By conventional measures, Kirk Cousins was decidedly run of the mill against the Seahawks on Sunday. For the season, his per-game averages are: 22.8 attempts, 33.5 completions, 268.4 passing yards, 8.0 yards per attempt, 1.6 touchdowns and 0.5 interceptions.

In Seattle, against the league's sixth-rated pass defense, Cousins finished 21 of 31 for 247 yards (67.7 completion percentage, 8.0 yards per attempt) with no touchdowns or interceptions, but he lost a fumble and took a season-high six sacks. Looking at just the box score, it would be easy to imagine the Redskins losing handily. Partly because it's incredibly difficult to win at CenturyLink Field, but also because Washington has been decimated by injuries, the running game remains nonexistent, and the team's two leading receivers are running back Chris Thompson and tight end Vernon Davis.

A season ago, Pierre Garcon and DeSean Jackson each had more than 1,000 yards receiving, and both players signed elsewhere in the spring. One of the biggest issues facing the Redskins in the lead up to the 2017 season was replacing two of Cousins' favorite targets. The team added quarterback-turned-receiver Terrelle Pryor and Brian Quick, formerly of the Rams. Pryor ranked 50th in total value last season with the Browns and Quick ranked 79th.

Not exactly a tit-for-tat swap, which explains why a running back and a tight end are Cousins' favorite targets. But here's the thing: Despite the injuries and dearth of playmakers, Cousins remains one of the NFL's best quarterbacks. That was confirmed again on Sunday in his most underrated performance of the season.

During training camp, we wrote about Cousins again playing on the franchise tag -- he'll make $23.9 million this season, a year after earning $19.9 million -- and why he deserves a long-term contract. He ranked third among all quarterbacks in 2016, according to Football Outsiders' metrics (behind only Matt Ryan and Drew Brees and ahead of Dak Prescott), and through the first two months of 2017 he ranks 15th, two spots behind his counterpart on Sunday, Russell Wilson.

The Seahawks' defense, which can regularly get after the quarterback while also wreaking havoc in the secondary, harassed the Redskins' offense for the first quarter and a half. Washington's first five drives ended like this: punt, fumble, safety, punt, punt.

The Redskins scored on their sixth drive -- Cousins leaned on Davis, and a Richard Sherman pass-interference penalty in the end zone set up a one-yard Rob Kelly touchdown run.

Washington's offense did little over its next six drives -- they punted five times and managed a field goal. But one play in particular sticks out. Early in the third quarter and leading, 7-2, Cousins led a seven-play drive that ended with Nick Rose striping a 28-yarder. But the Redskins would have punted a sixth time if not for one of the best throws Cousins has made all season -- and this includes the final two fourth-quarter dimes that set up the game-winning touchdown.

Facing a third-and-5 from midfield, Cousins sticks this throw to Ryan Grant while simultaneously getting blasted in the head by a Seattle defender:

And here's how it looked to Cousins:

Not many quarterbacks make that throw. And not only did it keep the drive going, one that ended in a critical three points, it reinforced the point that somehow continues to elude Redskins president Bruce Allen: Cousins deserves to be one of the NFL's highest-paid players.

Look, no one is comparing him to Aaron Rodgers or Tom Brady or Drew Brees. But Matthew Stafford is currently making more money than anyone else in the league. This is the same Matthew Stafford who is 19th -- four spots behind Cousins -- in Football Outsiders' quarterback efficiency rankings. This isn't about talent in a vacuum (if it were, Brady would be the first player to earn a billion dollars annually) but the reality of NFL economics and the fact that a team without a franchise quarterback is just wasting everybody's time.

That throw above? How many quarterbacks make it? A handful, right? Now how many do what Cousins did in the game's biggest moment, with 90 seconds to go, trailing 14-10 and needing 70 yards to get into the end zone?

After an incompletion on first down, Cousins did this:

Just your garden-variety drop-in-the-bucket 31-yard completion that had as much to do with the touch on the pass as the in-air adjustment made by Quick, who took a vicious hit at the end of the play but still held on to the ball.

Then, a play later, Cousins did it again:

That was Josh Doctson, the team's 2016 first-round pick who had just two receptions as a rookie and eight receptions coming into Sunday's game. Doctson finished with three catches for 59 yards, none bigger than the 38-yarder above.

After the game, Hall of Fame coach and NBC analyst Tony Dungy wondered why the Seahawks, a team that thrives on playing Cover-3, were in man-to-man defense on Cousins' fateful throw to Doctson.

Not surprisingly, Cousins recognized Seattle's coverage, audibled to a deep pass at the line of scrimmage -- coach Jay Gruden had instructed him to do that against that look but the Redskins hadn't been able to protect Cousins for much of the game. This time they did.

"I gave him a hand signal and he took off," Cousins said, via ESPN.com's John Keim. "I put it out there pretty far, and he went and got it and showed why he has a lot of potential."

Cousins didn't will the Redskins to victory by himself; if ever there was a team win, this was it. The defense had Russell Wilson on the run all afternoon and forced him into two interceptions. But in the game's most critical moments, Cousins was front and center making plays. And that's what you want in your franchise quarterback -- someone who minimizes mistakes when things aren't going well and isn't overwhelmed by the moment when it arrives.

Consider this nugget from Pro Football Focus:

Cousins numbers weren't overly impressive ... but it was the high accuracy under pressure that was as he completed 7-of-9 for 100 yards in those instances. Due to the high pressure throughout the game, Cousins often had to get rid of the ball quickly and 18 of his 31 passes traveled under 10 yards. He was 2-of-5 on deep passes with the two completions the most important ones, coming on the final drive of the game.

And this:

"He's going to always be Kirk, he's going to always come out every Sunday and perform," Vernon Davis told reporters after the game. "I'm not surprised at Kirk. ... Kirk does it all the time. It's just all predicated on timing and everyone being on the same page. If we're not on the same page, then it's not going to work out for Kirk. The offensive lineman have to pass protect, make their blocks. Tight ends, wide receivers have to run and get the correct depth. They make plays for him. If we're making plays for him, he's going to lead us no matter what."

Once again, the question remains: Will Allen and the Redskins' front office pay Cousins? Because if there was any lingering doubt, it should have been removed in Seattle.