RG3 goes down late, but Kirk Cousins delivers to lead OT win

“You’ve got to try to put aside all the worries that you have for Robert and the concern about him and is he going to be OK and how much this offense hinges on him,” left guard Kory Lichtensteiger said. “You have to put all that belief in Robert on Kirk. Kirk is a very capable guy. He knows what he’s doing.”

Cousins was on the sideline for almost three hours on this cold, raw day. He wore a jacket to stay warm, but he physically felt cold when he entered the game with 1:42 remaining and the Redskins at their 40-yard line trailing by eight.

Lichtensteiger knew immediately Cousins would be OK.

“All I need to hear from him is the play,” Lichtensteiger said. “If he can get that out and it makes sense and the protections are going the right way, it’s good.”

Players expected Cousins to be ready. On many weekdays, you can find him sitting on a couch outside the Redskins‘ locker room with his nose buried in his playbook. Sometimes he’ll be drawing plays using a pen and a pad of paper.

Knowing Griffin blocks him on the depth chart tests his patience, but Sunday’s results show he has handled it well. “It’s encouraging to watch a quarterback have success in this offense because you feel like you’re in a place that you succeed if your number does get called upon,” Cousins said. “Coach Shanahan’s track record with quarterbacks, this is a place where you want to play. In that sense, it’s a good position for me to be in.”

Although Griffin returned to the game for four plays, his knee was too painful. He yielded to Cousins.

On third-and-5 from the 11, Cousins pump-faked, rolled to his right and found a wide-open Garcon for the tying touchdown.

“I thought, ‘I’m going to try to make something happen and try to do my best RG3,’” Cousins said.

Cousins impersonated him again on the quarterback draw. From the sideline, Griffin saw the Ravens show a blitz. He knew the draw wouldn’t work and Cousins would have to check out of it.

But then the Ravens backed off. The draw was on.

The hole opened for Cousins, and — what else? — the rookie seized the opportunity.

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