Kirk Cousins’ 11 Interceptions in 2015

Forcing the Football to Covered Receivers

Opponent: Week 3 at New York Giants
Situation: 2nd and 7 at WSH 9. Redskins were trailing the Giants 0-2.
Description: (8:42 - 1st) K.Cousins pass short middle intended for P.Garcon INTERCEPTED by P.Amukamara [D.Kennard] at WAS 20. P.Amukamara to WAS 14 for 6 yards (D.Carrier)
Offensive Grouping: 21 (2 RB - 1 TE - 2 WR)

• Kirk Cousins in Offset-I formation snaps the football and fakes to Alfred Morris in the backfield.
• The Giants run Cover 3 Fire Zone where FS#21 Landon Collins is blizing off the left edge, while linebackers fake pass rushing but drop into zones to try to confuse Washington’s pass protectors.
• Cousins continues through his drop and targets Pierre Garcon (#88) on the bottom of the screen running a dino-stemmed post-route.
• The dino stem is meant to widen the cornerback (#20 Prince Amukamara). It doesn’t work.
• Amukamara drops deep before the ball is hiked and reads Cousins.
• Kirk Cousins sees Amukamara but he still tries to force the ball to Garcon.
• Garcon flattens his route to try to get to the ball first, but Amukamara jumps forward and intercepts it.
• Pre-snap, Garcon identifies the blitz and points it out to Alfred Morris, who picks it up correctly. This blitz is actually very telling since it means Amukamara is playing off-man coverage on Garcon, or he’s playing zone coverage at the first down marker. Either way, he’s in perfect position for coverage down the field.
• Honestly, if Cousins was able to pump fake the football, this could have been a huge play for the Redskins if Cousins could have held the ball a bit longer in the pocket.

Kirk Cousins actually received a heavy dose of criticism for the play-action portion of this play from “reputable sources.”

There is actually nothing wrong with the fake handoff even though it looks strange on surface. According to the Redskins’ protection rules, running back (#46) Alfred Morris is allowed to skip the fake handoff to pick up the oncoming blitz on the left side of Trent Williams to protect his quarterback. So why doesn’t Cousins also skip the fake? Surely, he might have seen the cornerback jump sooner.

Rhythm is the answer. The play is practiced with the fake handoff, so Cousins wants to keep the play on-time to prepare for the throw while gaining his desired depth. I hope whoever runs CBS Sports’ Twitter account was scolded for perpetuating this rumor.

This issue of forced footballs caused four of his eleven interceptions by my count. Here is another example:

Innaccuracy Leading to Errors

Opponent: Week 5 at Atlanta Falcons
Situation: 3rd and 10 at WSH 37. Redskins were leading the Falcons 7-3.
Description: (5:14 - 2nd) (Shotgun) K.Cousins pass deep left intended for P.Garcon INTERCEPTED by R.Alford at ATL 43. R.Alford to WAS 40 for 17 yards (P.Garcon)
Offensive Grouping: 11 (1 RB - 1 TE - 3 WR)

• Kirk Cousins is in shotgun and motions TE #89 Derek Carrier into the left inside slot.
• Falcons are in Cover 6 with #21 Desmond Trufant playing man-to-man on Ryan Grant, while only rushing four.
• Split wide left Pierre Garcon runs a deep-in underneath Jamison Crowder’s seam-route.
• This route combination is similar to the “pin-concept” where it deepens the two defensive backs allowing for Garcon to slip into the zone between them and the underneath linebacker zones.
• Garcon is open, but Cousins places the ball behind him.
• Garcon realizes the ball is going to be behind him and attempts to stop mid-stride. He can’t fully stop, so he jumps backwards and almost makes the diving catch contorting his body.
• Garcon bobbles the ball on the ground allowing Robert Alford to rip it away from him.
• Garcon gets up and chases Alford down from behind for the tackle and 17 yard interception return.

While Garcon did bobble the football on the ground, this ball should have been placed in front of Garcon allowing him to gain yards after the catch. This is a huge missed opportunity since Garcon had plenty of space to his right.

Inaccuracy made up four of his 11 interceptions. Another example of his inaccuracy could be seen in the first week versus Miami. Cousins targets Garcon on the deep corner route but leaves it too far inside. This was also an incredible play by the defensive back.

Sometimes accuracy is not enough and you get an unlucky bounce. This is the one interception that is clearly not Cousins’ fault.

Rare Showing of Hesitation for Cousins

Opponent: Week 6 at New York Jets
Situation: 2nd and 8 at WSH 23. Score was tied 13-13.
Description: (10:18 - 3rd) (Shotgun) K.Cousins pass short left intended for R.Grant INTERCEPTED by D.Revis at WAS 24. D.Revis to WAS 18 for 6 yards (R.Grant)
Offensive Grouping: 01 (0 RB - 1 TE - 4 WR)

• Kirk Cousins is shotgun with wide receiver #14 Ryan Grant in the backfield.
• Jets show a two-safety look pre-snap, but the defensive back at the bottom of your screen drops back into deep coverage showing Cover 3.
• Pre-snap, Cousins reads this as Cover 2, so he thinks he might be able to take a deep shot down the sideline with Garcon.
• Seeing the cornerback drop deep with him, Cousins sees Jamison Crowder open on the 5-yard out route, but he doesn’t pull the trigger.
• Cousins then moves to the left side of the field knowing that it’s Cover 3 and he throws it to Grant by the sideline.
• Darelle Revis stays shallow and intercepts the football. This should have been a pick six, but Revis trips and Grant tackles him to the ground for only a six-yard return.

This play illustrates something we rarely saw from Cousins: Hesitation.

Cousins read this play correctly starting on the right side due to the two-deep look, but the third deep zone was well disguised. Looking at his interceptions from last year, he was always too quick to pull the trigger like in Play 1 (above).

Finding the middle ground is key for him and is the reason why Kirk Cousins was more successful in the second half of the season as he found the balance.

Kirk Cousins’ 2015 Regular Season Stats - A Tale of Two Halfs

I posted this table on his touchdowns article, and it shows the improvement Kirk Cousins made in the second half of the season. Cousins was spotty with his accuracy during the first half of the season and he forced footballs which led to interceptions.

In the second half of the season, he fell into a rhythm and made smarter decisions with the football in Jay Gruden’s West Coast offense designed to get his receivers the football quickly for yards after the catch. With the emergence of Jordan Reed and having DeSean Jackson back in the lineup after he was injured in Week 1, the offense exploded carrying the Redskins to a 6-2 record and the NFC East division title.

In 2016, Kirk Cousins will be tested as the second year starter in the system getting all of the first-team reps. These reps should help him with his cadences, comfort with his receivers, and for calling out protection schemes which all should help the offense be more effective. Will they be as effective as the second half of the 2015 season? Doubtful. But, in my opinion, they should be better than the first half of the 2015 season at least.

Follow Samuel Gold on Twitter: @SamuelRGold.