This week's Redskins Drive of the Game, presented by Ford, was a quick statement to open the second half as another DeSean Jackson long catch set up Kirk Cousins for a touchdown sneak.*
Coming out of the halftime break, the Redskins were trailing 10-6 and needed to make a statement. It took only 2:24 of game time for Kirk Cousins and the Washington offense to do so with a five-play, 74-yard touchdown drive to take a 13-10 lead in Arizona.
The drive began with Cousins hitting Pierre Garçon for a 10-yard gain. Instead of turning to the run game, Cousins lined up in the shotgun and found one-on-one coverage for his favorite deep weapon, DeSean Jackson. Cousins put the pass on the money as Jackson caught the ball at the 17-yard line and made it to the Arizona five-yard line before being tackled.
Although he came up just short of scoring a touchdown in a third straight game, Jackson made it back-to-back games with a catch of more than 55 yards. The catch was also Jackson's 35th catch of 50 or more yards in his career – the most by any NFL player since 2008 when Jackson entered the league.
"Just some coverages that we were able to get some routes against," Cousins said. "We felt that they were good matchups. Guys had to make plays; they had to beat their man. In many of those instances, the receivers just ended up making great plays."
However, the Cardinals defense didn't give up the touchdown easily. Cousins' pass on first and goal was incomplete, and Robert Kelley churned his legs as much as possible on a second-down run, but came up with only four yards – a yard short of paydirt.
That brought up third-and-goal from the one-yard line, and Washington turned to Cousins, who found the smallest of gaps in a pile of Cardinals and Redskins to fall into the end zone for his seventh career touchdown run. Cousins's seven touchdown rushes, which have all come within the last two seasons, rank seventh all-time among Washington quarterbacks.
Although the Redskins were unable to come away with the victory, despite another long touchdown pass from Cousins to Jamison Crowder, the quick-strike ability of the offense has continued to be impressive all season long.
