Second Cousins

The Washington Redskins return to action Thursday night, hosting the New York Giants at 8:25 p.m. on CBS and NFL Network.

Washington aims to rebound from a 37-34 loss to Philadelphia last Sunday, and will also try to snap a seven-game losing streak against NFC East rivals.

This marks the 165th overall meeting between the teams, and the 163rd in the regular season. The Giants lead the series, 95-65-4, and have won the past two contests.

Both teams enter this game with 1-2 records. The Giants lost their first two games of the season before defeating Houston, 30-17, on Sunday.

No short turnaround is ideal, but the Redskins limp into this game, having listed 17 players on the injury report. They have no choice but to soldier on through, however.

In his first two outings of the season, Kirk Cousins has displayed a great command of the offense and the ability to get off to a hot start. He completed his first 12 passes against Jacksonville, and his first eight against Philadelphia and also threw two first-half touchdown passes.

The second halves of games have been a different story, however. It didn’t matter in the Jacksonville blowout, but Cousins completed only 40 percent of his passes after halftime. Against Philly, with the game on the line, he threw an interception to kill a key scoring opportunity, and then with the ball in Eagles territory with two minutes left, Cousins had three straight incompletions, and his team lost by three.

As he tries to prove himself as a starter, Cousins must show he can deliver in crunch time. He said Tuesday that greater attention to detail, and better preparation will make the difference. Jay Gruden said more experience will also help. Cousins also needs a little more patience in the pocket. It’s great he gets the ball out quickly, but some times it’s too fast. If he can slow down just half a second to give his receivers a sliver of additional time, Cousins can become even more effective. We’ll see if he can brush up on these two areas Thursday.