Funny how quickly things change in the NFL… Three weeks ago, the Redskins game on the Ravens schedule looked like a probable "W" against a struggling franchise…
Now the Redskins (6-6) have run off 3 straight victories and are in the thick of the NFC East title conversation. The Ravens (9-3) are coming off a home loss to the Steelers—a game which they had every opportunity to win but wound up on the wrong end of a winning field goal—and even worse, Terrell Suggs suffered a biceps tear injury and will possibly not be able to play against the 'Skins.
The Ravens need a win to keep hope alive for a precious 2-seed in the AFC playoffs, which would mean a first-round Bye. Heck, the Ravens need a win just to regain momentum for their division title quest, which means running a final gauntlet of games against Peyton Manning, Eli Manning and Andy Dalton to finish December.
Beating the Redskins at FedEx Field will be no easy task.
Consider the degree of difficulty trying to contain the hot hand of QB Robert Griffin III.
Griffin will show the Ravens defense an entirely different look from what seems "normal" in the NFL. RG III is a very special rookie because he can beat you with what is essentially a college-style offense. He sets up in the pistol formation with a read option. What makes it work, though, is RG III is way smarter than your typical rookie QB. He has deceptive ball-handling and hard-count skills more typical of a cagey veteran.
After facing "fastball" offenses for the previous 12 games, the Ravens defense will feel like it is up against a knuckleball pitcher in Washington.
RG III will also try to entice the Ravens into over-pursuit. He will break containment with seeming ease if the Ravens pursue too far downfield or take the wrong angles on him.
Sooner or later RG III will end up in a body cast with his rambling style of play. But don't count on that happening in this game or in this season, for that matter. The Ravens will be content to just slow him down.
"We still are on course," Harbaugh said. "We have an opportunity to accomplish our first and foremost objective – I wouldn't say the most important objective, but the first objective on the agenda – which is to win the division. That's something that we need to do.
"And the idea of the high seed in the playoffs is still in front of us, too. So we're going to be working hard to get those things done."
Griffin is coming off a Hall-of-Fame performance – literally. The Hall collected the jersey and cleats worn by Griffin in Monday night's 17-16 home win over the Giants in which he broke the single-season record for yards rushing by a rookie quarterback.
Griffin ran for 72 yards on five carries, bringing his total to 714 and eclipsing the record of 706 set last year by Carolina's Cam Newton.
He was also 13 of 21 for 163 yards and a touchdown, posting a triple-digit passer rating for the sixth time as Washington pulled within a game of New York for the NFC East lead.
The Redskins, who haven't made the playoffs since the 2007 season, were 3-6 and coach Mike Shanahan mentioned evaluating players for the future before they reeled off three straight victories against divisional foes. Griffin has completed 73.0 percent of his passes with nine touchdowns and an interception while posting a rating of 140.0 over those games.
The No. 2 overall pick in April's draft not only heard chants of "RG3" during Monday's victory, he also heard them throughout the Washington Wizards' upset of the Miami Heat as he sat courtside Tuesday.
"The kid's special," Washington cornerback DeAngelo Hall said. "He's on the verge of being a rock star. We used to travel with Mike Vick when I was in Atlanta, and it was definitely a rock-star-type atmosphere wherever he went. And RG is having that same kind of following."
Baltimore might have to face Griffin without one of its best defensive players after Terrell Suggs tore his right biceps last Sunday. Suggs, who has 19 tackles and two sacks in six games after missing the first six weeks recovering from a torn Achilles tendon, said he'll be a game-time decision.
"We got to see how it goes," Suggs said. "We kind of live by the creed of, if you can breathe, then you can play."
The Ravens may have gotten an emotional lift with Ray Lewis' return to practice Wednesday, but he still isn't eligible to play until Dec. 16 against Denver.
They will also have to compete against the NFL's top rushing attack, led by rookie Alfred Morris' 92.2 yards per game. Morris, the Redskins' first 1,000-yard rusher since Clinton Portis in 2008, has run for over 100 yards in each of the last two games for a Washington team averaging 167.2 yards on the ground.
"He's a young kid who's very humble and talented," Redskins linebacker Lorenzo Alexander said. "He's been chipping away all year – pounding away – and never feeling like he's getting fatigued."
Perhaps the Ravens' best hope is for Joe Flacco to quiet the Redskins' crowd early with some early aerial scores. The 'Skins' secondary is vulnerable. And RG III's offense becomes a lot more predictable when it is forced to play from behind.
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