Niles Paul and Davis were helping to block at the line of scrimmage.
JPP would have had five sacks on his own if the team didn't scheme to provide Cousins with better protection. Even so, Cousins took 6 sacks.
The very fact of a
#4 pick like Kirk Cousins coming in and starting here in Washington, Russell Wilson doing the same as a
#3 pick, Dak Prescott in Dallas , etc. is pretty good evidence that a capable front office can go into the draft and find a signal caller that can come in and be a productive NFL starter.
The problem for the team is that Cousins was sitting behind Griffin for much of the first 3 years of his career, so when he finally did get a chance to play and showed he could be productive there was NO TIME left on his contract to see Part II of the movie, the team was forced to either pay up right away for a limited sample of work or let him go.
If the Redskins were clairvoyant they should have paid Cousins the $16M after the 2015 season on a 5-6 year deal.
But who knew whether that last 9 games in 2015 was the real deal or a mirage?
Look at Case Keenum. He is cruising along with a 9-2 Vikings' team and making plays all over the field.
But remember what he was at his other stops? He was downright awful at times. Throwing interceptions just like Cousins did early on.
So, do the Vikings roll the dice in 2018 and give Keenum a mega-deal contract at age 29 or do they go back to Bridgewater and thank Case for his fine season of work as he goes into free agency?
It's a lot easier in retrospect to say what a GM should have done.
But it was no slam dunk after 2015 that Kirk was the long-term answer. The Redskins had a relatively light schedule coming down the stretch in 2015 and while the team did make the playoffs at 9-7, we never did beat teams like the Patriots, Seahawks, Broncos or Steelers.
In our 'primetime' matchup with the Packers at home in the playoffs we got destroyed and the entire team, Cousins included, looked way over-matched.
It was hardly the same kind of performance Kurt Warner had in 1999 with the Rams where signing him to a long-term extension was a given after his performance over 16 games and the playoffs.