Say this for today’s Washington-Atlanta game: For a game between two of the worst teams in the league, at least it had a fantastic finish.
Washington quarterback Kirk Cousins, taking over the offense after the benching of Robert Griffin III, threw a touchdown pass to Santana Moss with 22 seconds left, bringing the score to 27-26. But instead of kicking the game-tying extra point, Mike Shanahan decided to go for two. Unfortunately for Cousins, his pass was incomplete, and the Falcons hung on to win.
Cousins showed promise as a passer, completing 29 of 45 passes for 381 yards, with three touchdowns. But he also threw two interceptions and lost a fumble, so his day was far from perfect. Overall Cousins looked fine, but not the kind of player anyone would trade a first-round draft pick for, as Shanahan suggested last week.
The Falcons got two touchdown runs from Steven Jackson and a touchdown catch from Tony Gonzalez in a winning effort. The win improves the Falcons to 4-10 and drops them behind both Houston and Atlanta in the NFL draft order, which is what a game like this really matters for. Neither of these teams is going anywhere, but the team that really benefitted today is St. Louis, which has Washington’s first-round pick, a pick that looks likely to be No. 2 overall.