What history tells us about Washington Football Team’s chances of reaching .500
By Jonathan Eig
2012: 10-6, up from 5-11
It’s easy to think of the trade that brought Robert Griffin III to Washington as a disaster. But for almost all of his rookie year, it looked like one of the greatest steals in franchise history.
Playing under coach Mike Shanahan and offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan, RGIII was virtually unstoppable. He came in with a rookie class that also featured Kirk Cousins and unheralded running back Alfred Morris.
Griffin threw for over 300 yards in his first game, outdueling Drew Brees in the process. Several weeks later, he would help put an end to WFT’s eight-game home losing streak with a 76-yard TD run against Minnesota. He was electrifying.
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But the defense was not very good, and despite RGIII’s heroics, WFT was limping along at 3-6 when they hit their bye week. After the bye, things got good. I mean rev-up-the-bandwagon-good.
Three straight wins over divisional foes. Two more wins out of the division. And then the final two against Philly and Dallas to complete a 7-0 run into the playoffs.
In one of those two non-division games, against Baltimore, RGIII had gotten hurt and Kirk Cousins had come in to save the game. Cousins would start the following week in a win over Cleveland. Then RGIII would return.
That injury would prove to have major consequences come playoff time and beyond. But again, that is a sad story. And this little stroll down memory lane is about the good times.