2015 Washington Redskins season

Washington was only able to run four plays on their first drive before having to punt to Atlanta. The Falcons were able to cross midfield before quarterback Matt Ryan's pass to superstar receiver Julio Jones was tipped and intercepted by Redskins safety Trenton Robinson; it was Washington's first interception of the season. Nearing the end of a scoreless first quarter, the Redskins tried to accumulate some momentum in the running game, as their longest run so far had been only 4 yards. Alfred Morris and Matt Jones both saw action, but it was the passing game that began to heat up. The two longest plays on the drive were a 14-yard pass to Chris Thompson and a 21-yarder to Pierre Garçon. The drive culminated in tight end Derek Carrier's first career touchdown pass, a 7-yard throw from Cousins that gave the Redskins a 7–0 lead early in the second quarter. Atlanta responded with a methodical drive, including only two plays longer than 7 yards, to get on the board. Kicker Matt Bryant connected on a 42-yard field goal and the Falcons cut the deficit to 7–3. Washington's next drive was not as effective, with only one out of five plays gaining positive yards before Cousins threw deep and was intercepted by Falcons cornerback Robert Alford, who returned the ball into Redskins territory. Of the 8 career road games in which Cousins had now played, he totaled 14 interceptions, and had thrown at least one interception in each.

The Falcons now needed to capitalize on the turnover, and advanced the ball to the Redskins' 23-yard line, easily within field goal range. Defensive end Chris Baker had other ideas, sacking Ryan on third-and-3 and forcing a fumble, which was recovered by linebacker Will Compton. However, Atlanta regained possession with 1:39 left and all three of their timeouts. Running back Devonta Freeman and tight end Jacob Tamme helped get the Falcons into field goal range, but Bryant missed a short 38-yard attempt, bouncing the ball off of the right upright. Entering halftime, undefeated Atlanta trailed Washington 7–3 at home.

The Falcons began the second half aggressively, throwing on 6 of their first 7 plays. This got them into field goal range. Bryant attempted to redeem himself for the earlier miss, but this kick bounced off the left upright. The ensuing Redskins drive utilized several short Cousins passes to get into field goal range, although Hopkins missed the 53-yard attempt. Atlanta crossed midfield on their next drive, and faced a decision on fourth-and-6 from the Redskins' 40-yard line, just outside of Bryant's range. Ryan threw to Jones, his most reliable target, for a gain of 9 and the first down. Two plays later, Bashaud Breeland was called for a horse-collar tackle, which moved the ball from the Redskins' 30-yard line to the 15. This was close enough for Bryant to convert a field goal, and Atlanta had crept within one of Washington, 7–6. Still unable to move the ball effectively, the Redskins went three-and-out to give the ball back to Atlanta. Washington then struggled on defense as well, allowing 4 plays of 10+ yards. Chris Baker forced a Freeman fumble at the goal line, but Julio Jones jumped on the ball in the end zone for the go-ahead score. Falcons first-year head coach Dan Quinn opted to attempt a two-point conversion to go up by a full seven points, but Ryan's pass fell incomplete to keep the lead at 12–7. The Atlanta drive covered 91 yards in just 11 plays, and now only 9 minutes remained in the game.

With their lead gone, and having been shut out in the second half, the Redskins began a crucial drive from their own 20-yard line. A 10-yard pass and a 26-yard pass, both to rookie receiver Jamison Crowder, were followed by a deep attempt to fellow rookie Rashad Ross. The ball fell incomplete, but Atlanta defensive back Robert Alford was assessed a 42-yard pass interference penalty that gave Washington the ball on the 2-yard line. On the next play, Matt Jones completed the all-rookie drive with a touchdown, allowing Washington to regain the lead, 13–12. Redskins coach Jay Gruden attempted a two-point conversion to extend the margin to a field goal, but it, like the Falcons' attempt, fell incomplete. Atlanta then committed a surprising turnover, a Ryan pass intercepted by Breeland, who returned the ball all the way back to the Atlanta 21-yard line. This allowed the Redskins to extend the lead to 16–12, significant because Atlanta now needed a touchdown to win instead of a field goal. Atlanta's next 6 plays covered 67 yards, followed by an apparent 13-yard touchdown pass on third-and-2; however, the play was later ruled an incomplete pass because Freeman did not maintain possession of the ball as he fell to the ground. The Falcons had to convert the next play, a fourth-and-2, to keep any hope of a perfect season. Veteran receiver Roddy White made the catch, and Freeman redeemed himself on the next play with a touchdown, resulting in a 19–16 Falcons lead. They had run the clock down to 24 seconds, leaving almost no time for the Redskins to respond, but Washington still had all three timeouts. Their next three plays, gains of 20, 19, and 7 to Carrier, Garcon, and Crowder, took only 19 seconds, leaving 5 seconds for a 52-yard attempt at a game-tying field goal. Hopkins drilled the kick, tying the game at 19–19, and the game went into overtime. In 24 previous meetings, dating back to 1966, the Redskins and Falcons had never gone into overtime, and Atlanta had won the last four meetings.

The Redskins won the coin toss and began overtime on offense. A Crowder 17-yard catch moved them near midfield, only needing about 20 more yards to get into Hopkins' range. Three plays later, though, Cousins attempted to pass to rookie receiver Ryan Grant, but Grant slipped on the route, allowing Robert Alford to intercept the pass and return it 59 yards for a touchdown, a 25–19 Falcons win, and their second 5–0 start in franchise history.

For the Redskins, the heartbreaking loss was the second time in four seasons they had lost to Atlanta in Week 5 by 7 points or fewer. Cousins moved to 0–3 in his career against the Falcons and threw the 15th career interception on the road in only 8 games. In each of Washington's three losses, Cousins had thrown 2 interceptions; in their two wins, he had not thrown any.

Week 6: at New York Jets

In Week 6, the Redskins played on the road for the second consecutive Sunday, this time against the 4–1 New York Jets, who had held three of their first four opponents to 14 points or less and were coming off of their bye week.

Washington punted after going three-and-out on their first possession of the game. They were quickly back on offense, however, as Jets receiver Eric Decker was stripped by Bashaud Breeland at the Jets' 37-yard line. After driving down to the 2-yard line, Washington scored on a Kirk Cousins touchdown pass to Pierre Garçon, thanks to an uncharacteristic coverage error by former All-Pro cornerback Darrelle Revis. New York's first four plays on the next drive all involved running back Chris Ivory, and gained 33 yards. Quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick then threw a 35-yard pass to Eric Decker, and Ivory punched it in for the tying score two plays later. The Jets’ stingy defense held the Redskins in check on their next drive, forcing another punt to end the first quarter. Chris Ivory then energized the raucous New York crowd with a 54-yard run to just outside the Redskins' 20, but the drive stalled and placekicker Nick Folk tacked on three more points, giving New York a 10–7 lead. Three punts followed, two by Washington and one by New York, before Breeland forced and recovered his second fumble of the game, this one off of five-time Pro Bowler and former All-Pro receiver Brandon Marshall. With a short field, Cousins and the Redskins gained 19 yards, and Redskins kicker Dustin Hopkins booted a career-long 54-yard field goal to tie the game at 10–10 with just over two minutes remaining in the first half. Fitzpatrick led the Jets into Redskins territory with three short passes that gained 32 yards, before being intercepted by Breeland at the Washington 20-yard line, Breeland's third turnover recovery of the half. Six plays and three timeouts later, Hopkins converted a 30-yard field goal to give the visiting Redskins a 13–10 halftime lead.

On the first New York drive of the second half, back-to-back plays by Ivory carried the Jets across midfield, and the game was quickly tied again thanks to a Nick Folk field goal. After a Jets punt and an Alfred Morris 2-yard run, Cousins was intercepted by Revis, who returned the ball to the Redskins’ 18-yard line. Fitzpatrick, not normally known as a particularly mobile quarterback, saw a hole in the defense and scored an 18-yard rushing touchdown on the very next play. Washington had gone from a 3-point lead to a 7-point deficit in a span of only five plays, and now trailed 20–13. The turnover also kept alive Cousins’ streak of having thrown an interception in every road game of his career. The next Redskins drive, a three-and-out, did nothing to help them regain the momentum, nor did the 14-yard Marshall catch, 18-yard Zac Stacy run, or 35-yard touchdown reception, also by Marshall, on the next Jets drive. Badly hoping to get themselves back in the game, the Redskins called a deep pass to former Duke University receiver Jamison Crowder, but Jets safety Marcus Gilchrist intercepted the ball for Cousins’ second turnover of the game. New York continued to pile up big plays, as well, with a 32-yard Ivory run to start the drive, and two third-down conversions totaling 28 yards. Fitzpatrick capitalized on those conversions, and threw a 2-yard touchdown pass to Decker, wrapping up a 21–0 third quarter that resulted in a 34–13 Jets lead. Still reeling with 11 minutes left, Washington desperately tried to mount a comeback, engineering a 59-yard drive that resulted in no points, due to an incomplete pass on fourth-and-1 from the Jets 2-yard line. They ended up scoring later in the fourth quarter, but not on offense; undrafted rookie Rashad Ross blocked a Jets punt and recovered it in the end zone, which provided the game's final score of 34–20.

The hometown New York Jets improved to a surprising 5–1, already surpassing their win total from the entire 2014 season. The Washington Redskins dropped to 2–4 on the season with the loss, and 0–3 on the road. In each of their four losses, Cousins had thrown 2 interceptions; he had thrown none in the two victories. Murmurs calling for coach Jay Gruden to be fired had begun to escalate.

Week 7: vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers