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Is Griffin Really Playing Possum With Seahawks?

Bulldog

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Mike Shanahan is well known for being the master of disinformation. When Griffin was originally injured most of the reports I read said it was a 2-4 week injury. He returned after missing the Browns game, but now is at that 4th week mark.

What if walking around with that visible leg brace this week that has been the subject of many media questions is merely decoy? What if Griffin is really close to 100% and his comment that he has to wear the brace 'until the team doctors tell me it isn't necessary' reflects what in fact the doctors may already have told him about Sunday?

I don't have any 'inside' information and the Redskins may as a precaution have Griffin wear the brace for as long as the team is advancing in the postseason.

But because we are dealing with Shanahan (like Belichick) one wonders if there is more going on here than meets the eye.

While Seattle goes in now keying on Morris running and Griffin being used in part as a decoy in the pistol, Mike and Kyle may be planning on having Griffin challenge the edge vs. the run and throw more down the field as well.
 
RGIII has been off the past couple of weeks and obviously it's that knee causing him the trouble. In this case, I think that the brace is there because they want to play it safe. Of course, even a still-hurt Griffin can be damaging with the read options as we saw last week, so Seattle would be wise to game plan for that still.
 
Griffin indicated that the brace itself causes the limp people have noticed. I don't know whether that is 'disinformation' of a kind to lessen what still may be a painful injury, but again the medical reports indicated that the injury was not a long-term concern and would be of a couple to a few weeks duration.
 
It appears to be more than just the brace affecting him. Mike was pretty clear he will be wearing it on Sunday. He didn't leave any wiggle room, though anything can happen.
 
I think that conclusion (that Griffin is seriously hurt and that's why he's been somewhat 'off') is a BIG assumption. I don't believe that's the case at all. I think he happened to have a bad day throwing against Dallas (relatively speaking) and that we may see a completely different performance on Sunday. In fact, I think we may see Griffin's best performance in over a month, 'vaunted' Seattle defense or not.
 
I think that conclusion (that Griffin is seriously hurt and that's why he's been somewhat 'off') is a BIG assumption. I don't believe that's the case at all. I think he happened to have a bad day throwing against Dallas (relatively speaking) and that we may see a completely different performance on Sunday. In fact, I think we may see Griffin's best performance in over a month, 'vaunted' Seattle defense or not.
Well, I don't think he's seriously hurt. Just slightly more hurt than slightly hurt. ;)

Seattle's D is not as good on the road; just pretty good instead of "elite". I think we can score 24 on them. It's just that the D has to hold them to less than that.
 
I think he's injured. I hope he is at 80% this weekend.

And while the brace surely limits his mobility, I think the injury is what is really limiting his mobility.

I do like the thinking BT, and I'm sure that Seattle is focusing on Morris.

With that in mind, I'd run play action on the very first play, and send Aldrick Robinson sixty yards down the field.

On that same note, I'd like to see a 60/40 pass to run ratio this weekend. Something Seattle isn't expecting to see.
 
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I keep hearing so many say Griffin had an off day last week passing. I didn't see it. He threw less than 20 passes with a 50% completion rate. They were running the ball down the cowboys throats minimizing the amount of time Romo had on the field. I think that was by design myself.
As for the brace? Yeah I think that is as much if not more of a factor than the jury in his performance. I've never worn a knee brace but something as small as a pebble in ones shoe can cause enough of a distraction to alter ones gait. I have to think that would affect speed as well.
I can't wait for the docs to clear him to remove the brace but the decision should be with the doctor. I'm guessing that Griffin is at least getting used to the brace and learning to play in the pocket is just another skill he can add to his vast number of ways he can beat the opposing defenses.
 
Griffin indicated that the brace itself causes the limp people have noticed.

If it is anything like the brace I wore, it prevents full natural movement, and thus, makes you walk with a limp.

I'd rather he wear the brace if his knee is anything less than 100%. This is comong from someone who has had the same knee reconstructed 4 times.
 
Like Cycleans I think the Griffin is off theme is overplayed. He had an off week last week to a degree but against Philly he was laser pinpoint accurate. That TD pass to Moss was one of the best timing plays I've ever seen. He had one bad game and honestly was due. Manning has had a few this season too. It happens. I expect better accuracy this week and no I don't think his accuracy is affected here.

BT I've been wondering this for over a week now. I've read more than once that the Docs have said he's 100%. I wouldn't be surprised at all if he ditches the brace or looks like a different man this week.
 
I keep hearing so many say Griffin had an off day last week passing. I didn't see it. He threw less than 20 passes with a 50% completion rate. They were running the ball down the cowboys throats minimizing the amount of time Romo had on the field. I think that was by design myself.
As for the brace? Yeah I think that is as much if not more of a factor than the jury in his performance. I've never worn a knee brace but something as small as a pebble in ones shoe can cause enough of a distraction to alter ones gait. I have to think that would affect speed as well.
I can't wait for the docs to clear him to remove the brace but the decision should be with the doctor. I'm guessing that Griffin is at least getting used to the brace and learning to play in the pocket is just another skill he can add to his vast number of ways he can beat the opposing defenses.
He has been off because passes are sailing on him or missing their mark by a wide margin. You won't see that on the stat sheet, but a normal Griffin consistently puts passes in the catchable window of a receiver and in the best place for the receiver to catch the ball.
 
I keep hearing so many say Griffin had an off day last week passing. I didn't see it. He threw less than 20 passes with a 50% completion rate. They were running the ball down the cowboys throats minimizing the amount of time Romo had on the field. I think that was by design myself.
Like Cycleans I think the Griffin is off theme is overplayed. He had an off week last week to a degree but against Philly he was laser pinpoint accurate.

Not sure how you can say he wasn't off in the Cowboys' game. He threw for a 50% completion ratio when he's maintained over 65% most of the season. Many of those throws were flat out bad throws.
 
I didn't. I said he was off to a degree last week and was dead on against Philly.
 
Not sure how you can say he wasn't off in the Cowboys' game. He threw for a 50% completion ratio when he's maintained over 65% most of the season. Many of those throws were flat out bad throws.

Fairly easy to say actually . It was a very small sampling. Its not like he was throwing picks....I just wouldn't call it an off day. Until the Cowboys showed they could stop the run why should they let off the gas pedal? Statistically it wasn't one of his better games, but it wasn't a bad game. I wouldn't call it an off game either due to the play calling being centered around the running game.
Actually it doesn't really matter much either way....It was a quality win against a quality opponent resulting in a Division Championship.:clap2::thewave:
 
I think that conclusion (that Griffin is seriously hurt and that's why he's been somewhat 'off') is a BIG assumption. I don't believe that's the case at all. I think he happened to have a bad day throwing against Dallas (relatively speaking) and that we may see a completely different performance on Sunday. In fact, I think we may see Griffin's best performance in over a month, 'vaunted' Seattle defense or not.
To add to this point, I didn't think he looked all that bad against the Eagles. He had one errant throw that went a little high and got picked but remember that awesome pass to Moss perfectly placed in the end zone? Recall that the Eagles game was his first back as starter so one would have to assume that if the knee was affecting his game, he would have looked worse in that game rather than the Dallas game.

I think he passed so infrequently vs. Dallas this past week since they leaned so heavily on the run (nearly 60% of total play calls) that it was perhaps hard for him to get into a rhythm. Just my theory, though.
 
Fairly easy to say actually . It was a very small sampling. Its not like he was throwing picks....I just wouldn't call it an off day. Until the Cowboys showed they could stop the run why should they let off the gas pedal? Statistically it wasn't one of his better games, but it wasn't a bad game. I wouldn't call it an off game either due to the play calling being centered around the running game.
Actually it doesn't really matter much either way....It was a quality win against a quality opponent resulting in a Division Championship.:clap2::thewave:
Looking good statistically is a different matter from looking good empirically and they do not always correlate. Don't assume that I'm discussing his stat line when I'm talking about what I observed. I DON'T CARE how many attempts Griffin has; I prefer to evaluate him on the attempts I do see. 20 is more than enough, and he had more errant throws than usual.

He almost did throw a pick to Brandon Carr, but it juuust far enough out of bounds.

We did not go run heavy until the second quarter, after that drive that ended because we went pass-pass on the 2nd and 6 and 3rd and 6.

They tried to mix it up and pass sometimes, mostly in the first half. The drives died very quickly when they did that.
 
Many of the talking heads have mentioned the less than stellar passing day that Griff had.

Some did speculate, however, that some of the passes were throw aways, particularly the Carr catch and the dirt ball.

Unfortunately, only Griff and the coaches know for sure.

Either way, not the most productive day for the air game, that's for sure.
 
Fairly easy to say actually . It was a very small sampling. Its not like he was throwing picks....I just wouldn't call it an off day. Until the Cowboys showed they could stop the run why should they let off the gas pedal? Statistically it wasn't one of his better games, but it wasn't a bad game. I wouldn't call it an off game either due to the play calling being centered around the running game.
Actually it doesn't really matter much either way....It was a quality win against a quality opponent resulting in a Division Championship.:clap2::thewave:


Cyclean, I watched that game 3 times, once at the stadium. He over threw Josh Morgan's several times on passes he completed easily earlier in the season. He was able to avoid the rush much easier earlier in the season. He threw for 50% completion rate when he was well over 65% for the rest of entire season. And he had his least productive game in passing all year with only 100 yards. That is a drop off. We can speak to game plan and rushing attack all you want to avoid the facts, but you cannot deny that Griffin's game was off against the Cowboys based on every single other game of the year. It was a drop off in performance no matter what reason you provide, game plan...

I just don't get fans sometimes. He had an off day. There is no hidden meaning, no suggestion that he is going to go downhill from here, nor is there any suggestion that he will have a terrible game against Seattle. It is just a simple fact that Griffin did not look like the same QB we'd seen all year in that one game this past week against the Cowboys.
 
Cyclean, I watched that game 3 times, once at the stadium. He over threw Josh Morgan's several times on passes he completed easily earlier in the season. He was able to avoid the rush much easier earlier in the season. He threw for 50% completion rate when he was well over 65% for the rest of entire season. And he had his least productive game in passing all year with only 100 yards. That is a drop off. We can speak to game plan and rushing attack all you want to avoid the facts, but you cannot deny that Griffin's game was off against the Cowboys based on every single other game of the year. It was a drop off in performance no matter what reason you provide, game plan...

I just don't get fans sometimes. He had an off day. There is no hidden meaning, no suggestion that he is going to go downhill from here, nor is there any suggestion that he will have a terrible game against Seattle. It is just a simple fact that Griffin did not look like the same QB we'd seen all year in that one game this past week against the Cowboys.
I guess it ultimately matters whether the Cowboys game is part of a trend or just an outlier. I'd like to think it's the latter and not the former as there is no rational reason to believe otherwise.
 

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