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USATSI

Minnesota Vikings quarterback Kirk Cousins famously struggles in late games, as does New York Giants quarterback Daniel Jones. Well, as luck would have it, these two are facing each other on Super Wild Card Weekend in the 2023 playoffs and likely to their dismay, the game is not a 1 p.m. start. It is not a night game either, with the game kicking off at 4:30 p.m. ET, but with both quarterbacks struggling with any game past the early slate, how will they fare on Sunday?

A deeper dig into the stats shows that, while Cousins struggling in prime time games has been a headline for years, he is significantly better in midday games. Jones during this same time frame? Not so great.

Sunday's game will take place in Minnesota at U.S. Bank Stadium, meaning it will be 3:30 p.m. local time when the game begins.

In games that start at 3 p.m. central time or later, Jones has a record of 2-18, equating to a .142 winning percentage throughout his career. Cousins, on the other hand, has a career record of 10-12, or a .454 winning percentage, in games in the same time frame. 

How much these losses were on the quarterback and whether the kickoff time will impact their performance Sunday should be taken with a grain of salt, but the numbers do show an interesting pattern.

If the No. 6 seeded Giants win the game (New York is a 3-point underdog, per Caesars Sportsbook) they will play the No. 1 seeded Philadelphia Eagles in the divisional round. If the No. 3 seeded Vikings come out on top, they will face the No. 2 seeded San Francisco 49ers, who defeated the Seattle Seahawks on Saturday. In that case, the Eagles would face the winner of the matchup between the No. 4 Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the No. 5 Dallas Cowboys