Redskins trade for Alex Smith

[Schneed10]

Originally Posted by skinsfaninok

That pick was rough and still hard to swallow as fans, we don't make the playoffs often and we had a chance to go back 2 back that would have been huge for the team. He was awful in that game.

Agree. I think Cousins has a little bit of spaz in him. I think he has a tendency to get very nervous in big moments.

He's not typically good in Week 1 games - there's a lot of buildup to them of course and until he gets his feet wet his Week 1 games are usually a problem. And then in games where the stakes are high, like that Giants game, he forced himself into a bad and unnecessary decision.

I can see it on his face in those games. You can tell he's nervous. Maybe he gets better with that over time as he gains experience. But I think there's something in his personality - I think he just gets uptight in the big moments.

It might also stem from practicing too safely - Gruden might be onto something there. If you constantly check down to the safer play, even in practice, are you going to be ready to make the big, difficult play in a crunch moment?

If you go strictly by Cousins' numbers he's a top 5 QB, but all of these little things are reflective of why he's more like a 10-15 type QB. He's not going to put a team on his back and pull through in a huge moment. At least he hasn't shown that very often thus far.