The Washington Redskins started fast and furious on Sunday at home against the New Orleans Saints, keeping their foot on the pedal for the majority of a 47-14 blowout. Now 4-5, the Redskins are alive as NFC Playoff contenders with seven games to play in the 2015 season. Here's our notes, quotes and observations from their big win in Landover.
Notes:
Redskins QB Kirk Cousins threw four touchdown passes on Sunday -- the first time in his career that he's eclipsed three in a game. In addition, all of his TD passes were over seven yards against the Saints. He hadn't broken that plateau all season.
The Saints' past three opponents have combined for 130 points and over 1,400 yards of total offense.
Washington's 33-point margin of victory is their best since blowing out the San Francisco 49ers 52-17 a decade ago.
New Orleans' defense made Kirk Cousins look like a legend. Cousins posted a perfect 158.3 passing rating, leading Washington to over 500 yards of total offense -- 394 of those in the first half.
Quotes:
"I'm getting better as a quarterback. When you're in the zone and things are going really well, you're just playing and your mind is free and you're not allowing things to inhibit your play." -- Redskins QB Kirk Cousins.
"We can't allow this to keep happening." -- Saints safety Kenny Vaccaro on the team's defensive lapses of late.
"Kirk's going to take his lumps, man, but he's going to keep grinding and you can see the results starting to pay off." -- Redskins coach Jay Gruden on Kirk Cousins.
"There wasn't a lot, I'm sure, that we (are) going to look at on that tape that we're not going to be disappointed in." -- Saints coach Sean Payton
Observations:
The Washington Redskins have quietly outstripped expectations this year, moving to 4-5 on the season and hanging around on the fringes of the NFC playoff chase. While the offense is still a work in progress, the NFC East is spotty enough right now that this incomplete Redskins squad can make a run at an NFC East title. What was unfathomable to many critics in the preseason is now reality -- the Redskins are decent, bordering on good.
It's time to write off the 2015 New Orleans Saints. They're a fun team to watch when everything is clicking on offense, but their defense just doesn't have the horses to regularly match the potency of the offense. We knew this was going to be a rebuilding year for this Saints squad, and it may be time to double down on that with the team at 4-6 and 1-4 on the road.
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