After two turnovers in the first half Jay Gruden told Colt McCoy he was going to get some playing time today. McCoy played the entire 2nd half and with the team down by one point, lead the team down the field for the game winning field goal. I'm going to tell you why I still want Kirk Cousins to start against Dallas.
I was present at the game today, sitting up high in the nosebleeds at FedEx Field. When you watch a football game on television you don't see any passing plays develop. You can't see the defensive backs and you can't see the wide receivers. When Kirk Cousins lost the fumble he was in the pocket waiting for something to develop and not a single receiver broke open in the 5 seconds he had to throw. Not excusing him completely as he shouldn't have fumbled but if the receivers did their job then Cousins wouldn't have gotten sacked on the play. What I saw on the field today was not a failure of the quarterback to move the offense, but a failure in the play calling and offense as a whole.
Both of Cousins' turnovers were in situations where he had time to throw, but nobody was open. The interception was a classic Cousins throw, dead accurate into the hands of a linebacker. That one proved to be the nail in his coffin and he was benched shortly thereafter. He made a couple nice throws, one under duress to Niles Paul to start off the game and a deep throw on third down to DeSean Jackson. He moved the ball but was never able to score a touchdown in the redzone. He finished 10/16 for 139 with no scores and two turnovers.
Enter Colt McCoy, steps in and throws a 70 yard touchdown to Pierre Garcon. Electrifying, some would say. But that touchdown was 99% Garcon. He ran a simple 6ish yard hitch route and McCoy delivered the ball on time. Any high school quarterback could've make that throw. He didn't even go through a progression, he just started down Garcon and threw the hitch on time. If that exact play is called with Cousins I guarantee Garcon still catches a 70 yard touchdown. Gruden's play calling simplified when McCoy started throwing. A vast majority of his 11 completions were to wide open receivers on really simple routes. Take away the 70 yard touchdown -which only traveled 6 yards in the air- and McCoy's average completion comes out to 5.8 yards. Gruden simplified his play calling and that allowed McCoy to move the ball on the game winning drive.
I'm not saying that Gruden's offense is too complicated or that Cousins couldn't handle it, but rather when the receivers consistently aren't getting open on a consistent basis there's some blame on the coaches as well. Most of the time Gruden would isolate a receiver and have him beat the corner by running a simple timing route. High percentage pass plays make the quarterback more comfortable and get a couple yards. If you get really lucky like McCoy did then they turn into 70 yard touchdowns. This might be why Cousins is 2-1 coming off the bench unprepared but 1-7 as a starter.
The one thing McCoy had over Cousins was evident on three separate plays that didn't work out. People didn't get open so on two occasions McCoy tucked it and ran, and on another he ran away from some pass rushers and threw the ball away. No bone headed turnovers and methodical short passing was enough to win this football game. Could Cousins have led the team back in the 2nd half, absolutely. Would he have thrown an 'accurate interception' on that final drive? Possibly, and that 'possibly' is why Gruden benched Kirk.
I stand by what I said before. Cousins has shown flashes of being an upper echelon quarterback, he just needs to stop turning the ball over. It's a mental hurdle that can get better with experience. He definitely won't be getting over the hump sitting on the bench watching Colt McCoy throw 5 yard out routes. There will be no Superbowl in 2014 for the Washington Redskins and until RG3 is fully healthy I'd rather see Cousins play. Experience will help him get better and the offense is more potent with Cousins at the helm. McCoy had 24 games with Cleveland as the starter before he was written-off. Cousins has 8 scattered games across 3 seasons as the #2 quarterback living in Robert Griffin III's shadow. Give him a fair shot before labeling him as a career backup.
Keep in mind that during this game and the past 3 games where the offense has slowed down, Cousins has gotten zero help from his running game. It's hard enough to play quarterback when you learned the offense as a 2nd stringer during the off-season. That difficulty is significantly amplified when you become a one dimensional offense. The offensive line is decent at pass protection but horrendous at getting a push in the running game. That needs to change before the quarterback does.
Other notes:
I was present at the game today, sitting up high in the nosebleeds at FedEx Field. When you watch a football game on television you don't see any passing plays develop. You can't see the defensive backs and you can't see the wide receivers. When Kirk Cousins lost the fumble he was in the pocket waiting for something to develop and not a single receiver broke open in the 5 seconds he had to throw. Not excusing him completely as he shouldn't have fumbled but if the receivers did their job then Cousins wouldn't have gotten sacked on the play. What I saw on the field today was not a failure of the quarterback to move the offense, but a failure in the play calling and offense as a whole.
Both of Cousins' turnovers were in situations where he had time to throw, but nobody was open. The interception was a classic Cousins throw, dead accurate into the hands of a linebacker. That one proved to be the nail in his coffin and he was benched shortly thereafter. He made a couple nice throws, one under duress to Niles Paul to start off the game and a deep throw on third down to DeSean Jackson. He moved the ball but was never able to score a touchdown in the redzone. He finished 10/16 for 139 with no scores and two turnovers.
Enter Colt McCoy, steps in and throws a 70 yard touchdown to Pierre Garcon. Electrifying, some would say. But that touchdown was 99% Garcon. He ran a simple 6ish yard hitch route and McCoy delivered the ball on time. Any high school quarterback could've make that throw. He didn't even go through a progression, he just started down Garcon and threw the hitch on time. If that exact play is called with Cousins I guarantee Garcon still catches a 70 yard touchdown. Gruden's play calling simplified when McCoy started throwing. A vast majority of his 11 completions were to wide open receivers on really simple routes. Take away the 70 yard touchdown -which only traveled 6 yards in the air- and McCoy's average completion comes out to 5.8 yards. Gruden simplified his play calling and that allowed McCoy to move the ball on the game winning drive.
I'm not saying that Gruden's offense is too complicated or that Cousins couldn't handle it, but rather when the receivers consistently aren't getting open on a consistent basis there's some blame on the coaches as well. Most of the time Gruden would isolate a receiver and have him beat the corner by running a simple timing route. High percentage pass plays make the quarterback more comfortable and get a couple yards. If you get really lucky like McCoy did then they turn into 70 yard touchdowns. This might be why Cousins is 2-1 coming off the bench unprepared but 1-7 as a starter.
The one thing McCoy had over Cousins was evident on three separate plays that didn't work out. People didn't get open so on two occasions McCoy tucked it and ran, and on another he ran away from some pass rushers and threw the ball away. No bone headed turnovers and methodical short passing was enough to win this football game. Could Cousins have led the team back in the 2nd half, absolutely. Would he have thrown an 'accurate interception' on that final drive? Possibly, and that 'possibly' is why Gruden benched Kirk.
I stand by what I said before. Cousins has shown flashes of being an upper echelon quarterback, he just needs to stop turning the ball over. It's a mental hurdle that can get better with experience. He definitely won't be getting over the hump sitting on the bench watching Colt McCoy throw 5 yard out routes. There will be no Superbowl in 2014 for the Washington Redskins and until RG3 is fully healthy I'd rather see Cousins play. Experience will help him get better and the offense is more potent with Cousins at the helm. McCoy had 24 games with Cleveland as the starter before he was written-off. Cousins has 8 scattered games across 3 seasons as the #2 quarterback living in Robert Griffin III's shadow. Give him a fair shot before labeling him as a career backup.
Keep in mind that during this game and the past 3 games where the offense has slowed down, Cousins has gotten zero help from his running game. It's hard enough to play quarterback when you learned the offense as a 2nd stringer during the off-season. That difficulty is significantly amplified when you become a one dimensional offense. The offensive line is decent at pass protection but horrendous at getting a push in the running game. That needs to change before the quarterback does.
Other notes:
- As injury riddled as our defense is they've been playing winnable football over the past few weeks. Holding Seattle and Arizona and only folding after giving the offense plenty of chances to get ahead.
- Bashaud Breeland is getting better every week and is giving great production for a 4th round draft pick. Our two starting corners are young, physical and good tacklers. A bright spot on a poor team if you will.
- Tress Way is one a hell of a punter, consistently boots it far and keeps it inside the 20 when he can.
- This game should've been a rout but when you can't run the ball your offense isn't going to score points. I don't blame Gruden for not giving Morris carries, the line just isn't powerful enough to create running lanes.
- It's Dallas week and while the Cowboys are looking like one of the top teams in the NFL, it's important to note that when the Redskins and Cowboys play it doesn't matter where either team stands. Anything can happen.
