Once again, Kirk Cousins fails to impress as the Washington Redskins' starting quarterback. The backup has been given the reigns to the offense and every opportunity to prove himself worthy as a potential starting quarterback of the future. However, Cousins cannot seem to find consistency in his play which has left the Redskins to sit at 1-4 on the season. As Robert Griffin III continues to work towards getting healthy, what happens if both quarterbacks struggle?
Cousins finished the game against the Arizona Cardinals in unimpressive fashion. The quarterback went 24 for 38 for 354 yards, two touchdowns and three interceptions. The turnovers has been the biggest issue for Cousins. While having every chance in the world to stake his claim as the franchise quarterback for Washington, Cousins continues to shut the door with simple mistakes in big moments. The quarterback was predicted to have a big game against the Cardinals, but failed to take advantage of the chance which resulted in a loss.
"It wasn't what we wanted," Cousins said, via ESPN.com. "The turnovers were costly. They just didn't give us a chance to stay on the field. We've got guys who can help us, but when you turn the ball over you won't give them a chance to show what they can do."
Now, the Redskins must figure out the best approach to take in the situation. Depth at the position is obviously an issue and while Cousins has shown progress, it is not enough to win people over. According to Dan Steinberg of the Washington Post, there is a belief that Cousins could be benched in favor of third-string quarterback Colt McCoy. The former starting quarterback has done nothing in the NFL to instill confidence in the Washington fanbase that things would improve under his arm, but does Washington have another choice? The team has four-straight losses and a quarterback that has thrown three or more interceptions in two out of his four outings. The chances are slim that McCoy actually sees the field, but head coach Jay Gruden is aware that things need to improve.
Cousins has been very vocal about his desire to be a starting quarterback, but so far he is doing very little to show why he can handle the task. In a business based off wins, Cousins is not meeting the standards set.
"Winning the division, getting into the playoffs, winning in the playoffs," Cousins said, via the team website. "That is something that we are trying to do here and we need to improve obviously. There's places where we are coming up short and when you play this game in this league, the other team is very good, too. And so every time you go out there you have to bring your highest level and the margin for error is very, very small."
