As he looks to put a difficult game against the Panthers in the backseat, Kirk Cousins said the Redskins need to come out like they have something to prove against the Giants.
Sunday's loss to the Carolina Panthers was the worst of the season for the Washington Redskins, as they fell 44-16 in a game in which a lot more went wrong for the Redskins than right.
But just as their previous five blemishes on their win-loss prior to Sunday's defeat, the Panthers game counted as just one loss.
One so tough as the Panthers game doesn't count for "more or less" against the team.
"They all count one… whether you lose 44-16 or whatever it might have been, or whether you win 40-whatever to 14 like we did last week. They all count one," Cousins said. "We saw what a great football team they are, and certainly that's what we are trying to get to."
The offense had a rough time getting anything going against the Panthers, but shot themselves in the foot too often with five fumbles, four of which were recovered by Carolina.
"Yeah, the turnovers hurt us," Cousins said. "And we didn't have that many plays even in the first half because of the turnovers. We were doing some good things at times but couldn't get into a rhythm, couldn't get going. You know, we weren't happy with the result."
Cousins would also be picked off on the Redskins' first drive of the game, as he looked for DeSean Jackson deep down the middle of the field but didn't make an accurate throw.
"It was just an overthrown ball," Cousins said. "It was high. I just saw him open and tried to quickly reset to get the ball to him, and the ball went a little high."
Cousins would settle in after the interception, connecting on a total of 22 passes out of 30 for 207 yards, 56 of which came on a touchdown connection with Jackson.
While it's difficult to point at the positives in a game in which the Redskins were overpowered, not all was bad for Cousins.
Unlike in past years where Cousins would have let the early interceptions weigh on him for the rest of the game, he settled in nicely in terms of throwing the ball when he had the time to.
"I'm not gun shy because last year when I threw picks, I threw more," Cousins said. "If you were gun shy, you would be throwing incompletions because you were scared to throw more. So I think I was the opposite of gun shy. I threw a pick and I said, 'Oh I have to make up for that. I'm going to go try to do more and get us back in the game,' and it resulted in more interceptions. So it's really the opposite of gun shy. I think as you play more and you get more experience, you say 'OK, I know you were down 44-14 but I'm not going to try to get it all back in one play. I'm going to try to take my completions, take what they give me and be a little more patient.'"
The Redskins will return to FedExField this Sunday to take on the New York Giants, who sat idle on Sunday as they watched the Redskins and Philadelphia Eagles slip to one full-game back in the NFC East standings.
While the Redskins have struggled on the road, they are one of the best teams in front of their home crowd this season, accumulating a 4-1 record at FedExField.
They must wipe clean the bad taste that was left in their mouth Sunday and take full opportunity of the chance to get atop the division.
"We'll get back to work for the Giants, and certainly again, like after the Patriots game, have an edge to us and feel like we have something to prove," Cousins said.
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