Kirk Cousins, Stefon Diggs, Adam Thielen and Vikings Fantasy Outlook Post-Week 6

Maybe Adam Thielen should've called out Kirk Cousins a lot earlier.

Cousins enjoyed his best performance of the season Sunday in a 38-20 win over the Philadelphia Eagles. He threw for 333 yards, four touchdowns and one interception.

Stefon Diggs was the biggest beneficiary, catching seven passes for 167 yards and three touchdowns on 11 targets. Thielen had six receptions for 57 yards and one score on eight targets.

Thielen expressed his frustration with the offense and shaded Cousins by telling reporters the Vikings "have to be able to hit the deep balls" following a 16-6 loss to the Chicago Bears on Sept. 29.

Cousins responded with 306 passing yards and two touchdowns in a 28-10 Week 5 win over the New York Giants, and he torched the Philadelphia secondary.

Of course, the aerial explosion wasn't a pleasant sight for fantasy owners who left Diggs on their bench in anticipation of another underwhelming showing from the fifth-year wideout.

The obvious concern is that Cousins' numbers are a sort of false dawn created by an Eagles defense that was allowing an average of 271.2 passing yards per game entering Sunday. Four touchdowns tied his career high. 

The Vikings play the Detroit Lions in Week 7, which is setting up to be another favorable matchup for the offense. The Lions are 12th in pass defense DVOA (defense-adjusted value over average), per Football Outsiders, but 29th in yards allowed (280.8). Detroit has, however, allowed only four passing touchdowns.

Still, Cousins is worth the gamble as a low-end QB1 for next week, which stabilizes Diggs' and Thielen's value. Thielen was already in the must-start category, and Diggs is quickly rejoining him there.