Washington Commanders

Kirk Cousins Late Game Herorics Not Enough For Washington Redskins

Published Jun. 30, 2017 6:28 p.m. ET

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Kirk Cousins had a solid game on Sunday. However, he was not able to do enough to win the game.

A defense can only bend so much before it breaks, and in the fourth quarter with time dwindling the Redskins defense finally broke. Washington’s for game winning streak came to an end Sunday as Matthew Stafford led a late drive to rally the Lions past the Redskins 20-17.

The heartbreak of it all is that Washington fans and players a like thought it was in the bag. Kirk Cousins led Washington to 14 unanswered points in the fourth quarter, but his heroics weren’t enough to push the Redskins to victory.

Cousins performance is always going to be criticized; win or lose. I would be sitting here writing the same article, just with a slightly different twist. Why, you may ask? Because this is Washington, DC. This the Redskins. The only person criticized more in Washington is the president, so Kirk is always going to be feeling the heat.

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Cousins did everything he was supposed to do Sunday; minor a few Cousins-esque plays. No one is a bigger supporter of Cousins than myself, but I feel as if he is always going to have two or three balls a game that are questionable. Sunday, he moved the ball efficiently connecting with eight different receivers. Without his security blanket, Jordan Reed, Cousins has had to gain trust with other receivers; a good thing for Cousins and for the long-term efficiency of the offense.

Cousins made smart decisions with the football Sunday, minus one lofty pass in the fourth quarter before connecting with Vernon Davis to put Washington in scoring position. He evaded his second game of the season without an intercepting and since week two had thrown 9 touchdowns to just 3 interceptions. He finished Sunday 30 of 39 (76.9% completion rate) for 301 yards along with one touchdown, 106 QBR.

With just over a minute left in the game Cousins put on his cape and became Captain Kirk. On a read option keeper Cousins scampered for a 19 yard touchdown that put Washington in the lead. That lead only held for held for 49 seconds as Washington would go on to lose in heartbreaking fashion. Cousins said the following after the game, per Redskins.com:

It’s never going to be perfect and we had our fair share of mistakes. But we kept playing and it was a good reminder that when you keep playing, usually good things happen. Our defense kept us in the game and gave us a chance at the end.

Washington has continued to show their resiliency. Cousins proved he’s capable after leading the comeback. Sometimes errors are too much to overcome, and that was the scenario Sunday.

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