Washington Gained 17 Yards On A Play Where Kirk Cousins Threw A Near Pick-Six

The 2016 season has not been particularly kind to Kirk Cousins or the Washington Redskins on the football field, but perhaps the team’s fortunes are changing on the heels of this bizarre play. With Washington leading 13-10 with more than six minutes remaining in the third quarter against the Baltimore Ravens, Cousins uncorked what appeared to be a back-breaking interception that would soon be returned for a touchdown.

Then, um, things changed.

Ravens linebacker C.J. Mosley made the catch and began plotting his path to the end zone but, just inches before reaching the goal line, Mosley lost control of the football and the pigskin caromed within the field of play. From there, he crossed the threshold of the goal line and slipped out of bounds, forcing a touchback that sent the ball back to Washington.

The kicker in this case was that Washington had begun the play on its own three-yard line so, in actuality, the end result was a 17-yard “gain” for the road team in the most undeserved way possible. In the end, this monumental shift from a would-be touchdown for Baltimore into a gain for Washington actually had a major impact on a closely contested game.

It is always better to be lucky than good, and Kirk Cousins saw that on full display in Week 5.