Kirk Cousins’ 11 Interceptions in 2015

Kirk Cousins threw 11 interceptions during the 2015 season. Spotty accuracy and forced footballs were the general themes for his mistakes. This analysis, similar to my “36 touchdowns” article looks at these eleven plays and analyzes them to see how he can improve going into the 2016 season.

Before I begin, this article is split into two pages. The first page is a detailed stat breakdown. The second page is a closer look at some of his interceptions using All-22 film.

Please take a look at the other articles I have written about him during the 2015 season, the Washington Redskins, or his touchdowns and interceptions from the 2014 season.

Interceptions by Distance

First, we will take a look at his interceptions by distance.

Note: This chart is created by my tracking of the distance from the line of scrimmage to the actual interception location and should relate directly to the following table. 

Interception Location

The next table breaks down more accurately where the ball was thrown using the same yardage designations as above. 

Interceptions by Quarter

The following table breaks down his interceptions by quarter. 

Intended Target on Interception

Here are the intended recipients of his passes that were intercepted during the 2015 season. Note: This does not designate fault. 

Interceptions by Route

The next table breaks down the interceptions by route thrown. Similar routes were combined together based on the distance and type of pass. 

Interception Blame Game

The final table looks at the blame for each interception he threw during the 2015 season.

Note: This is obviously subjective, however there are clearly cases where it’s 100% the fault of the quarterback. For example, when he throws it to the wrong team thinking it’s his own receiver (the “Matt Ryan” - seen here) or he throws it deep hoping for a miracle while unleashing the dragon (the “Rex Grossman“).

Conversely, there are times when the quarterback is not at fault. For example, the ball is perfectly thrown, but it bounces out of the hands of the receiver into a defender’s hands. For the plays that could not be definitely assigned to just the quarterback, I assigned them to the “partially at fault” category. 

On the next page we will take a look at a few of his interceptions to illustrate what caused them and what he can do better in the future. These plays were selected based on: (1) the general trend of his mistakes, (2) an incredible defensive play that I wanted to analyze further, and (3) the hilarity of the interception.