Robert Griffin III Versus the Cincinnati Bengals
By Chris West
Sep 9, 2013; Landover, MD, USA; Washington Redskins quarterback Robert Griffin III (10) talks with field judge Buddy Horton (82) on the field during warm ups prior to the Redskins game against the Philadelphia Eagles at FedEx Field. Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports
Robert Griffin III Versus the Cincinnati Bengals-The Fourth Quarter
Griffin was stopped a yard short of a first down on a quarterback draw to end the first drive of the final quarter. Shanahan called two read option passes on the next series. One was complete and the other wasn’t. A second incomplete pass led to a punt.
With the Redskins trailing 38-24, Shanahan turned to the pass. He called pass plays on the first 11 plays of the 12 play drive. Griffin completed 8 out of 10 passes on the drive and scrambled on the other. He passed for 5 first downs to Davis and Leonard Hankerson out of the 8 completions before sneaking over the goal line for the final two yards of the touchdown drive.
With the score 38-31, Griffin started the Redskins final drive from the Redskins own 2 yard line. He passed for first downs to Josh Morgan, Leonard Hankerson and Aldrick Robinson and mixed in two scrambles for first downs to move the ball down to the Bengals 19 yard line. Everything unraveled from there as the Bengals defense took control of the game.
Griffin took a sack on the next play when he tried to make a play and escape the pocket. No one was open early although Roy Helu got out into his route late. Griffin had no chance to get the ball out to Helu as he was being chased and brought down. Griffin would have been better served by throwing the ball out of the end zone but he can’t really be faulted for trying to make a play since he had been so successful escaping the pocket on the drive twice before.
From there the Redskins lost another 20 yards on penalties and had only six seconds left on the clock. Griffin’s final desperation pass was incomplete as time ran out. Griffin played a great second half after a very poor first half but ran out of time and big plays at the end.
Griffin scored 23 points on 21 called pass plays for a 1.10 rating in the fourth quarter. He also had 3 points on 2 designed run plays in the quarter for a 1.50 rating. Overall for the game, Griffin had 34 points on 42 pass plays for a 0.81 rating and 7 points on 8 run plays for a 0.88 rating.
Only 8 of the 42 pass plays involved play action. Shanahan also got away from the screen pass after the first quarter when he called two and called only one more for the rest of the game. Griffin’s second half ratings of 1.11 on pass plays and 1.60 on run plays were very encouraging after the poor start. It was his best half of football in his first three games.
Shanahan also showed good confidence in his rookie quarterback by setting the read option aside and putting the ball in Griffin’s hands in the fourth quarter. Before the final two drives, Shanahan ran the read option on 12 of the 29 run plays he called and faked it on 2 pass plays. Griffin continued to look like a future superstar for the Redskins.
Next: Robert Griffin III versus the Tampa Bay Buccaneers