PFT: Playing hard, with nothing to play for

[skinsfan35yrs.]

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.

************

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.

well 100+ yards were on 2 passes to Jackson so taking that away  leaves 21 other passes for 100 yards which equates to less then 5 yards per pass. Along with the zero TD's and deplorable INT I still am not sold on Griffin 

[TSO]

The one thing I'm surprised that nobody is talking about...RG3's pre snap activity this week. The whole game he was calling out protections, making adjustments, audibles etc. When has he ever done that?! It seemed pretty effective whatever the hell he was yelling at the line all game.

Good point... I forgot about that and I was really happy seeing it as well.

There's a couple quotes from Gruden's post-game press conference here:

“Obviously, we only had the ball 23 snaps in the first half so we didn’t really get a chance to muster a lot of drives together, but I think Robert did a great job. I think No. 1, getting the ball out of his hands and [No. 2] making good decisions. He only got sacked twice. One [of the sacks] he had no chance on. The other one was a great rush by their guy against Trent. Overall, I thought he did an outstanding job of managing the football game, not only in the passing game but he did a lot at the line of scrimmage in the running game, which his very, very important. He did an excellent job. I think [we were] just trying to get him comfortable, trying to get him an opportunity to get the ball out of his hands and make good, sound decisions like he did.”

...........

“I mean, that’s what he’s been doing, I think. You know, it’s just this week we had a little but more success so you look like you play better when you win the game. I think he did a great job today of handling, like I said, the running game. When he was asked to go back and pass and read through progressions, I think he did a good job.”

 

I wasn't sure exactly what he meant there, at first, but I'm thinking Griffin audibled correctly numerous times to the right run... or he just chose not to audible from a run to a pass correctly as well.

 

I think that shows just how much responsibility Gruden places on the QB to get to the right play. It also shows how little we know when it comes to the play-calling and who is to blame/credit for certain things.  

[NoCalMike]

I think it's pretty ridiculous to say "take away these passes, and......" couldn't that be said for most QB's?  Take away their 2-3 long bombs and of course their averages tank.  People really have a highlights-mentality when it comes to QB play, if you watch the NFL on a regular basis, most passes in this league are in the short to intermediate area and it is often up to the WR/TE and blockers as to how many yards the play gains.

 

On the game winning drive, the pass to Garcon?  Nothing special in theory, but it is getting the ball into the hands of a playmaker and letting them do what they do. Why does Griffin not get credit for that? Russell Wilson sure as hell gets credit when he throws a 4 yard pass to Marshawn Lynch and he takes it to the house.

[AlldaySkins]

Conner Shaw to start for the Browns on Sunday. I'll keep an eye on him. Would love to get him in here to compete next year

 

Can't tell if serious?

 

Let's ask Sexy Rexy first. As long as he doesn't have his family in town we can get him back.

[Cooleyfan1993]

My 2 cents: I don't think its that people are happy/satisfied with RG3 just showing improvement when he should be way better in year 3. I think it's more that people are happy that we FINALLY got a win for the first time in October. the 6 game losing streak hasn't left much to be happy about, so beating a division rival got everyone pretty excited. I know I was super pumped and smiling ear to ear the entire weekend

[LaRonDontLikeUgly]

Sure,..70% completion percentage is very good,...10 yds per,...ok, but you grade the performance based on the full picture.

 

Solid C+

I believe you give Griffin  C+ had he lost the game.  He gets a solid B with the victory.

 

Maybe we evaluate QBs differently-- but to me  it doesn't matter who actually carries the ball into the end zone--- it's about driving down the field and putting your guys in a position to score points.  Griffin did that all day.

 

The biggest play that bothered me on the part of RG3 was in the redzone on 3rd down when their safety sank into the box pre-snap.  Jordan Reed blew past his LB and threw his hand up--- all Griffin had to do with toss it over the defender's head for an easy TD but instead he threw into coverage on the right and it was broken up.

 

That play sucked,  but as someone pointed out earlier-- RG3 could have easily had 2 or 3 touchdowns on his stat-line had the coach decided to run PA passes or QB sneaks on the goalie.  It doesn't matter.  We got the points.

With all the **** that has happened to Griffin in his young NFL career (some of it certainly his fault/some of it completely out his control) I don't see how some of you cats can root against a guy who showed just incredible improvement against a potential playoff contender!  His OL is a joke, people inside/outside the organization are trying to take him down, and all he does is come out and get a huge win against a heavily-favored division rival!

 

Props RG3 you deserve a ****ing B!

[pl73]

I cant believe the homo eroticism in this thread over a dumb ass rookie glory boy who thought he was the second coming of jesus and turns out he's dumb and apart from running round like a giddy idiot can't even play football at the pro level. I mean, of course he could do alright against college teams, mainly because most of those players are dross.

[Burgold]

pl73,

 

I say this with all the disrespect in the world.  Your post is ugly, ignorant, and you should shut up.

 

If you are going to do that... back it up.  Tell us why a player who hits on about 70% of his passes, has a low turnover rate, and everything else, while playing behind a pathetic line that can't hold often for a full second doesn't belong on a football field.  Show us that he thinks he's the messiah reborn or is dumb.

 

If this is your team then you have every right to criticize, but do so with a little bit of intelligence or at least some facts and reasoning instead of this vitriolic spew of nonsense.

[Birdlives]

I cant believe the homo eroticism in this thread over a dumb ass rookie glory boy who thought he was the second coming of jesus and turns out he's dumb and apart from running round like a giddy idiot can't even play football at the pro level. I mean, of course he could do alright against college teams, mainly because most of those players are dross.

Yes, let's forget the guy never played QB in any sense of the actual pro style position until his second year in the league. Before that he was playing pitch n catch at Baylor and the Shanahans did him no favors with their offense his first year. Considering they say it takes 2-4 years to learn pro style QB play and the guy is ostensibly in the midst of year 1, we should label him a bust and move on.

If he's gotten away from the self entitled owners pet, he has a chance. He has the skill set and the intelligence to play QB. He's got to fall in love with watching film and work at his craft, granted, but he could still become good. Either way, it's either that or starting from scratch at the position. I don't expect we'll be lighting it up any time soon.

In the end, don't blame the player, blame the owner. This situation with no real QB is on him. Griffin just represents the best chance we have of finally having competence at the position without crap shooting yet another draft pick at QB.

[Captain James]

I'm confused...why shouldn't we be happy that he looked better?

Sorry, I just meant that "looking better" is a sad goal for our professional nfl QB to have to have. I agree he looked better, I just wish our cube was "always" pretty good.

[Burgold]

Sorry, I just meant that "looking better" is a sad goal for our professional nfl QB to have to have. I agree he looked better, I just wish our cube was "always" pretty good.

I'd argue it isn't so much that he looked better.  I've seen him play at that level a number of times this year or even better.  What was better was that there was some semblance of pass protection which allowed him time to throw or look down the field.

 

It isn't RGIII in a vacuum. It's been failures on all levels.  People like to criticize the near interception and I think that is fair. It was a bad decision, but I've also heard that Garcon misran the route.  I also think we criticize on that almost while forgetting what a beautiful throw he made to Roberts who inexplicably dropped it on that third and fifteen.

 

Griffin deserves criticism and occasionally condemnation, but it also ought to be looked at and discussed within context. At Tampa, he looked like one of the most timid, broken, horrible QBs to ever hit the field.  Gruden was right to bench him after that. That was Griffin or much of it was about him. He lost his nerve.

 

He deserves what he gets for those two games, but he also deserves honest evaluation for the others both pro and con.

[pjfootballer]

The one thing I'm surprised that nobody is talking about...RG3's pre snap activity this week. The whole game he was calling out protections, making adjustments, audibles etc. When has he ever done that?! It seemed pretty effective whatever the hell he was yelling at the line all game.

Good observations, but some in here don't want to hear anything positive about him.

[pjfootballer]

I cant believe the homo eroticism in this thread over a dumb ass rookie glory boy who thought he was the second coming of jesus and turns out he's dumb and apart from running round like a giddy idiot can't even play football at the pro level. I mean, of course he could do alright against college teams, mainly because most of those players are dross.

I predict a short stay here for you. Every post is like this and quite frankly, if you can't post better than this, we don't need you in here and we damn sure don't need you as a Redskin fan. Please find another team to root for.

[Riggo#44]

Good observations, but some in here don't want to hear anything positive about him.

 

This thought hit me when I was listening to all the drivel the last couple of weeks. One of the first things Gruden said when he came into DC was that Griffin needed to me mentally tougher. Maybe that's what he's done. Openly critique him--force some humility on him. It seems to have worked, Griffin seems to be less, well, Griffin...

[Califan007 The Constipated]

Sorry, I just meant that "looking better" is a sad goal for our professional nfl QB to have to have. I agree he looked better, I just wish our cube was "always" pretty good.

"Looking better" is the goal of every worthwhile QB in the league. None of the top tier QBs got to where they are without a constant desire and goal to improve and get better in all phases of their game. Why do you think they do film breakdown of their games? Hell, Peyton Manning said he still works on his footwork...he would LOVE if it were said that his footwork was "looking better" or that his arm strength was "looking better"...

If it's ok to feel disappointed or even pissed off at seeing Griffin look like he regressed horribly after the Bucs game, then it's also ok to be happy that he looked better after the Eagles game. Right?

[pjfootballer]

This thought hit me when I was listening to all the drivel the last couple of weeks. One of the first things Gruden said when he came into DC was that Griffin needed to me mentally tougher. Maybe that's what he's done. Openly critique him--force some humility on him. It seems to have worked, Griffin seems to be less, well, Griffin...

Basically what some fans have to realize is, Gruden broke him down to ZERO. Now, he's trying to build him up into a great QB. I know it sucks that some feel that the #2 pick in the draft should be all pro by now, but the truth is, he was very raw. A lot more raw then Shanahan, the draft gurus (Kiper et al) and the fans thought despite the Rookie of the Year trophy. Let's face it. He and The Shanny's winged it the first year. Last year was a wash because of him recovering from injury and Mike being a lame duck coach.

A lot of people want to compare him to Steve Young, but I'd like to go further back and compare him to John Elway. I know some say Elway at the time was pro ready because of the offense he ran at Stanford, but Elway was raw his first couple of years. People were saying the same things. Reeves had to break him down and build him up and get Elway out of his bad habits.

I know it sucks, but people should at least be happy that Robert is showing improvement, even if it is minute. It could be worse with him starting at zero and not showing any improvement.

[Califan007 The Constipated]

Good point... I forgot about that and I was really happy seeing it as well.

There's a couple quotes from Gruden's post-game press conference here:

I wasn't sure exactly what he meant there, at first, but I'm thinking Griffin audibled correctly numerous times to the right run... or he just chose not to audible from a run to a pass correctly as well.

I think that shows just how much responsibility Gruden places on the QB to get to the right play. It also shows how little we know when it comes to the play-calling and who is to blame/credit for certain things.

Man I hate going on ES using my iPhone lol...can't keep track of where I'm at.

I think I responded to this but if not, this is something I touched on earlier, that there are numerous aspects of Griffin's game that he needs to continuously work on and improve, and as he does improve in these areas the offense will become more consistent in its production and effectiveness. And this goes for all the QBs on the roster.

That's why I felt the guy who wrote the PFT article was just giving shallow analysis of Griffin's performance...a guy like Keim will address stuff like what you mentioned and give it the importance it deserves.

[ddub52]

Whoever wrote this article must not have watched much of the game. I saw Griffin sit in the pocket and go through his progressions. He also changed some plays at the line and made good adjustments. Not to mention, he completed 70% of his passes. And they weren't all dink and dunk. He averaged 9.6 YPA. He didn't play perfect, but imo he showed enough to warrant keeping him around. 

[JesseNeckred]

Griffin is our only QB who has actually improved and not regressed this season.  That's gotta mean something.