Cousins, Washington defense shine in prime time

LANDOVER, MD. — Convinced no one outside their locker room gave them a chance to beat the Oakland Raiders, the Washington Redskins put together the kind of complete performance that made them worthy of the prime-time spotlight.

Kirk Cousins threw for 365 yards and three touchdowns, Chris Thompson had 188 all-purpose yards and a score, and the Redskins sacked Derek Carr four times, forced three turnovers and held the Raiders to 128 yards in a dominating 27-10 victory on Sunday night.

“We wanted to show everybody what the Washington Redskins really could do because everybody didn’t give us a heck of a chance,” cornerback Josh Norman said. “Our boys showed up and they played some heck of a ball tonight and I can’t be more proud of them.”

Cousins was a spectacular 25 of 30, including TD passes to Thompson, Vernon Davis and a 52-yarder to Josh Doctson. Thompson had 150 yards receiving, joining Jamaal Charles as the only running backs to put up 150 receiving against the Raiders (2-1) since they moved to Oakland in 1995.

Thompson has four of Washington’s seven offensive touchdowns this season. The Redskins (2-1), who piled up 472 yards, improved to 4-6 in primetime games under coach Jay Gruden and tied Philadelphia for the NFC East lead.

Under pressure all night, Carr was 19 of 31 for 118 yards with a touchdown and two interceptions. Carr had thrown 112 consecutive passes without an interception before being picked off by Montae Nicholson on the second play.