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PFT: Playing hard, with nothing to play for


Califan007 The Constipated

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http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2014/12/22/nfl-morning-after-playing-hard-with-nothing-to-play-for/

I admire the upset pulled off by Washington this weekend. I respect the way the Bears and Jets played in hard-fought losses. And I’m amazed by what the Texans did to the Ravens.

It happens every year, so perhaps I shouldn’t be surprised, but I’m always impressed by the teams that seemingly have every reason to pack it in and give up on their seasons, and instead put forth a spirited effort.

Washington has looked like a disaster for most of this season, but on Saturday, in a game the Eagles desperately needed to win, it was Washington that won a hard-fought, back-and-forth battle. And Houston seemed like it was even more of a disaster, down to fourth-string quarterback Case Keenum. But the Texans, whose playoff hopes are slim, put their quarterback issues aside and dominated the Ravens, who are right in the thick of the battle for a playoff berth.

Chip Kelly’s blunder. I like Chip Kelly. I said when he was at Oregon that I thought his system could work in the NFL, and I still think it can. But Kelly made a huge mistake when he cut receiver DeSean Jackson, and it probably cost the Eagles a playoff berth. Jackson burned Philadelphia’s secondary for 126 receiving yards when the Eagles lost at Washington on Sunday, and the Eagles, who averaged 6.8 yards a pass, could have used a big play threat. Sometimes a player is talented enough that a coach has to put up with him, even if the coach doesn’t much like him. Kelly should have sucked it up and put up with Jackson. Cutting Jackson was a mistake.

Robert Griffin III didn’t look good. There’s a tendency to praise any quarterback who wins, but let’s be honest: Even though Washington pulled off an upset over Philadelphia on Saturday, RG3 didn’t play very well. He managed only 220 passing yards and no touchdowns, didn’t do anything impressive running the ball, and threw an ugly interception on an underthrown pass to DeSean Jackson. If Jay Gruden wasn’t convinced before Saturday’s game that RG3 is his quarterback of the future, he isn’t convinced now, either.

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I don't agree with his assessment of Griffin...he "only" threw for 220 yds but he also "only" threw 23 pass attempts. Closing in on 10 yards per attempt is impressive. He may not have thrown any TDs but his passing played a significant role in all three rushing TDs. Griffin may not have had impressive runs but he DID have impressive slides, which for him and his development may be just as important. And Griffin managed the game rather well, something he has struggled with in earlier games.

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Well let's face it if Breeland doesn't save the game w that pic, RGs game would have been looked at in a different light. Im still shocked how slow and awkward he runs now. He went from one of the most electric runners I had seen to this?

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I also disagree that Washington fought.  I think the O fought. I think the Special teams played.  I think the defense had it turned down to a simmer.  They played real slow and easy much of the game.

 

And yeah, Griffin was accurate, pretty decisive, and looked good out there.  If you want to complain about the interception (which was not a bad punt given the down), then you counterbalance it against a beautiful throw to Roberts who had a terrible drop.  Still, it was nice that 2/3s of the team showed some fight.

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Griffin may not have had impressive runs but he DID have impressive slides, which for him and his development may be just as important.

 

Maybe I'm just being picky because I played baseball for so many years, but Griffin's slides are still a clown show, at least the one I noticed in particular where he half slid/half fell over himself.  I'm glad he's trying, but it still looks like he could hurt himself each time.

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I thought the team played hard, and I think Griffin showed flashes again that he has everything it takes to be great, except time with this HC and offense.

 

Gruden needs time with Griffin also.  Over time the offense will change to fit more of what Griffin is doing well as he grows as a player.

 

Griffin's confidence factor was the big thing for me, it's growing.  

 

I would feel the same way if we lost the game, as long as he played the way he did.

 

The bottom line for me is that if we can come out of this season with RG3 and Gruden on the same page we can really start to build a team to win.  

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Well let's face it if Breeland doesn't save the game w that pic, RGs game would have been looked at in a different light.

Not by me. Besides, Breeland's pick didn't put them in FG range, nor did it do anything to guarantee the offense would end up there (see Cousins vs Eagles, ball on Philly's 40 yd line with 2 minutes left to go).

Im still shocked how slow and awkward he runs now. He went from one of the most electric runners I had seen to this?

Did you think he looked "slow and awkward" when running last week?

Maybe I'm just being picky because I played baseball for so many years, but Griffin's slides are still a clown show, at least the one I noticed in particular where he half slid/half fell over himself. I'm glad he's trying, but it still looks like he could hurt himself each time.

Well I didn't mean the aesthetics of the slides lol...I meant the decision as to WHEN to slide. That's part of game management...
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Robert might not have looked good, but he didn't look bad either. As bad as it sounds that is a improvement from the TB and SF games. I think he showed it is not time to give up on him. He shouldn't get the extension but shouldn't be cut. Go into the season with a open QB competition and see where the chips fall at the end of next year.

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I also disagree that Washington fought. I think the O fought. I think the Special teams played. I think the defense had it turned down to a simmer. They played real slow and easy much of the game.

And yeah, Griffin was accurate, pretty decisive, and looked good out there. If you want to complain about the interception (which was not a bad punt given the down), then you counterbalance it against a beautiful throw to Roberts who had a terrible drop. Still, it was nice that 2/3s of the team showed some fight.

It was one of those rare times when the Skins score 26+ points with Haslett's defense and actually end up winning...

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I think they played hard and they've been playing hard. But the Eagles gave them the game. And a lot of games are lost in the NFL and the Eagles lost this game, more than the Skins won it.

Don't agree.

Both teams made mistakes that could have lost them the game. The Skins did a better job of making the plays to overcome their mistakes, though, and it lead to a win. We have to stop thinking that the only wins that count are the ones where both teams play mistake-free in all three phases of the game, but the Redskins just outplayed their opposition. The playoffs are full of teams who had numerous wins this season similar to how the Redskins won Saturday. The difference, of course, is that they were able to do so consistently as well as have wins that were achieved in a convincing fashion.

This makes me think Florio didn't actually watch the game. Griffin played very well in my opinion.

To be fair, this wasn't written by Florio...
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I wouldn't say Griffin didn't look good. Was he great? Definitely not. But he played well enough and made enough plays to put us in position to win the game. No, he didn't throw any TDs, but those 2 deep passes to Jackson led to 2 TDs.

 

Wonder if he thought Wilson wasn't looking good when he had 5 straight games under 200yds passing?

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This is what the modern football game has done to views. If your QB doesn't throw for at least 300 yards and 3 TDs every game, he sucks. The video game stats that some QBs put up are skewing how people look at the game. I miss the great runningbacks. Nothing like running the ball and completely demoralizing an opponent then grinding the ball down the field by controlling it and the clock.

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This game is sitting oddly with me. 

 

The team played hard and looked relatively disciplined. Whether it's an indictment of the Eagles or a credit to the Redskins, they seemed more prepared and poised than the opponent for the first time in a month or so. Having said that, I still think they lose by 10 or so if the Eagles had shown up to play their A game. 

 

Griffin played a little better than last week (which itself was an upgrade from his previous couple games) so it's fair to be relatively happy with his trend to close out the year. Then again, this defense is pretty bad and has been torn up in recent weeks. In addition, when you compare this game to KC's game back in September, it looks very pedestrian. Griffin made some plays and threw a great deep ball, but our scoring drives seemed to be assisted by Eagle penalties, otherwise we looked bad in the red zone. 

 

The defense got a couple turnovers, which is great. However, we still suck with the exception of a couple of young players on D. 

 

So...it was fun to watch a win but I just hope the decision makers have wised up enough not to put too much stock in it. In the end the way I look at it is this...I have no faith that Snyder or Allen will do the right thing after a 3-win season or 4-win season, so at least I got to have a fun Redskin weekend one more time before the off-season. 

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This is what the modern football game has done to views. If your QB doesn't throw for at least 300 yards and 3 TDs every game, he sucks. The video game stats that some QBs put up are skewing how people look at the game. I miss the great runningbacks. Nothing like running the ball and completely demoralizing an opponent then grinding the ball down the field by controlling it and the clock.

 

Agreed. Was just looking at Russell Wilson's numbers this season. He has 7 games with less than 200 yards passing. For all the crap Griffin takes for "only" throwing for 220 yards, Wilson only has 5 games with passing yardage totals over that this season. Griffin has't played nearly as many games as Wilson, but has 4 games with 220+ yards passing.

 

Wilson gets away with games like that because of Seattle's defense and running game. Griffin posts games like that and he's not doing enough.

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While it feels good to help eliminate the "great" Eagles from the playoffs, lets not make more of this win than it is. It's just one game. We gave up 495 yards of offense, our OL played much better, but lets not forget the multitude of sacks given up--even if we ignore Griffin holding onto the ball too long. The Eagles had 102 yards in penalties--very similar to our loss to the Giants last week.

 

It's nice, I'll take it. Griffin looked better, a lot of things looked better. I'll remind some Eagles fans friends of mine that they lost to a 4-win Redskins team. But we are still a 4-win team. We've won 7 games over the last two years. Until proven otherwise, this is no different than games like:

 

http://www.pro-football-reference.com/boxscores/201311030was.htm

http://www.pro-football-reference.com/boxscores/201310200was.htm

http://www.pro-football-reference.com/boxscores/201010100was.htm

http://www.pro-football-reference.com/boxscores/200911150was.htm

http://www.pro-football-reference.com/boxscores/200912130rai.htm(we all remember what happened the very next week...)

http://www.pro-football-reference.com/boxscores/200812210was.htm

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I thought the big plus was how the Skins played at the end.  They didn't let the Eagles score in the last two minutes to win the game and the Skins went down the field and got some points.  Kai couldn't kick the ball off without hitting someone but they made the right play on the hail mary to not to give the game away.

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