Ray Hagan
Welcome to the Beat of the East right here at PhillyInfluencer.com. The predictions went a little better this week, going 1-0-1 and 1-1 against the spread. That brings the record to 7-5-1 overall and 6-7 against the spread. Now we move to Week 9.
REWIND
What a frustrating game as an Eagles fan that was. This game was almost the opposite of what I expected. The defense held Ezekiel Elliott to under 100 yards rushing. The offense moved the ball fairly well, but in the end the result was what I’d expected with Dallas coming out with a win. I actually expected Philadelphia to be thoroughly outplayed, but instead I felt like the Eagles let the game slip through their fingers. The game was littered with questionable coaching decisions and some poor plays and in the end the Cowboys did what they needed to do to win the game… something the Eagles couldn’t do. Prescott looked like the lesser of the two rookies for much of the game, but he was terrific in overtime including buying time with his legs for Jason Witten to get open as the Eagles defenders played Keystone Kops in the end zone. That was a big win for Dallas, which now goes up two games in the division with only one loss on the season.
The Redskins, like the Eagles, let the game against the Cincinnati Bengals slip out of their hands … or, more accurately, off their foot as Dustin Hopkins missed what would have been an easy game winner after being “iced.” I see that happen all the time with the attempts to get in the kicker’s head, and it seldom works. This time, it clearly did as after blasting the first kick through the uprights Hopkins sailed his second one and the ‘Skins ended up tied with the Bengals. Cousins was fire again throwing for north of 450 yards, and is showing that maybe he’s the real deal.
FAST FORWARD
The Giants return to action this week against our beloved Eagles in what has become a must- win game for both teams. The winner stays on a 10-win pace and potential playoff berth. The losing team drops to an 8-8 pace and is likely watching their playoff hopes dwindle like sand in the upper half of an hour glass. The Giants are coming off the bye week and the Eagles are coming off of that terrible loss to Dallas.
The Cowboys get their second bye week of the season as they take on the moribund Cleveland Browns. The Browns added Jamie Collins in a move that is likely to swing this game and turn it on its ear. No, it’s not likely to do that at all. This should be an absolute Cowboys romp, but we’ll get into that on Friday.
LONG BOMB
I’ve never been Kirk Cousins’ biggest fan. I thought he was extremely overrated last year and that his performance was unsustainable. Over the first few games this year I thought that I was being proven right. Except that now I no longer think that. I think that Cousins, while not a superstar, is a legitimate NFL Quarterback that a town like Cleveland would love to call its own. While you wouldn’t take him over Luck, Brady, Roethlisberger, Rodgers, or even guys like Prescott and Wentz; Cousins is a real quarterback. He’s more than capable of winning a game for a team. I think that Cousins is a guy that is about to catch fire…again. Take a look at the numbers from his first seven games last year.
| CMP | ATT | YDS | CMP% | AVG | TD | INT |
| 184 | 268 | 1737 | 68.66% | 6.48 | 9 | 8 |
The numbers were fairly pedestrian aside from a pretty reasonable completion percentage. The yards per attempt would lead you to believe that that completion percentage was founded as much on short passes as anything. The TD to interception ratio is nearly 1:1 which is dangerous. Let’s take a look at this year.
| CMP | ATT | YDS | CMP% | AVG | TD | INT |
| 177 | 265 | 1996 | 66.79% | 7.53 | 10 | 6 |
This year the completion percentage is down almost two percent, but the average is up a yard per attempt. He’s thrown almost an identical number of passes, but is being much more efficient with them even if the completions have slid down a tick. The TD to interception ratio over his first seven this year is also far more palatable, at closer to 2:1. While I originally thought that Cousins had regressed from last year (and he did from his scorching close to the year) he’s actually a better quarterback through seven games in 2016 than he was in 2015.
| CMP | ATT | YDS | CMP% | AVG | TD | INT |
| 195 | 275 | 2429 | 70.91% | 8.83 | 20 | 3 |
That is the torrid pace that Cousins went on to end the last season over his final nine games, and somehow he’s off to an even more electric start to the final nine in 2016 thanks to his phenomenal London performance. Now it’s not likely that Kirk is going to spend the next 8 weeks going over 450 every week. However, if Cousins throws for roughly 250 yards per game over the last eight; he’d match his yardage output for the final 9 games of 2015. So let’s take a look at some safe benchmarks and where Cousins could finish.
Assuming he’s able to throw for the same 250 per week we just discussed and match the same two touchdowns and one interception he did in London (not unreasonable) and keeps that completion percentage (roughly 68%, also not unreasonable) his final nine games this year would look something like this.
| CMP | ATT | YDS | CMP% | AVG | TD | INT |
| 149 | 219 | 2000 | 68.04% | 9.13 | 18 | 9 |
That would give Cousins these final numbers. Take a look at them compared with his 2015 campaign.
| Year | CMP | ATT | YDS | CMP% | AVG | TD | INT |
| 2016 | 364 | 540 | 4454 | 67.41% | 8.25 | 28 | 15 |
| 2015 | 379 | 543 | 4166 | 69.80% | 7.67 | 29 | 11 |
I hate to admit it, but I think that Cousins is for real, and he’s here to stay. He’s not likely to ever join the ranks of the elite, but he’s very good. Cousins bet on himself this year by not settling for a long term deal he wasn’t comfortable with, and like Joe Flacco before him, he’s likely to get paid handsomely for it.
BEAST OF THE BEAT
Kirk Cousins wins the award this week despite the “kissing your sister” result of the game. Cousins threw for over 450 yards, added a pair of touchdowns and a single interception in a game that his team should have won going away. The ‘Skins kept shooting themselves in the foot (which would explain Hopkins’ miss) but Cousins did everything he could to carry them over the finish line, though at the end of the day he couldn’t do it. Congratulations Kirk, here’s your consolation prize!