Vikings quarterback Kirk Cousins, among the NFL leaders in self-awareness, again shouldered the blame for a poor performance Sunday in Green Bay.

"I'm going to throw it away," Cousins said Wednesday when asked what he would do if faced with a decision similar to the one he had to make on first-and goal at Lambeau Field.

Cousins' record remains elite as a Monday morning quarterback — that catchall phrase for recognizing mistakes after the fact being applied quite literally here. It's his middling record as a Sunday quarterback, though, that remains troubling. In four full seasons as a starter, he's never finished better than 9-7 or worse than 7-9. This year he's 1-1.

It's one thing to know what you should do. It's another thing to apply it in real time to avoid making the same mistakes — and to break out of the vicious cycle that produces the highs and lows associated with a .500 record.

Read Michael Rand's blog at startribune.com/randball. michael.rand@startribune.com.