Kirk Cousins had the biggest drive of his life Sunday against the Philadelphia Eagles, marching the Washington Redskins 90-yards down the field for a game-winning touchdown. Cousins was cooler than Prince, Morris Day and The Time on that drive. But I think the question is worth asking — is this a sign of growth or is it false hope?
The Washington Redskins took advantage of what is a pretty bad Eagles team with a depleted secondary. They simply had their way from start to finish. It wasn’t a perfect outing, but that’s how the Redskins will have to win games for now. It will always be a struggle and mistakes will be made. However, when the game is on the line, you have to hope one of your play makers step up and makes a play. On that final game-winning drive, three players rose to the occasion — RB Alfred Morris, WR Pierre Garcon and QB Kirk Cousins.
“Coach Gruden challenged us last night to be resilient and as we know all these games come down it seems to the last couple of minutes and you’re going to have setbacks along the way and we certainly had our fair share,” said Cousins. “But we kept challenging each other to respond and be resilient and I think it’s a combination of things. I know that that final drive I wasn’t capable of doing that when I came into the league as a rookie. It takes time, it takes failures, it takes learning from experiences and a combination of, I guess it would be three-plus seasons worth of work got me to a point where I was able to make the necessary plays on that drive. So, you know, it’s a process and I’m just going to keep working and keep learning from these experiences and keep getting better.”
Alfred Morris broke-out several big runs that put Kirk Cousins in position to win the game. The pressure was heavy for Cousins and Head Coach Jay Gruden, as a failed drive would’ve resulted in some major criticism for the two. But the guy with the cape and the number eight displayed a level of heroics that we haven’t seen from him since entering the league. He didn’t falter under the pressure.
Kirk Cousins was decisive and gutsy on that final drive. He put a few balls in extremely tight windows, that otherwise would’ve been categorized as extremely dangerous. However, the true hero — Pierre Garcon, made several crucial catches including the game-winning touchdown that pretty much saved the day.
That 90-yard drive will go down as Kirk Cousins’ first career fourth quarter comeback as a starter. But was it the beginning of something great or just another high on the Roller-Coaster we know as Kirk Cousins’ game-play?
The answer is, no one knows. This is why you let him start the season and publicly back him as your starting quarterback. This is why you continue to support him after his worst game of the season. This is why you play it by ear week-to-week. We’re finding out what Kirk Cousins has to offer when the pressure is all on him to succeed each week. He showed an ability to rebound after a bad game against the New York Giants, which I believe is a scenario we really haven’t seen from him in the past.
Now it’s important to see if Cousins can show consistency by continuing to find success in week five against the Atlanta Falcons. Cousins is widely known as a hot or cold, streaky — inconsistent player. In order for him to ever have sustained success (because let’s be honest, that’s what it’s going to take for him to retain his position as starting QB), Cousins has to shake those characteristics.
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