Washington Redskins: Kirk Cousins Plays Carelessly

By Andrew Long | Oct 18, 2015

The Washington Redskins, who entered their contest against the New York Jets with a 2-3 record, added another loss to their record today, as they faltered down the stretch at MetLife Stadium. Washington ended the first half with a three point advantage over New York, but it didn’t take long for them to give away that lead. Some of the blame falls on the injuries to the offensive line, but, in my opinion, even more of the blame falls squarely on the shoulders of Kirk Cousins and his lack of safety with the ball.

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Today’s loss to the Jets marks the fourth time this season that Cousins has thrown two interceptions in a contest. Each time he has done so, the Redskins have lost. The first interception he threw was kind of understandable, as Darrell Revis is arguably the best cornerback in the NFL.

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His second interception, though, was completely uncalled for, as he seemingly forced the football into double coverage. Cousins was attempting to connect with Jamison Crowder deep, but he under threw the ball. Crowder had absolutely no chance to make a play on the ball.

If you’re going to take a shot deep, against double coverage, you have to make sure that either your receiver gets the ball or nobody does. It’s as simple as that. Cousins had to bomb it; he had to put the football in a position that it’s either incomplete or caught. Basically, he had to overthrow the ball and hope that Crowder had the wheels to catch up to it. He didn’t do that.

I’m sure that Jay Gruden will point towards the injuries to the offensive line as a major reason for Cousins’ struggles, but, lets be honest, he wouldn’t allot Robert Griffin III the same excuse. Cousins must improve his decision making if the Washington Redskins want to compete for the NFC East title moving forward.

Whether or not he’s capable of doing that is yet to be seen. Cousins has appeared in 20 games throughout his NFL career, and has thrown two or more interceptions in ten of those contests. It’s extremely difficult to lead your team to a victory when you throw interceptions that often.

In all, Cousins has thrown for 24 touchdowns and 27 interceptions in his career. That sort of quarterback play isn’t going to win you a lot of games. To put things in perspective, Cousins has only led Washington to one victory when throwing more interceptions than touchdowns in a game.

At this point in time, Cousins has six touchdowns and eight interceptions on the year. The Redskins are sitting at 2-4 and are on the cusp of being eliminated from playoff contention in what might be the weakest division in the NFL. Like I said earlier, injuries have undoubtedly played a role, but Cousins’ poor play and decision making cannot be ignored.

If he continues to display this sort of carelessness, fans and media alike will begin to question his role as Washington’s starting quarterback.

I foresee the Redskins sticking it out with Cousins for at least a few more weeks. If he continues to play carelessly with the football, he’ll likely be demoted to the second string quarterback. I’m not sure if Colt McCoy or Robert Griffin III can perform better, but we’re certainly getting to the point in the season where it might not be a bad idea to give the other guys a chance.

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