Posts Tagged ‘RG3’

Redskins vs Giants: My Thoughts

First, I’ll state the obvious. Robert Griffin III is a complete bad-ass. Forget about him being a rookie, he’s in the argument for who’s best player in the NFL.

Jason Pierre-Paul warned RG3 not to “bring it to my side.” Well, RG3 did…and I think an equipment guy had to pick up JPP’s jock.

The Redskins first drive of the game was 17 plays and 93 yards. The drive resulted in a FG which was a let down, but wow! The 2nd drive was 8 plays for 80 yards and a TD. This offense is for real.

Alfred Morris. He’s come out of nowhere to be a Pro Bowl caliber running back. When Larry Brown is comparing himself to Albert and Joe Theismann is comparing ALF to John Riggins…we got something here.

The Redskins punted 1 time, I repeat the Redskins punted 1 time!

I can only assume that London Fletcher is hurt. He had 20+ tackles a couple weeks ago but looked…dare I say old…today.

People love to hate on Reed Doughty. Sure he’s a liability in coverage but I still love the guy. He came back from a strained knee (doubtful to return per the Redskins) and made some big tackles.

Santana Moss with 2 big plays showing that he’s still a weapon. Santana Moss with a bad fumble, showing that he still knows how to do that too.

Josh Wilson had trouble with Victor Cruz all day. If Eli Manning hadn’t decided to throw like Nuke Laloosh when throwing to a wide open Cruz, Cruz may’ve had 3TD’s and 200+ yards easily. That being said…wtf was Madieu Williams doing on the 77 yarder?

Hate to see Fred Davis lost for the season. With the exception of Pierre Garcon, (what’s his deal) Davis is the Redskins best receiving threat. Davis was good for 15+ yards every time he touched the ball. In related news, 90% chance Fred Davis is getting high right now.

Logan Paulsen, I see you…stay hungry my friend.

How does a team rush for 248 yards and lose the game? Oh yeah, turnovers.

Game on the line, late in the 4th quarter and a huge 3rd down…we dial up an option play to Niles Paul? Are you kidding me with this?

Christopher K Cooley, back away from the kiln.

Here’s what matters most, playing front yard football with my 7 year old while imitating RG3…

Cheers and Hail

The Redskins: What A Difference A Year Makes

A year ago today the Redskins lost to the Eagles 20-13 in a game that featured 4 Rex Grossman interceptions. Grossman’s performance prompted fans and the media to spark a quarterback controversy…was it time to bench Rex for John Beck? Yes folks, a year ago today we were debating which of these horrible quarterbacks should be our starting quarterback. Either way we were going to lose, pick your poison.

I think I nailed the debate in this post that I wrote last October entitled “Becked If We Do, Becked If We Don‘t.” I even foreshadowed a 5 win season and asked for Andrew Luck. I’ve never had much luck, which fortunately for Redskins fans resulted in Robert Griffin III. And while the Redskins have the same 3-3 record as this time last year, a lot has changed since the John Beck era.

The Redskins actually led the Vikings by 19 points last Sunday. A 19 point lead…I didn’t know how to act! Of course they’re still the Redskins so they nearly lost the lead and I had to bite my nails until the end. The Redskins had never had a lead that large under Mike Shanahan. In fact, the Skins had failed to score more than 19 points in 17 out of 32 games under Shanny.

RGIII ran for 138 yards and 2 TD’s against the Vikings. Last year, our “wonder twins” (activate, form of a sucky QB) combined to rush for 54 yards…for the season. Yes, instead of arguing over which QB sucks less, Redskins fans can now argue about our QB being the best player in the league. Amazing.

And while I’m not ready to think that this team is ready to contend for a playoff spot, I’m incredibly excited about the Skins future. I’m happy to know that I’m not even a year into a decade of having a franchise QB. That being said, the Skins could be a playoff team this season if the defense gets straightened out. After saying for 3 seasons that the Redskins could be a playoff team if they could just score 20 points a game…now we score 30 and have trouble winning. Thanks Haslett.

What a difference a year makes RGII makes.

Cheers and Hail

Redskins vs. Saints: 10 Thoughts

Here’s 10 of my thoughts 24 hours after the Redskins 40-32 win over the Saints.

What more can be said about Bob, aka RGIII? I thought if he came out and kept his turnovers around 2 and had 250 total yards it would be a success. Instead, he had what may have been the greatest debut in NFL history.

I know I’m writing this 1 game into the season on a day that is known as “overreaction Monday”…but man, could I get use to a decade of RG3. After truly never having a franchise QB in nearly 30 years, I think DC is deserving.

My favorite RG3 play wasn’t the long TD to Pierre Garcon or the across the field throw to Fred Davis. My favorite play was an incomplete pass. On 4th down Griffin avoided the temptation to run or throw the ball away and instead chucked it over 40 yards downfield to a well-covered Aldrick Robinson. The worst case scenario here is an interception, which is as good as punt. The other scenarios are TD pass or what actually happened, pass interference and 1st and goal. That’s a veteran type play right there.

London Fletcher is amazing. Un-drafted, 5’10” tall and in his 15th season, he’s running step for step in pass coverage all game covering Jimmy Graham…who’s 9 inches taller and 12 years younger.

Ryan Kerrigan will be a Pro Bowler this year.

I broke out a shirt for this game that I haven’t worn in a decade and is 16 years old. It’s now my lucky shirt…a one of a kind “Riggins” jersey shirt that is actually just an American Eagle shirt that was available in the mid 90’s. I now realize that I’ve had this shirt since RG3 was just 6 years old and that I’m OLD!

I was amazed/impressed/happy to see Mike Shanahan and Kyle Shanahan change their offense to suit RG3’s strengths. I once thought that Shanny was too stubborn to do such a thing.

The Redskins biggest addition on defense is Raheem Morris. Again, the Redskins incorporated his ideas and methods into the defensive game plan and it made a huge difference.

Last year only 51% of the Redskins completed passes went to WR’s, yesterday that number was 68%. That makes a huge difference in the big play making ability of this offense.

Where was Leonard Hankerson?

Bonus thought:

The Redskins have started well several times over the last few seasons, only to lose games they should’ve won against teams like the Rams and Lions. This weeks game is a game the Redskins should and must win. This will be the first test to determine if this team truly is different.

Cheers and Hail

Which Records Will RGIII Break This Year?

Robert Griffin III was basically handed the Redskins starting QB position the moment Roger Goodell called out his name the day of the draft. From that moment, many have speculated as to what kind of year to expect from RGIII. Will he pass for 3,000 yards…will he run for a 1,000? Will he be better than Cam Newton, will he lead the Redskins to the playoffs?

Rather than compare Griffin III to Newton or Michael Vick, lets take a look at the 80 year records of other rookie QB’s for the Redskins. What records will RG III break? I’d say that if healthy, RGIII should re-write the record books, as his peers have not set the bar particularly high.

Here’s the Redskins single season records for rookie QB’s:

Passing TD’s - 18 - Mark Rypien - 1989

Rushing TD’s - 3 - Snead 1961

Worth noting…Rypien held a clipboard for 2 seasons before appearing in a regular season game and Schroeder did for a season. How many records will RG III break? I’m going to place the over/under at 6. I’m calling rushing attempts and yards, wins, completions and passing yards as records that RGIII will break.

Tweet, Facebook or leave your predictions for RGIII. I look forward to hearing them.

Cheers and Hail

FedEx Field: Bad Luck Or Cursed?

Robert Griffin III is set to make his FedEx Field debut this Saturday against the Colts and some guy that goes by the name Luck. And while RGIII and Andrew Luck’s careers will be forever linked and compared, the question in my mind is…will the Redskins luck at FedEx Field change with the arrival of RGIII?

I’m not convinced that it’s just bad luck (and a lot of bad teams) as to the reason why the Redskins have struggled to win games at FedEx Field. I’m starting to wonder if FedEx Field is cursed. The Bears, Cardinals, Red Sox, Cubs and many other sports teams have suffered from curses, who’s to say that the Redskins aren’t as well?

The Redskins have won 50 games and lost 54 at FedEx over the 13 seasons that Dan Snyder has owned the team. 13 years is a pretty large sample size. 13 years of signing the best available free agents, 13 years of signing the best available coaches and all we have is a losing record to show for it. And guess what…the losing is getting worse. The Redskins have lost 11 of the last 13 games at FedEx Field. Redskins fans haven’t been able to watch a home playoff game since 1999!

The root of the curse? The Cooke family. The first order of business that Snyder had as owner was to erase Jack Kent Cooke’s name off the stadium that Cooke spent his final years on earth building. Snyder didn’t stop there, he also stopped recognizing the area around FedEx Field as Raljon, MD. Raljon was named after JKC’s sons, Ralph and John.

Jack Kent Cooke died before the first game was ever played at Jack Kent Cooke Stadium FedEx Field. Ralph Kent Cooke passed away in 1995. In death, they were disrespected…and this is how curses start. Crazy? Maybe, maybe not.

Whether it’s the Cooke family or just Dan Snyder, FedEx Field hasn’t been kind to the Redskins or the fans. Hopefully, RGIII is the remedy needed to reverse the curse.

Cheers and Hail

Can RGIII Lead The Redskins To The Playoffs In His Rookie Season?

For me, the biggest question the Redskins have heading into training camp is listed above. Can The Redskins make the playoffs this season with Robert Griffin III in his rookie season?

The odds are certainly against it. Since the AFL-NFL merger in 1970, only 6 rookie QB’s who’ve started the majority of their teams games have led their teams to the playoffs (Marino, Kosar, Roethlisberger, Flacco, Ryan & Sanchez). Let’s do some math here. That’s 42 seasons times an average of 28 teams (expansion) which equals 1,176 teams that played during that time…only 6 of those teams made the playoffs with a rookie QB at the helm. Six divided by 1,176 equals a .005% chance of making the playoffs. That percentage is slightly higher than Bluto Blutarsky’s GPA.

However, in the words of Lloyd Christmas “so you’re telling me there’s a chance.” Four of those QB’s have led their teams to the playoffs in recent seasons. Let’s do some math again. 4 teams divided by 256 (8 seasons x 32 teams) = .015% chance of making the playoffs…or roughly the same percentage that I have of banging Sofia Vergara.

Ok, now let’s forget about all those stats and talk real. The NFL isn’t the same as it was 10, 20 or 40 years ago…it’s a different game. Rookie QB’s usually held a clipboard and rarely saw the field their first few seasons in the league. Still, it’s a daunting task to lead a team to the playoffs as a green pea. The QB’s who’ve made the playoffs were surrounded by great defenses. The Redskins ranked 13th in total defense last season and there’s no reason to think that they will not be the same or better this season. The O-line should play better, the running back position is solid and the WR’s are definitely improved. Factor in the fact that there’s a fine line between being a 6-10 team or a 10-6 team in the NFC East and you have possibility that the Redskins could be a playoff team.

My prediction? Well, I’m drinking the kool-aid, I have a roll of quarters in my pocket and I’m wearing my nikesAdizero Sonic 3’s while waiting for the RG3 mothership.

Cheers and Hail