Here's a comparison of Kirk Cousins' and Andrew Luck's performance in the NFL regular season, pre-season and college. Try quizzing yourself by answering "Luck" or "Cousins" after each question, (or skip to the answers displayed in the section following the list of questions.)

Questions: (respond with "Luck" or "Cousins")
55% NFL Regular Season completion rate:
64% NFL Regular Season completion rate:

74.5 NFL Regular Season QB Rating:
107 NFL Regular Season QB Rating:

7.1 NFL Regular Season Yards per Attempt:
7.9 NFL Regular Season Yards per Attempt:

NFL Regular Season Longest Pass completion of 60 yards:
NFL Regular Season Longest Pass Completion of 74 yards:

NFL Regular Season 2 TDs/ 2 Ints:
NFL Regular Season 18 TDs/ 18 Ints:

58.3% Pre-season completion rate:
62.5% Pre-season completion rate:

7.78 Pre-season Yards per Attempt:
8.03 Pre-season Yards per Attempt:

Pre-season TDs versus Ints: 3 TDs/ 2 Ints:
Pre-season TDs versus Ints: 3 TDs/ 2 Ints:

College 2011: 3,316 passing yards:
College 2011: 3,517 passing yards:

College 2010: 2,825 passing yards:
College 2010: 3,338 passing yards:

College 2009: 2,575 passing yards:
College 2009: 2,680 passing yards:

Senior year performance against same opponent (Notre Dame): 233 yards, 67% completion%:
Senior year performance against same opponent (Notre Dame): 329 yards, 64% completion%:

Answers:
55% NFL regular season completion rate: Luck
64% NFL regular season completion rate: Cousins

74.5 NFL regular season QB Rating: Luck
107 NFL regular season QB Rating: Cousins

7.1 NFL regular season Yards per Attempt: Luck
7.9 NFL regular season Yards per Attempt: Cousins

NFL regular season Longest Pass completion of 60 yards: Luck
NFL regular season Longest Pass Completion of 74 yards: Cousins

NFL regular season 2 TDs/ 2 Ints: Cousins
NFL regular season 18 TDs/ 18 Ints: Luck

58.3% Pre-season completion rate: Cousins
62.5% Pre-season completion rate: Luck

7.78 Pre-season Yards per Attempt: Cousins
8.03 Pre-season Yards per Attempt: Luck

Pre-season TDs versus Ints: 3 TDs/ 2 Ints: Luck
Pre-season TDs versus Ints: 3 TDs/ 2 Ints: Cousins

College 2011: 3,316 passing yards: Cousins
College 2011: 3,517 passing yards: Luck

College 2010: 2,825 passing yards: Cousins
College 2010: 3,338 passing yards: Luck

College 2009: 2,575 passing yards: Luck
College 2009: 2,680 passing yards: Cousins

Senior year performance against same opponent (Notre Dame): 233 yards, 67% completion%: Luck
Senior year performance against same opponent (Notre Dame): 329 yards, 64% completion%: Cousins

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Kirk is no RG3. But neither is Andrew Luck. The Colts are winning with Luck's 74.5 NFL QB rating, 55% completion percentage and Andrew throwing as many picks as TDs. Indy's victory over the Browns came well before Cleveland went on their current 3 win tear. Luck's stats against the Browns were spot on with his season long averages. He completed 55% of his passes and achieved a 74.8 QB rating. I doubt the Skins can win with a similar performance from their quarterback (75 QB rating, 55% completion percentage and throwing as many picks as TDs.)

If the Redskins are going to beat the Browns, Kirk will have to put up numbers better than Luck's typical performance. Cousins flashed this ability in the pre-season when he threw 3 touchdowns in one game's 4th quarter. As we all know, our backup QB backed up that performance with his 4th quarter execution this past Sunday.

Cousins' leadership skills, accuracy and touch passing are highly regarded. The knocks on Kirk coming out of college were a supposed lack of arm strength and a tendency to make costly mistakes. Anyone who watched Cousins in camp and pre-season knows he can put a lot of zip on the ball, as well as throw accurate deep balls.

Is it probable Kyle can game plan around Kirk's strengths, allow Kirk to play within his abilities, and minimize Kirk's chances of making costly mistakes? As to his penchant for throwing risky passes, I have to believe Kirk has learned from watching RG3's spectacular rookie season that you're better off throwing it away or taking the sack than taking the risk of throwing an interception. Speaking of sacks, this is one area where Kirk has dramatically improved since college. Compared to Luck's college performance, Cousins gave up a lot of negative yardage on sacks. This pre-season and season Kirk allowed himself to be sacked only once, and that was for a loss of a measly 3 yards.

His pocket awareness was not only on display in last Sunday's off-schedule rollout and touchdown, it was on display the entire pre-season. This example of significant improvement since college may bode well for the rest of Kirk's game (or should I say games?)

pic via www.washingtonpost.com