Charting and analyzing Kirk Cousins: Week 1

Although not charted, Cousins struggled under pressure. When the Buccaneers were able to get in his face, Cousins struggled to create the plays you’d expect a quarterback to make.

That’s not necessarily a surprise — most quarterbacks struggle when defenses can throw them off their base — but Cousins was particularly disappointing in these situations. While the offensive line deserves some blame, Cousins was responsible for some of it.

It also didn’t feel like Cousins was particularly decisive in his reads. Kevin O’Connell kept a ton of reads simplified, and his first reads were open often, but sometimes, when Cousins needed to rotate to another part of the progression, he struggled.

Cousins is way too slow to rotate to the backside on this play, which forces him to almost loft it up to Osborn. It’s clear fairly quickly that Hockenson (running the corner) isn’t open, and Cousins should already be moving to the backside concept. Instead, he sits on the Hockenson route and delays everything.

All pressures aren’t created equal. This play might get credited as a pressure allowed from the offensive line, but the muddy pocket happens because Cousins is too slow rotating over.