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Those of you that were in chat with me yesterday know that the moment Griffin started hobbling, I was all aboard the "get Kirk in" bandwagon.
We went up 14-0 and were rolling, but Griffin came up limping. The time to pull him would have been right there. At the very least for a series to see if Cousins could widen the lead. Mike Shanahan said that Griffin told him he was alright, so he let him play. The other players said that Griffin deserved the opportunity. But what people don't seem to be understanding is that it's not about Griffin, it's about an injury.
Further playing him risked him for the next week, should we have gotten there. And it also made our multi-dimensional offense, with our multi-dimensional QB, zero dimensional.
They could have easily made the analogy of: "We had our starter in there that did the bulk of the work, now it's time to put Kirk in to be our closing pitcher and record the save."
There is NO question, whatsoever, that RG3 is the best quarterback on our roster. He's our leader, he's a competitor and he's the heartbeat of our franchise. The problem is, the RG3 we saw after the first quarter yesterday wasn't RG3. He was operating at less than 50%. It was obvious that he couldn't plant his leg to throw. It was obvious that he couldn't run. Seattle didn't have to worry about the read option anymore, so they sold out. They didn't even have to worry too much about coverage, as Griffin just couldn't deliver the ball.
Shanahan would have faced scrutiny either way, and I'll be the first to tell you that Mike knows much more about football and managing athletes than I do. That said, you'd have to be blind to think that Griffin was okay. He wasn't. And that guy is NEVER going to tell you that he wants to come out. He's a leader of men and a competitor. It's a big boy decision to make, but it's one that needed to be made.
Kirk Cousins came in and delivered two excellent throws until Seattle sold out on the blitz and left him picking himself off the ground down by a wide margin with very little time to play and with no threat of a running game. Dollars to donuts say we would have put at least a few more points on the board with Cousins in the game.
Again, I'm not telling you that Cousins is better than Griffin. He isn't. Cousins is better than Griffin operating at under 50%, however. Playaction was ineffective because Griffin couldn't boot or throw. Read option was ineffective because Griffin couldn't run. Drop back passing was ineffective because he couldn't plant. And thus, our running game was ineffective because our quarterback couldn't do anything. He'll never admit he was hurt, that's his mold. That's who he is. He's a total monster and a guy that I'm SO glad is wearing our colors.
I'm not sure anyone could argue that Cousins would at the very least offer us a live arm and two healthy legs. Which would give us some threat of playaction back, and would allow our stretch run game to get moving again.
That's why the decision wasn't his to make. It was our coaches. And in my opinion, they flubbed it.
We went up 14-0 and were rolling, but Griffin came up limping. The time to pull him would have been right there. At the very least for a series to see if Cousins could widen the lead. Mike Shanahan said that Griffin told him he was alright, so he let him play. The other players said that Griffin deserved the opportunity. But what people don't seem to be understanding is that it's not about Griffin, it's about an injury.
Further playing him risked him for the next week, should we have gotten there. And it also made our multi-dimensional offense, with our multi-dimensional QB, zero dimensional.
They could have easily made the analogy of: "We had our starter in there that did the bulk of the work, now it's time to put Kirk in to be our closing pitcher and record the save."
There is NO question, whatsoever, that RG3 is the best quarterback on our roster. He's our leader, he's a competitor and he's the heartbeat of our franchise. The problem is, the RG3 we saw after the first quarter yesterday wasn't RG3. He was operating at less than 50%. It was obvious that he couldn't plant his leg to throw. It was obvious that he couldn't run. Seattle didn't have to worry about the read option anymore, so they sold out. They didn't even have to worry too much about coverage, as Griffin just couldn't deliver the ball.
Shanahan would have faced scrutiny either way, and I'll be the first to tell you that Mike knows much more about football and managing athletes than I do. That said, you'd have to be blind to think that Griffin was okay. He wasn't. And that guy is NEVER going to tell you that he wants to come out. He's a leader of men and a competitor. It's a big boy decision to make, but it's one that needed to be made.
Kirk Cousins came in and delivered two excellent throws until Seattle sold out on the blitz and left him picking himself off the ground down by a wide margin with very little time to play and with no threat of a running game. Dollars to donuts say we would have put at least a few more points on the board with Cousins in the game.
Again, I'm not telling you that Cousins is better than Griffin. He isn't. Cousins is better than Griffin operating at under 50%, however. Playaction was ineffective because Griffin couldn't boot or throw. Read option was ineffective because Griffin couldn't run. Drop back passing was ineffective because he couldn't plant. And thus, our running game was ineffective because our quarterback couldn't do anything. He'll never admit he was hurt, that's his mold. That's who he is. He's a total monster and a guy that I'm SO glad is wearing our colors.
I'm not sure anyone could argue that Cousins would at the very least offer us a live arm and two healthy legs. Which would give us some threat of playaction back, and would allow our stretch run game to get moving again.
That's why the decision wasn't his to make. It was our coaches. And in my opinion, they flubbed it.
