WASHINGTON — For quarterback Kirk Cousins and the Redskins, 2015 has been a tale of two seasons, spun around their 34-20 road loss to the New York Jets.

Washington emerged 2-4 from that Week 6 game and in desperate need of a win against Tampa Bay before the bye week. Prior to hosting the Buccaneers, Cousins — with six touchdowns and eight interceptions — had yet to shake his turnover reputation. If anything, after throwing a game-losing interception in overtime against the Falcons two weeks earlier, he reinforced it.

Cousins has thrown 16 touchdowns and three interceptions, while completing 73 percent of passes for 2,205 yards and a 115 QB rating, in eight games since. Washington has added five wins and risen to first place in a paltry NFC East division and heads to Philadelphia with a chance to clinch a playoff berth on Saturday.

Cousins has also transitioned from being the best of a questionable quarterback bunch, and maybe looking over his shoulder to backup Colt McCoy, to solidifying his future as an NFL starting quarterback.

A special film session with head coach Jay Gruden, Cousins said Monday during his weekly radio appearance with 106.7 The Fan’s Grant Paulsen and Danny Rouhier, may have sparked the turning point in their season.

“You know, I never doubted myself. I never doubted if the coaches believed in me,” he said. “I think it was just more of putting it all together and showing it on the field consistently. I remember before the Tampa game, after the Jets game, Jay and I sat down and we went through Tom Brady and his game against the Colts that previous weekend, and Jay’s point was what Tom was doing to be as good as he was, it wasn’t anything spectacular or anything that I couldn’t do, but at the same time, it was incredibly polished, incredibly disciplined and having great command.

“It was just a message to me that, ‘You can do this, but it takes time. And you’re capable of it, but it’s going to take a lot of discipline, a lot of attention to detail and having a great command.’ I’ve tried to apply that week in and week out and it hasn’t always been perfect, but I do believe that if I just keep at it and keep going, there’s enough talent and enough ability around me, and in me, that we can do something special.”

The Redskins traveled to New England two weeks after that seminal film session, losing 27-10 to drop to 3-5. Cousins passed for 217 yards, with one touchdown and an interception, in that game. Afterwards, he met Brady at midfield where they were seen engaging in conversation.

“[I] just told him he’s the best, I study him, continue to learn from him and just complimented him,” Cousins said of the interaction. “And then just asked him how long it took him until the game really started to click for him, or when it really started to slow down and it started clicking, and he just said, ‘Hey, it’s still clicking. It’s a process. It takes time and each year you’re better than the last.’”

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