This week's Redskins Drive of the Game, presented by Ford, was highlighted by a quick three-play drive that ended on a Kirk Cousins touchdown pass to Pierre Garçon that put the Redskins ahead for good.
It took just a minute and a half to change the whole feel of Washington's game Sunday with the Baltimore Ravens. It had been a tough afternoon for the Redskins offense against the No. 1-ranked defense in the NFL, but in just three plays momentum shifted in favor of Washington.
Give credit to the Redskins defense, which set the offense up with great field position by sacking Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco back at the Baltimore 14-yard line on third down of the Ravens' first second-half drive. Baltimore punter Sam Koch's kick traveled just 36 yards before going out of bounds at midfield, and from there it didn't take long for Washington to score.
Trailing 10-6 with 10:01 remaining in the third quarter, Washington quarterback Kirk Cousins hit Jamison Crowder for a 23-yard gain across the middle to begin the drive. That was followed by a completion for six yards to tight end Vernon Davis. On second down, Cousins gave a small pump fake towards the outside, freezing the defender just enough for Pierre Garçon to sneak by. Cousins then laid a perfect pass into the hands of Garçon for a 21-yard touchdown to give Washington the lead.
"The defense got us great field position, and so did the special teams," tight end Jordan Reed said. "Kirk made a great throw to Pierre that capitalized on that field position and let us take the lead."
And it was a lead that the Redskins would not relinquish. Washington's defense pitched a shutout in the second half as Dustin Hopkins added a field goal late in the third quarter to finish out the scoring. The Redskins have now outscored their opponents 37-9 in the second half of games over their three-game winning streak.
The Redskins had mustered six points in the first half, but it came on an 85-yard punt return touchdown by Jamison Crowder. The offense had 109 total yards, including 92 pass yards, although Cousins had completed 14-of-20 passes in the first two quarters.
"At halftime, we knew that we'd had some opportunities in the first half," Cousins said. "We knew we started with the football, and the first few drives were going to be important. At halftime, we didn't come in there thinking that they're not as great as we thought. We just focused on the fact that we'd done some good things in the first half, and we needed to keep playing."
