We all respect Robert Griffin III, bow down in his presence, keep him in our prayers, the whole nine. But week 1 was a disaster. In his first taste of physical contact since he tore his ACL in January, he seemed like a fixed up row boat in a tsunami.
It started with his interception into triple coverage within the first couple plays. A few plays into the next drive they had, it was a wild pitch to Alfred Morris at the goal line, which turned into a safety. A few deep balls were overthrown. He was sacked three times, and he eventually threw another pick. Just not RGIII type of plays.
The Redskins’ defense scored the first and only touchdown of the first half for them, and the only offensive drive they had remotely close to par came up short in a shanked field goal. To make matters worse, the half spiraled into the polar opposite of what they’d hoped for in the dwindling seconds.
“Griffin needs a little success here,” ESPN color commentator Jon Gruden said late in the first half. “He needs to get his confidence back.”
The very next play, Griffin was chased down, called for intentional grounding, and the line was called for holding. It took two 10-second runoffs as a result, and the half ended at that, rather awkwardly. Griffin walked off the field with that who-let-the-pet-snake-out-while-I-was-gone shrug, forearms lifted to his sides in an ‘I give up’ look.
We were waiting for the snake to just come up and bite him, and the theme of the game honestly seemed like that. Every mistake seemed to consequently bite the Redskins from behind. 26-7, Philly at half.
In the worst possible way to cap off the worst possible half, morale-crushing jeers thundered from every square foot of FedExField. Perhaps it was more the glum attitude we saw early on that caught the judgmental eye, but it became more than just that. There had been talk everywhere in the media about how coach Mike Shanahan would look to keep Griffin safer, less susceptible to injury. In doing so, he would have to immensely limit Griffin’s freedom to exercise his revved up feet, which were itching to break out for that huge run we all wanted to see.
With rumors suffocating the straight truth of how the Redskins would use Griffin, the truth finally came loose. In the process, throughout Washington’s first game, those rumors morphed into reality.
Of course we’d all like to see him explode back next week and be the RGIII of last year, passing for over 300 and rushing for 60-plus. But neglecting what to hope for and, instead, magnifying hard truth, we shouldn’t expect it. That reality is that he’s had to change his mentality as a quarterback from being the focal point of designed runs and turning rollouts up field to a more conservative, stationary presence in the pocket, only escaping with the occasional burst of speed when dire desperation demands it (hence his mere 24 yards on five attempts).
Wouldn’t he have to?
How would you feel having your star player chomping at the bit for another read-option every other set of downs with a who-knows-how-healthy knee? One play he got up cringing, rubbing that braced up knee after getting thrown so hard into the ground the sleeping dead woke up.
The guy went from last year’s third-best passer rating of 102 to 22nd best, to start the season, with 77. This was even padded in garbage time, 169 passing yards coming in the fourth after the Eagles already had the game wrapped up. That incredible surge at the end of the game hoisted his stats to a career-best 329 passing yards, even bringing the game back to within striking distance. And this was all done in the pocket.
Time became the biggest conflict as the Redskins couldn’t pull it off after getting it within six. Though not able to trounce the first 80 percent of the game, Griffin displayed adaption to a new play style in the latter effort. Perhaps that’s the greater news.
But let’s take a deep breath; this is only one game. That alone allows the right for an eye-test judgment, nothing more. The first week’s trial is always going to be a little blurred. Blink a few times, watch the next few weeks’ games, and then we’ll highlight assumptions.