Albert Breer tweets that Robert Griffin III will start for the Redskins against the Colts. That is not news. What is noteworthy are responses to Breer’s tweet. They are universally negative, except that one that says the NFL is trying to ban a supplement that PROVIDES INSANE RESULTS.
Redskins coach Jay Gruden repeats what he said in San Francisco — Robert Griffin III will start on Sunday.
— Albert Breer (@AlbertBreer) November 24, 2014
RG’s fall from grace has been a slow-moving train wreck. Griffin is 4-14 in his last 18 starts. Even clueless fans have the sense that Coach Jay Gruden is calling a game plan that Griffin can run instead of a play that exploits his athleticism…of 2012. Colt McCoy runs a West Coast offense better than RG does at this point. Even Kirk Cousins will throw the ball down field.
Dick Vermeil said, “The problem with running quarterbacks is that they run.” Hog Heaven has been reluctant to apply that to RGIII. The secret of his success is, or was, his ability to run.
The Redskins are using an offense where RG’s skillset is marginally better than his back-ups. Belief in Griffin’s “upside” is eroding. He may no longer be worth the time to develop. Hog Heaven will be the last to agree. Counter-arguments are harder to make now.
A week ago, Buccaneers QB Josh McCown outperformed Griffin. JOSH MCCOWN! Last Sunday his own running back did so. This is how erosion of support happens.
[Insert long exhale here.]Alfred Morris, thinking less, running better
John Keim says that RB Alfred Morris is beginning to “get” Jay Gruden’s offense. Morris out-gained his quarterback in the loss to the 49ers. Said that already, but it bears repeating.
“I stopped hesitating,” Morris said of his improved running. “I was trying to see too much.”
Morris is a fable of what happens when NFL teams change coaches. It takes a season for a new scheme to jell. Players need the repetition at game speed to act instinctively on the design of a play. Coaches have to see their players in game action to know what they can truly do.
Morris is not having a bad year. He is just on schedule learning a new offense.
No Redskins coach since George Allen in 1971 had a winning record in his first year
Jay Gruden must coach the Redskins to a sweep of their last five games to match the eight-win record of Jack Pardee (1878), Joe Gibbs (1981), Marty Schottenheimer (2001) and (ugh) Jim Zorn (2008).
Think he can do it? Hog Heaven is not optimistic. Injuries, talent and flawed thinking at the top get in the way.
If he gets to six wins, he will be in the company of Joe Gibbs in 2004 and Mike Shanahan in 2010. Them guys won Super Bowls.
Everyone predicted Washington to struggle. Sports books set the over-under line at 7.5 games. You are winning if you took the under. Hog Heaven expected eight wins, beginning with the Texans. I apologize for steering you wrong.
The record is not the worst problem. The Redskins are failing the eyeball test. They look bad while losing. Even when factoring a new head coach, this team should be trending to seven wins. Sooner or later, questions must be asked about the coach.
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Can the Redskins reach a 6-10 record in 2014?
Daniel Snyder included on a list of bad NFL owners
A discussion thread on Extremeskins asks readers to pick which bad owner they would rather see running the Redskins. The list includes:
- Art Modell
- Robert Irsay
- Mike Brown
- Randy Lerner
- Hugh Culverhouse
- Al Davis
Dan the terrible owner isn’t newsworthy, but it gives me the chance to say this.
I prefer Dan Snyder, the local guy who bleeds burgundy and gold because grew up with the team. An out of town owner whose only relationship with Redskins fans would be financial would have caved long ago on the team name. They would not have valued the brand the way WE mean it. They simply would have avoided a contrived controversy. Snyder is the least likely person on this list to move the team.
The real answer is for Snyder to become a better owner. It’s not that he doesn’t want to be. I don’t think he knows how to be.
The author of the thread says he offered it up as a fun topic and different from the “Sell the Team, Dan” mantra that will be inevitable by December.
Today, November 25, is Joe Gibbs’ birthday
Happy Birthday, Coach and Thank You
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