Always lurking behind each Washington Redskins game is the same question: How did quarterback Kirk Cousins do?
Numbers and visual evidence, mixed with fan emotions, inevitably wind their way into quarterback assessment. Quarterback is a tricky position to analyze cleanly. The difference between a completion or an incompletion depends on so many moving parts, from play calls to protection to routes. With those caveats understood, how is Cousins doing as he plays out his one-year deal with so much future money on the line?
First, some standard numbers: After six games, Cousins is sixth in the league in yards. He led the category early in the season when the Redskins appeared to be unsure what handing the ball off meant.
He is 14th in completion percentage at 65 percent. That is down from his league-leading 69.8 percent a season ago. He’s 10th in touchdowns, and tied for sixth in interceptions thrown. His ratio there is something a team would point at to argue his pending salary down. Cousins is on pace to throw 24 touchdowns and 16 interceptions. His touchdown percentage has dipped. His interception percentage has increased year over year. Lastly, Cousins is 18th out of 31 ranked players in ESPN’s total QBR.
Cousins is coming off a week in which he put together a season-low in completion percentage, just 52.9 percent. He was playing without his leading receiver, tight end Jordan Reed and often pressured, leading to him throwing the ball away on purpose multiple times. That beats down his completion percentage. He also threw an eye-rolling pick-six from his back foot. He had a touchdown pass dropped by DeSean Jackson, but two others caught by Vernon Davis and Jamison Crowder, respectively. The throw to Crowder was right on target. All told, Cousins was 18-for-34 for 263 yards.
“I thought he had a really good game, really,” Redskins coach Jay Gruden said Monday. “He anticipated throws and threw with touch and accuracy. He moved in the pocket, created plays. We had some plays that just weren’t there — there was nothing there for him to go to. He threw it away when he had to. [He] made great decisions with the ball. The pick-six was a great play by Malcolm [Jenkins] and he never saw him. It was a naked boot and we didn’t have the end blocked, so he tried to get rid of it and make a great play, but didn’t see Malcolm. But other than that he played a very good game.”
Cousins joined Gruden in explaining the interception for a touchdown was more because of what Jenkins did than the decision by Cousins.
“Moments like that are going to happen,” Cousins said Sunday. “You have to just keep playing through it and keep playing at a high level and what happened was a good play by them. The defensive end came up the field. I was forced to do something with the football quickly. I tried to put it on Vernon [Davis] as quickly as possible and the safety made a good play and was able to undercut it. And that was that.”
The other quarterback qualifier still tends to be wins. In that case, four wins in a row for the Redskins after an 0-2 start reflects well on the man throwing or handing off the ball since they are always viewed as the leader. One of the things Cousins is trying to do during the streak is to keep the team singularly focused.
“Kirk really handles us,” tight end Niles Paul said. “Even at the end of the game, he took charge of that four-minute drill and we were pushing the ball down the field and we were able to close it out as an offense. I think that just really keeps us focused and grounded.”
It’s also important to keep in mind that last season, Cousins began his run around the midway point. He became one of the league’s most effective quarterbacks from Week 8 on. Six weeks into a crucial money-making season, Cousins has been solid, if not at the level he was a year ago. He still has two months to get back there.
Doctson still having trouble
Rookie wide receiver Josh Doctson (Achilles) will not play again this week, Gruden said on Monday. The first-round pick may be heading to the injured reserved list.
“I think we’ll send him to another doctor, get another opinion and I think the plan right now is to probably immobilize him for a little bit, just to take completely the stress off of it for a little bit of time and then see where that leads us,” Gruden said. “IR maybe, maybe not, we don’t know yet.”
Docston has two catches in the two games he appeared in.
• Todd Dybas can be reached at tdybas@washingtontimes.com.
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