Greg Cosell's Look Ahead: Examining Kirk Cousins' struggles

Washington Redskins quarterback Kirk Cousins had the kind of performance last week that offensive coaches really struggle with.

Cousins did not effectively execute the offense. The opportunities were clearly there. The offensive coaches had some great calls that should have been big plays, and Cousins missed them.

Last season Cousins had a great stretch, when he was in a rhythm, seeing the field clearly, then delivering the ball with accuracy. He’s not consistent with any of that so far this season, and the Dallas Cowboys game was not a good one for him.

Let’s start with Cousins’ worst play, the fourth-quarter interception to Cowboys safety Barry Church. It was a very poor read, the kind of read a quarterback with his experience should not make.

Out of an empty backfield his initial read was to the three-receiver side on his left against the Cowboys’ quarters coverage, with three underneath defenders. He was looking for Jamison Crowder on the quick out off the switch release with Pierre Garcon, but he was not comfortable making that throw as he drifted left in the pocket. Then he committed the cardinal sin of throwing across his body late in the middle of the field against a zone. What made the play worse was that the two-man route combination on the back side did not control Church, so he was free to read Cousins.

This is a mistake Cousins can’t make.

Through two weeks it’s clear Cousins is not seeing things clearly in the pocket. He’s seeing everything, and nothing. He’s struggling to eliminate what’s not there for him and isolate.

When you watch the film of the incompletion later in the game on fourth-and-1, you realize Cousins made a mistake there too. He was two beats late to make a throw on a great two-man route concept. Garcon was open immediately on a natural rub element. Cousins took a leisurely drop and hitched on what should have been a quick three-step timing throw. There’s no way linebacker Justin Durant should have been a factor on the throw, but he knocked it away. That’s a missed play in a crucial situation. It’s an easy first down if Cousins throws it on time.

Cousins had issues throughout the game. He missed a touchdown to Crowder on Washington’s first possession. The Redskins ran three verticals from a trips look, with Crowder from the inside slot running the deep over. Church, on the back side, showed no awareness and Crowder was wide open. Cousins overthrew him (he’d overthrow DeSean Jackson on a wide-open deep post in the second quarter on third-and-15, too).

Here’s another play that was designed really well but Cousins missed it. It was another three verticals play, and Crowder again ran the deep over from the inside slot. Cousins made a reading mistake by not looking at Crowder, who was matched up on Durant, a linebacker. That was clearly the design of the route concept and Cousins would have been able to deliver the throw if he looked to Crowder initially. Instead, he threw incomplete to Garcon on the left sideline.

Cousins didn’t throw the ball well. He missed too many with poor accuracy. He already has physical limitations — limited arm strength means he has to work very hard to drive the ball on deep throws. He has to compensate with precise ball placement, and right now he’s struggling with his accuracy. Then add in that he’s not seeing things well in the pocket, missing plays that are open for him, and he’s struggling right now.

Last season a lot of things went right for Cousins. So far this season, we’re not seeing him do many of the things that allowed him to be successful.

Titans touchdowns

The Tennessee Titans had a nice comeback win last Sunday, and I wanted to look at their two fourth-quarter touchdowns.

The first one was a nice route by Delanie Walker and a nice throw by Marcus Mariota. The Lions blitzed off the slot and played “Cover 3” zone behind it. The route concept was two verticals to attack the single-high safety. Walker widened cornerback Nevin Lawson and created some distance between Lawson and safety Rafael Bush. Then it was a great throw by Mariota, the kind of firm, touch throw demanded on seam passes.

The game-winning touchdown to Andre Johnson was a nice tight-window throw by Mariota and a great catch by Johnson.

The Titans had a three-man route concept designed to get Johnson matched up on a linebacker against the Lions’ quarters coverage (a common coverage in the red zone in the NFL). Johnson’s stick-nod route got on top of linebacker Tahir Whitehead, which was the play design. I thought Walker widened his vertical release a couple steps too soon, allowing safety Bush to become a factor on the throw, but in the end it was a great throw and catch.

Cardinals route concepts

The Arizona Cardinals bounced back last week, a good sign as they go on the road to play the Buffalo Bills on Sunday. I wanted to break down one very well designed play by Bruce Arians and the Cardinals last week. The route concept broke down the Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ coverage.

With trips to the field side and Michael Floyd as the “X iso” to the boundary, there were two vertical stem routes from inside slot John Brown and the No. 2 receiver to the trips side, Jaron Brown. The two verticals put safety Chris Conte in a bind. He could not react to Jaron Brown’s go route in time to make a play. You can see how the route concept got Jaron Brown open for a 51-yard touchdown.

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NFL analyst and NFL Films senior producer Greg Cosell watches as much NFL game film as anyone. Throughout the season, Cosell will join Shutdown Corner to share his observations on the teams, schemes and personnel from around the league.