As the first weekend of NFL playoff games came to a close yesterday, the biggest story of the weekend was probably the last of the four games. The Seattle Seahawks went to Washington and beat the Redskins by a score of 24-14. To most, this outcome was not too much of a surprise, but the biggest news from the game centered around Washington's quarterback, Robert Griffin III.
Griffin (a.k.a. RG3) had an unbelievable rookie season, and a case could be made not only for him to win the Rookie of the Year award, but even the league MVP as well. Griffin burst onto the scene as a senior at Baylor University, and his ability to throw the ball as well as run with the ball earned him the Heisman Trophy, and he was selected second overall by the Redskins. As if he had not entered the league with enough hype already, RG3 managed to surpass any realistic expectations, and he led the Redskins to the division title in the NFC East. The season as a whole was a tremendous success for Griffin and the Redskins, but I have to admit that I was troubled by some of the things I saw from the Redskins yesterday.
Throughout the final month of the season, Griffin was hobbled due to a knee injury he suffered in a December game against the Baltimore Ravens. What looked like an injury that could have possibly been very serious ended up not being as bad as expected, and although Griffin did miss the end of the Baltimore game and the entire game the following week, he was able to return much quicker than it appeared would initially be the case.
A big part of Washington's success this past season was the offense that they implemented once RG3 became their starting quarterback. Paired with fellow rookie running back Alfred Morris and an offense that Washington's coaching staff seemed to pull straight out of a college playbook, the Redskins were able to keep opponents off balance with an option-based running game. Each time the ball was snapped, there was a legitimate threat of Morris running the ball, Griffin running the ball, or Griffin throwing the ball. Option attacks have been used at various times over the years in the NFL, and, for a number of reasons, they have usually failed. However, the main reason for these failures has usually been the inability of the quarterback to pose a legitimate dual-threat. In college, offenses that run the option usually do so because they are trying to hide their quarterback's throwing deficiencies. If defenses are forced to worry about the quarterback running, it will force them to use extra players to stop the run, which would then make it easier for quarterbacks to find open receivers.
If a quarterback is used to throwing on the run, moving him around in the backfield on each play would increase his chances for success. Also, since defenses would be forced to respect the running ability of such quarterbacks, they would have to have most of their players focus on stopping the running game, and this would open up more space for receivers down the field, as they would likely face single coverage more often than not. For now, we can call this the "Tim Tebow offense." In theory it sounds good, but theory and reality do not exactly always go hand-in-hand.
The next type of mobile, "non-prototypical" NFL quarterback could lead what we could call the "Michael Vick offense." When Vick was in college, he was an out-of-this-world superstar who seemed destined for greatness in the NFL. He seemed to be the best of both worlds. Not only was he faster than the typical, option-style college quarterbacks, he was often times the fastest person on the field, no matter the position. However, instead of just being a one-trick pony, Vick had a rocket arm as well. So not only did you have to seriously respect his ability to run, but you also had to seriously respect his ability to throw. When Vick came into the league as an Atlanta Falcon, he became a phenomenon that was unlike anything we had ever seen before. He didn't run an option offense, but he did run a lot, as well as throw a lot. Vick was able to win a lot of games with Atlanta, including leading a road team to a win in a playoff game in Lambeau Field for the first time ever. However, thanks in large part to a prison term (but other factors as well), Vick was never able to lead the Falcons to any Super Bowls.
So next came RG3. He had the arm strength and agility of Vick, plus he could lead a legitimate, Tebow-like, option-based offense that did not involve constant improvisation and "playground mentality" football. Griffin seemed like he would be able to protect himself better than Vick, but throw better than Tebow. However, seeming to be able to do something and actually doing it are two vastly different things.
As much as players and coaches in the NFL (and in all of professional sports for that matter) like to try to make us think that they pay no attention to what the outside world is saying, it simply isn't true. They know who is being talked about, and why it is they are being talked about. Players don't just gain reputations based upon the feelings of their fellow players, they also gain reputations based upon the feelings of fans and the media. Since guys like Vick and Tebow gained support for playing the game in an "unusual" style, opposing players want to get a shot to stop these guys.
Sure, a defensive lineman could sack someone like Carson Palmer, who has little to no mobility at all. But they would much rather sack someone like Vick, who is known for his ability to elude defenders. It's a feather in their cap. It is the same way with defensive backs. Sure, they could intercept one of Kevin Kolb's passes and it would be nice, but what they really want to do is intercept one of Tom Brady's passes. Even though some players might not admit it, it's true.
It is the same in any facet of life. Sure, it's nice to get an A in the easy class, but it's a heck of a lot nicer to get that A in the advanced class. You could buy a reasonably priced car and save that extra money for something else, or you could use it to buy that luxury car that you've always wanted. We might not want to admit it, but it's true.
What I'm trying to say is that opponents know what kind of hype Griffin has been getting all season. They know he has the ability to beat them with his feet and his arm. Therefore, even though they may not all admit it, they are going after to Griffin with a little extra burst whenever they see him out on the field. It may not be the intent to injure, but it's the intent to put just a little bit extra behind each hit, and as all of those "little-extras" build up over the course of a season, we see a quarterback that is noticeably impeded by injury. That is just what we saw yesterday in Washington.
It was tough to watch Griffin at some points because of how obvious it was that he was in pain and not nearly at full strength. I understand that it is very rare a player (especially the team leader like Griffin) will take himself out of a game. I understand that the NFL is all about a win-now mentality that starts at the top of the organization and filters all the way down to the bottom. But there comes a point where someone has to step in and protect the player from himself and the team from itself.
Some people have equated this scenario to what the Washington Nationals did with Stephen Strasburg at the end of this season. I was a huge critic of the Nationals' decision to shut down Strasburg in early September when they had a legitimate chance at playing for the World Series, and I still stand strong in that belief. The difference was that there was no obviously noticeable decline in Strasburg's performance prior to him being shut down for the season. The Nationals had a chance to advance in the postseason, and they took their best pitcher off the active roster without any sort of infallible proof that it was in his own best interest to do so.
Yesterday, Griffin and the Redskins were going for broke in the midst of a playoff game, and I completely understand that scenarios such as that do not come around all the time. However, the entire nation had infallible visual evidence that Griffin's physical condition was not only sub par, but it was at the same time declining. He was obviously nowhere near his usual self, and he should have been pulled from the game.
After watching yesterday's game, I found myself believing that Griffin might end up taking too much of a punishment each and every week to last as long as he potentially could in the NFL. I hope I am wrong, because RG3 is great for the city of Washington, and the NFL in general, but there is a reason that "pocket" quarterbacks have been so successful in the league for so long, and mobile quarterbacks seem to come and go. Teams and coaches can teach young quarterbacks when to slide and when to run out of bounds instead of taking a hit, but they can't take away the natural instincts of these players that makes them believe that they are strong enough to take the fierce hit from a defender. Sure, they might be tough enough to have taken the last one, and to take this one, but how many times will they be able to continue to get up?
Daily Giants Update: Well, watching Wild Card weekend without the Giants surely was a disappointment, but with the way the team ended the season, they simply did not deserve to make the postseason. The defense will need a lot of work over the next eight months, but I will be going into next season with high hopes for this team.
Daily Diamondbacks Update: We are just over a month away from the beginning of spring training, and while I still think there will be another move or two made before that time, I don't think it is going to involve Justin Upton, and that makes me feel a whole lot better than I did when the season ended. The regular season begins at home on April 1st.
Daily Nets Update: Following the dismissal of Avery Johnson, Brooklyn has actually looked very good under P.J. Carlesimo, winning five of their last six games. The next game is tomorrow night in Philadelphia.
Daily Rangers Update: Rangers? Hockey? Could it be??? Hockey is finally back! I had little hope that a collective bargaining agreement would get done in time to save this season, but it appears that it will. Nothing is set in stone yet, so I don't want to push my luck, but if we do officially get a season in place, then I will be ecstatic for a number of reasons.
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