Kirk Cousins — Week 7: 295 Yards, Stopped on Fourth

Kirk Cousins threw for 295 yards against the Rams without an interception, and the efficiency still went the wrong way: 26 of 44, 2 touchdowns and two sacks in a 35-21 loss at home. Over 48 dropbacks, counting the sacks and two scrambles, he was worth -7.2 expected points added (EPA), what a play was worth given down, distance and field position. Completion percentage over expected (CPOE), which compares completions with what each throw's difficulty predicts, was -7.9.

Fourth down is where the drives died. Down 21-3 with 2:00 left in the half, fourth and 3 at the Rams 48, his short throw for Cody White fell incomplete, -2.79 EPA, and Los Angeles scored 35 seconds later. In the third quarter a fourth and 2 at the Rams 13 went incomplete to White, -3.78 EPA, and on fourth and 5 at the 25 his 16-yard completion to Jalen Nailor was overturned on review, -3.64 EPA.

His best came on third down at the turn of the quarter. Down 28-6, third and 4 at his own 15, he hit Tre Tucker short right for 41 yards, +3.48 EPA, and on third and 3 at the Rams 37 he threw deep left to Tucker for the touchdown, +4.27 EPA. After Nakobe Dean's interception, his 15-yard touchdown to Ashton Jeanty made it 28-18.

It was a sharp drop from his season. Through Week 6 he had completed 135 of 213 for 1,582 yards, 14 touchdowns and 5 interceptions, at +0.19 EPA per dropback over 221 dropbacks; here it was -0.15. His CPOE through Week 6 was -0.7.

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_Data via nflverse._