After RG3 was injured in Week 2 versus the Jaguars, Kirk Cousins stepped in and started for the Redskins. In 2014, Cousins threw 10 touchdowns in 6 games until he was subsequently benched for Colt McCoy versus the Titans in Week 7. This breakdown will take a look at his touchdowns during the 2014 season.
Season Stats
Cousins – 126/204 (61.8%), 1,710 yards, 8.4 y/a, 10 TDs, 9 INTs, 7 rushes for 20 yards
Before we begin looking at some of his plays, I wanted to take a look at the recipients of Cousins’ ten touchdowns:
Receiver Breakdown
| DeSean Jackson | 3 |
| Pierre Garcon | 2 |
| Andre Roberts | 2 |
| Darrel Young | 2 |
| Niles Paul | 1 |
The number of touchdowns to fullback Darrel Young is the only surprising number here. The Redskins usually used him as a lead blocker for RB46 Morris while giving him some short yardage carries as well. This just shows you how valuable he is to them and how much they trust him.
Quarter Breakdown
| 1st Quarter | 3 |
| 2nd Quarter | 3 |
| 3rd Quarter | 1 |
| 4th Quarter | 3 |
Down Breakdown
| 1st Down | 3 |
| 2nd Down | 7 |
| 3rd Down | 0 |
| 4th Down | 0 |
As well as the distance and location of the touchdowns:
Distance Breakdown
| Fewer than 6 Yards | 4 |
| Between 6 and 15 yards | 1 |
| More than 15 yards | 5 |
Location Breakdown
| Deep Left | Deep Middle | Deep Right |
| 0 | 2 | 2 |
| Intermediate Left | Intermediate Middle | Intermediate Right |
| 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Short Left | Short Middle | Short Right |
| 1 | 1 | 4 |
Finally here is the route breakdown:
Route Breakdown
| Slant/Drag | 3 |
| Go/Out-n-Up/Fade | 3 |
| Seam | 2 |
| Post | 1 |
| Out | 1 |
Let’s take a look at the plays:
Play 1
Situation: 2nd and 10 at JAX 20
Description: Q1 - (8:18) (Shotgun) K.Cousins pass deep right to D.Young for 20 yards, TOUCHDOWN. K.Forbath extra point is GOOD, Center-N.Sundberg, Holder-T.Way.
Opponent: 2. JAX
Offensive Formation: Shotgun EmptySet 4WR
Offensive Personnel: 11
Defensive Formation: Cover 1
After RG3 went down with his injury on 1st down, Cousins steps into shotgun and throws his first touchdown of the season. The Redskins go emptyset shotgun splitting FB36 Darrel Young out wide right creating an obvious mismatch on the right side of the field. Immediately after the snap the linebacker that is standing over WR88 Garcon drops into the right flat while CB27 Gratz in off-man coverage runs to cover Garcon’s skinny post route over the middle of the field leaving Young wide open on the sideline.
This defensive breakdown could have been solved by either moving the free safety into man-to-man coverage responsiblity or what most teams would do is put a linebacker directly over Young to press him on the line of scrimmage. Instead they give him an unimpeded path to the endzone for an easy touchdown strike by Kirk Cousins.
Play 2
Situation: 2nd and 2 at JAX 2
Description: Q4 - (14:17) T.Compton reported in as eligible. K.Cousins pass short right to N.Paul for 2 yards, TOUCHDOWN. K.Forbath extra point is GOOD, Center-N.Sundberg, Holder-T.Way.
Opponent: 2. JAX
Offensive Formation: I-Formation “Trey Left”
Offensive Personnel: 23
Defensive Formation: Goalline
The Redskins on second down line up in an obvious running formation and send TE84 Niles Paul in motion wide right. The Redskins like the matchup they see with TE84 Paul versus LB52 Thomas. Cousins takes the snap and instantly throws the fade route jump-ball to Paul who wrestles it down for the score. Give Paul the credit here for jumping for the ball and taking it down inbounds. This is the athletic mismatch you’d like to see with a receiving tight end.
Play 3
Situation: 2nd and 4 at PHI 4
Description: Q1 - (8:47) (Shotgun) K.Cousins pass short right to D.Young for 4 yards, TOUCHDOWN. K.Forbath extra point is GOOD, Center-N.Sundberg, Holder-T.Way.
Opponent: 3. PHI
Offensive Formation: Shotgun EmptySet Trips Bunch Left Twins Stack Right - “Lou” Call
Offensive Personnel: 22
Defensive Formation: Goalline 5 Zones
The Redskins are at the 4 yard line and line up in I-formation with WR14 Grant split out wide left. Traditionally this is a pure running formation that forces an extra linebacker on the field due to the presence of an additional tight end. After the Redskins get set they audible into the exact opposite formation into an emptyset shotgun signaling a passing play, which causes confusion to the Eagles defense.
With the bunch formation on the left side the obvious target is RB46 Morris running a flat route to the left sideline which would have been an easy touchdown, but Cousins notices that the linebacker on the right side of the field near the twins stack isn’t in pass coverage so he snaps the ball quickly hoping that the defense isn’t prepared yet. CB24 Fletcher is in zone coverage against FB36 Young who catches the ball on a quick out route and dives into the endzone.
What a brilliant play design that works perfect against a soft zone defense. If Cousins didn’t notice that the Eagles weren’t ready on the right side, I’m positive that his first read would have been RB46 Morris on the leftside which realistically would have produced a touchdown as well.
Play 4
Situation: 2nd and 4 at PHI 4
Description: Q1 - (2:13) (Shotgun) K.Cousins pass short right to P.Garcon for 4 yards, TOUCHDOWN. K.Forbath extra point is GOOD, Center-N.Sundberg, Holder-T.Way.
Opponent: 3. PHI
Offensive Formation: Shotgun EmptySet 4WR
Offensive Personnel: 11
Defensive Formation: Goalline Cover 0 - Two linebacker underneath zones
The Redskins line up in an obvious passing formation (emptyset shotgun) with RB29 Helu in the right slot and WR88 Garcon wide right. Cousins takes the snap and reads the defense. He then finds Garcon quickly on his drag route for the score.
Watch RB29 Helu on this play. He’s running a pick route meant to pull his slot defender into the endzone leaving space for Garcon’s drag route across the line of scrimmage. This creates the space necessary for Garcon to get the ball and get into the endzone.
Play 5
Situation: 1st and 10 at WSH 19
Description: Q3 - (2:13) K.Cousins pass short middle to D.Jackson for 81 yards, TOUCHDOWN. K.Forbath extra point is GOOD, Center-N.Sundberg, Holder-T.Way.
Opponent: 3. PHI
Offensive Formation: Offset-I Far Right
Offensive Personnel: 12
Defensive Formation: Cover 3
Cousins takes the snap and runs play-action to RB46 Morris in the backfield. Cousins has time in the pocket and looks downfield for WR11 Jackson who is a running a post route past the deep Cover 3 shell of the Eagles defense. After Jackson cuts to the middle of the field he burns past SS29 Allen in his deep middle zone to get wide open. Cousins places the ball perfectly into Jackson’s hands who avoids getting taken down by CB26 Williams allowing him to score an 81 yard touchdown.
There are a few things I want you to watch closely that make this play possible. First, WR88 Garcon who is on the opposite side of the field is running a deep crossing pattern that pulls SS29 Allen up into the middle of the field forgetting his deep responsibilities beyond him. Second, I want you to watch WR11 Jackson’s route as he cuts inside then outside before cutting again inside on his post route to pull his defender out of his path. This is great route running. Finally, I want you to watch SS29 Allen while CB26 Williams attempts to bring Jackson down. He slows down thinking the play is over instead of chasing past to make sure Jackson doesn’t escape. A little bit more effort might have stopped this touchdown from happening.
