Since rookie quarterback Robert Griffin, III arrived in Washington; he has been under scrutiny as people watch how he handles the pressure that comes from being the quarterback in the most important city in the world. He has maintained that he can and he has so far, lived up to that claim – staying poised during press conferences, staying calm during intense training camp practices and standing tall in the pocket in his first live NFL action (last week against the Buffalo Bills). However, last night in Chicago, Griffin came to understand what real NFL pressure is when the Chicago Bears defense sacked him three times for a loss of 19 yards. Under pressure for much of the time he was on the field, he completed only five of eight passes for 49 yards. Quite honestly, last week’s game against the Bills was like a training camp scrimmage compared to the hard hitting intensity of last night’s game against the Chicago Bears.
The Bears’ pass rush came hard and often and Griffin’s poise was sorely tested in this game. ‘Escaping’ rather than rolling out became more the norm than the exception as the half went on and, in the end, the first string offense produced only a field goal. They punted the ball in four of seven series played. One series ended in a field goal and one – if you want to count it as a “series” ended with Griffin kneeling down as the half ended.
Griffin obviously needs the experience. This is what preseason is for. He is going to meet a lot of good defenses this season and last night he learned what that can be like.
The first series had some promising runs by rookie Alfred Morris but Griffin felt the pressure early on as Julius Peppers chased him to the sidelines and hit him out of bounds. The series ended with Sav Rocca punting the ball.
The second series brought Griffin being chased and pushed out of bounds again by Bears’ cornerback Tim Jennings and again the Redskins punted.
In the first play of the third series, the rookie quarterback was sacked for a loss of four yards by Chicago defensive lineman Israel Idonije and then Griffin fumbled – and lost – the ball. Peppers recovered it and the Bears scored again two plays later.
The fourth series brought more intense pressure from Chicago’s defense and Griffin’s second sack – with Idonije involved again – for a loss of eight yards. An eight yard pass to wide out Pierre Garçon was accompanied by an offensive holding call that was declined and Washington punted the ball again.
The field goal came in Washington’s fifth series when the offensive moved the ball 72 yards through a combination of short rushes by Alfred Morris, a 14-yard gain of Griffin’s as he scrambled away from Bears’ linebacker Nick Roach and was pushed out of bounds, a couple of passes to Leonard Hankerson and Garçon and a seven-yard run from Evan Royster. A bad pass interference penalty call by the replacement refs gifted the Redskins 34 yards. Neil Rackers, kicking competitor of incumbent Graham Gano’s, kicked a 28-yard field goal.
As bad as this game might have seemed to fans – who might have expected more since it was Griffin’s second game – the difference in Buffalo and Chicago’s defenses can’t be denied. Even so, there were some positives that one can bring from this game.
For instance, when Griffin scrambled in the fifth series, his athletic ability was showcased and it was good to see him keep his wits about him and make the play. That is the kind of thing that he will do more and more as he gets experience. One could almost see the gears turning in the rookie’s head as he recognized that the pocket was collapsing and took advantage of his speed to elude the Bears’ players.
Also, the 16-yard pass to Pro Bowl receiver Santana Moss (who the announcer’s incorrectly called Leonard Hankerson) in the second series was beautiful and displayed the possibilities given the two players’ abilities. Moss ran down the middle and would not have missed a step as Griffin hit him in stride, laying the ball right into the wide out’s arms – had Moss not been hit immediately by Bear’s safety Chris Conte.
As Griffin said later in his post-game press conference, the first string offense just never seemed to find their rhythm. Also, he is a rookie who made rookie mistakes, which is to be expected. And in the long run, these mistakes will help him be the quarterback the team hopes and thinks he will be. He has likely already looked at film and is seeing clearly things like, trying to make something out of nothing in certain plays and subsequently being hit unnecessarily because of it.
Head coach Mike Shanahan said that he thought all three of Griffin’s sacks could have been avoided.
“We had three sacks, and I think two of them were screens,” the coach said during his post-game press conference. “He’ll learn to throw that one just at the guy’s feet. He can look to see if he can make a play, but I think that will come more natural to him in time, where you just kind of throw it away.
“And the other one…” he continued, “…he tried to make a play, and the guy right behind him hit him. He had somebody open in the flat. Those are the types of experiences that he’ll get better at in time. We’ve got to protect, obviously, better against an excellent defense.”
Even with all of the pressure and scrambling we saw, the bright spots for Griffin were there. He just needs to continue to learn from games like last night’s and the growing will come. He has handled a lot of pressure so far and there is much more to come. We’ll see how he does.
Hail.