Washington Redskins must bench Kirk Cousins, start Colt McCoy or Robert Griffin III

In no way, shape or form does Kirk Cousins give the Washington Redskins a better chance of winning than Robert Griffin III.

There, I said it.

After watching Cousins offer up an inept performance in a 32-21 loss on Thursday Night Football against the New York Giants, it’s clear Washington made the wrong choice starting the former Michigan State passer over Colt McCoy and/or Griffin III.

In his 12th career start, Cousins threw his 22nd and 23rd career interceptions — both of which were detestable.

The first pick came in the first quarter. He was attempting to hit Pierre Garcon on a slant, but cornerback Prince Amukamara read it from the get-go. Making matters worse, Garcon didn’t exactly run a sharp route, but Cousins telegraphed the pass from the moment he received the snap, as you can see here.

His second interception came in the third quarter, and it was just as ill-conceived.

Under pressure, Cousins tried to squeeze a pass into tight end Derek Carrier, who was being covered like a blanket by linebacker Devon Kennard, who batted the pass up into the air. Coming down with it for New York was linebacker Uani Unga.

Both interceptions were the result of nothing more than extremely poor decision-making. On their own, they aren’t particularly alarming — every quarterback has bad days. Unfortunately for Cousins, and Washington, by proxy, poor decision-making is his hallmark.

Consider this: Cousins has played in 17 games now in four years, starting 12, and has already been intercepted 23 times. For the sake of comparison, Griffin III has 23 interceptions, except he’s made 35 starts and has attempted almost 600 more passes in the NFL.

Remind us again, why is Cousins a better option for Washington than RG3?

In addition to his obvious mistakes, Cousins missed a couple of WIDE OPEN receivers during crucial moments in the first half — the most devastating of which was his badly under-thrown pass to tight end Jordan Reed down the left sideline that should have been an easy score.

When news came out of Washington that Griffin was going to be benched, most smart football people figured Colt McCoy would be the right choice to lead the offense. Head coach Jay Gruden and the rest of the decision-makers didn’t see it the same way, however, but at this point it’s time to face facts.

Washington must bench Cousins, who cannot stop himself from throwing interceptions. In his stead, either McCoy should get the call or the franchise needs to admit it made a mistake with RG3 and let him have another crack at the job.

Based on the way RG3 was abused by the club this summer, he’s not getting another chance unless some crazy circumstances make it necessary. At this point, however, it’s crystal clear he’d at least give Washington a better chance to win than Cousins does.

Turnovers are the quickest way to lose ball games, and Cousins is the worst in the league at giving opponents extra chances with errant passes. This means McCoy should get the call if Washington is going to hold Cousins to the same standard that got RG3 benched in the first place.