-Pro Puka Nacua busted up his knee on the Rams' final offensive snap of the game. He's expected to be out for the next four games, at least. To put into perspective just how rough that all is, Puka and Davante have 100 of the 120 catches by Rams' receiver this season. So yeah, rough. Of course, the team knew all this before Tuesday's trade deadline. But the Rams elected not to make any trades at all. Meanwhile, Kansas City traded for receiver Josh Downs, and the 49ers, the team the Rams are directly chasing, added veteran receiver Keenan Allen. And I get it. The Rams only have four picks left in next year's draft, and they expect both Puka and Davante back at some point. But this is a team that went all in this offseason, trading for Garrett, getting Eric Donald to come out of retirement. So this complete U-turn feels a little weird. As for what's ahead, well the Rams could pick up a win at Arizona this Sunday and then they have their bye. But after that they have the toughest remaining schedule in the league with games against the Niners, Seahawks and Chiefs. You know back in September this team was supposed to win a Super Bowl. Now the odds makers are betting against them. We'll just have to see if they can cover the spread on their own season. All right. Before we close up today, I want to applaud Steph Curry, who once again had to be the adult in the room after a handful of former athletes, including one of his own ex-teammates, made particularly gross statements about his wife, Aisha. I was going to say this all started last Thursday, but frankly, a lot of men in the sports space have been particularly and weirdly obsessed with commenting on Aisha for years. However, This latest round did start last Thursday, when a rom-com called Second Chance Holiday premiered on Roku. Guess who it stars? Yeah, Ayesha Curry, who, by the way, has been dabbling in acting since before she married Steph. She was a guest star on Hannah Montana. Anyway, in one scene of this new movie, her character kisses her co-star. Because, you know, it's a rom-com, and the video blew up online. Then came the commentary, a lot of it on podcasts, some from ex-players like Gil Botarinus, Nick Young, Emmanuel Acho, LaShawn McCoy. I'm not going to repeat everything these guys said because it's not worth my time, but here are just a few so you get the flavor. There was the quote that Aisha was a blemish on Steph's family. There was another quote, we don't want to hear you. We just want to know you're there. There were also long discussions on how disrespectful that kiss was to Steph, and how if any of them were Curry, they'd get his woman in line. Now, Ayesha answered first with this quick Twitter post. And then yesterday, it was Steph's turn. Nick, Gil, Emmanuel, and anybody else who feels the need to, want to have to, you know, jump in and give an opinion on something you don't really know about, something that... It kind of speaks to a bigger conversation on how you view women in this world and what they're allowed and what they're not allowed to do. Even the ignorance behind how acting works. Thanks. Obviously, I tried to laugh this one off, but, you know, something needs to be said. Amen. Especially to Steph's larger point there about how some of these guys are talking about women overall. It's also interesting to me that Josh Allen's wife, actress Hailee Steinfeld, has had all kinds of romantic moments on camera, including some extremely steamy sex scenes with Michael B. Jordan in Sinners. I never saw days of online controversy over that. Hmm, I wonder what the difference is. Within hours of Steph's post, Nick and Gil did both apologize on air, although one went the if-he-was-offended route and both apologized to Steph, not Ayesha, which goes back to the original problem, because this was never about a kiss. This was about seeing Ayesha as Steph's property and how she should know her place. Now, the joke on all these guys is that the rest of the world knows exactly where her place is, and it's out in the world being the excellent role model she is. I'm Rachel Nichols. Thanks for watching the story. You know, here at Sports Illustrated, the games may end, but the stories don't.