HUGE win for the Skins. It was essentially a playoff game as a win puts the Skins one game behind the Giants for the NFC East as well as one game back of the Seahawks for the wild card. A loss would have most likely ended the season. The game had a playoff feel as both teams understood the ramifications and fought hard and the crowd was unbelievable.
In the end, RG3 proved again how valuable he engineered a fourth quarter game winning drive. The guy is a superstar and there is no doubt about it. He has continually impressed and has shown he welcomes any opponent and loves to showcase his talents on the biggest stages. Just an amazing kid.
RG3 has the Redskins within a game of first place, leading a fourth-quarter rally in a 17-16 Monday night victory over the Giants, giving Washington a three-game winning streak in which it has dispatched division rivals -- Philadelphia, Dallas and now New York -- one by one.
The Redskins (6-6) appeared out of the running at 3-6 a month ago, but Griffin is proving his team can never be counted out when he's on the field. With the Giants (7-5) losing three of four and the Cowboys (6-6) also at .500, the division is up for grabs.
Some important notes on the game:
1. Offense was good again. Griffin completed 13 of 21 passes for 163 yards and ran five times for 72 yards, breaking Cam Newton's NFL record for yards rushing by a rookie quarterback. Alfred Morris ran for 124 yards on 22 carries, becoming the second Redskins rookie to run for 1,000 yards. Reggie Brooks had 1,063 in 1993. These two guys are just an amazing pair of rookies that have taken the offense by the reigns. Not to be lost is the play of the O line which has done a great job all year with the zone running scheme. Also, credit needs to go to Kyle Shanny for bringing an offense that suits RG3 very well. Finally, the team is clearly better with Pierre Garcon out there. He has had big plays in every game he has played in full.
2. Defense started off rocky but finished strong. It was a tale of two halves with the Skins D not doing the job in the first half. What was so painful was that the Giants offense were consistently shooting themselves in the foot in the first half with penalties and creating 2nd and long situations but our defense kept letting them off the hook as the Giants were able to convert and keep drives alive. The Giants controlled the clock and were executing their plan perfectly as their best defense was their offense and keeping RG3 off the field. Fortunately, we didn't give up huge points which was big. What bothered me was that I saw a lot of player rotation and different schemes and so forth but at the end of the day, we were not getting significant pass rush. We can't do it with just 3 or 4 guys. That issue combined with the fact that we have a less than stellar secondary, has proven disasterous. In the past, Haslett has either dropped everyone or sent the house. It's an all or nothing scheme that hasn't worked for two years. In the second half it was different. I liked what Haslett was doing. He sent an additional rusher regularly and it was coming from different spots and Eli was under much more duress. The result was the Giants were not able to score any points in the second half. Haslett and the defense deserve a lot of credit for those adjustments. Frankly, I have been saying that this is what needed to be done for a few weeks now.
3. Special Teams was solid. I am getting more and more comfortable with Forbath as he has yet to miss a FG and seems very confident in himself. His one issue is his kickoffs are short but I'll live with that as long as he makes the FGs.
In the end, as mentioned, it was a HUGE game. I loved how the crowd was in it and how Steve Young was saying that the sidelines were in it as well and how it looked like a college game with the intensity and excitement by the fans and players. Yes, it's exciting. Yes, it puts us in the thick of the playoff hunt. Still, it was one game and we have the Ravens this weekend. I never expected playoffs this season but given where we are of course I am hopeful. Still, if the rest of the season plays out like it has all season, I will be happy with this season whatever the result because it's clear with guys like RG3, Morris, T. Williams, F. Davis, Garcon, Kerrigan, Orakpo we have a solid foundation that we can build/improve on.
I like that the team is really coming together and starting to believe. This is a welcome change from the previous years with older, higher priced divas that fractured the locker room. It's a good time to be a Skins fan and it's great to have RG3.
HTTR!!!
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