Redskins, Cousins falter in second half, fall to Jets 34-20

After another Ivory first down in which Keenan Robinson was blocked by quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick, the defense put their foot down. Richardson recorded his first sack on a second-and-10 early in the second quarter and almost combined with DE Leonard Williams on a second sack late in the first half. In the second half, it got even worse for Washington, as the Kirk Cousins-led offensive unit found itself stumbling into multiple three and outs. Hopkins knocked in a 30-yarder and the Redskins held another surprising lead at halftime, 13-10. The team opened the second half with four straight scoring drives.

The Jets’ defense forced a three-and-out on Washington’s first possession, but the offense turned the ball over on its first play. Marshall finished with 111 receiving yards. Instead the Jets heard a few words from coach Todd Bowles, got their act together in the second half and matched their win total from last season. But Pierre Garcon has two catches, eight yards, and one touchdown catch. This rushing touchdown is his first rushing touchdown since HST at JAX (12/07/14).

And it is clear, despite another loss, despite another multiple-interception day by Cousins, that this is his job now and for the foreseeable future: to help keep Cousins warm, to be polite while saying little, to not ask the questions that Jay Gruden was peppered with after the game. They each battled controversy in the offseason, most certainly at the quarterback position – Robert Griffin III was sidelined in favor of Kirk Cousins. And for the fourth time this season he threw two of them in a game. Gilchrist finished the game with three tackles, one interception and two passes defensed. On the next play, Riley filled the wrong hole and fell leading to a huge 54-yard gain by Chris Ivory. Jets wide receiver Brandon Marshall recently called Ivory the “best running back in the National Football League”, and he did nothing to argue otherwise Sunday. He later added touchdown passes to Marshall and Decker. He also was credited by QB Ryan Fitzpatrick for picking up a Washington blitz, which allowed Fitzpatrick to run for an 18-yard touchdown in the third quarter. Once again, let’s look beyond the two (very costly) interceptions – just consider the fact he continues to miss both high and behind receivers.

And with no timeouts and already backed up well within their own five-yard line, the Jets made a decision to go for the punt.

Bowles said of there being any rust coming off of the bye, “I don’t know if it’s the rust or the mental part of getting back into the grind of it, the understanding that you have to fight for every play. Week in and week out, the coaches are going to make sure that the preparation is there, and we’re going to come to practice with a goal, come to games with a objective and just try to stack up these wins as much as we can”. We have game six against New England, and we’ll play game six.