I rarely talk about my line of work, but sometimes
it’s appropriate, as in the case of two diseases infecting our nation’s capital. The chief Washington malaise that most people
refer to is one I see every weekday. I
see the posturing, the politicking, and the primping all firsthand. And I love it…the DC dysfunction makes every
day something new, exciting, and unexpected.
And yet, the residents of DC have recently griped
about another problem that lies far beyond the vaunted halls of power: the
Washington Redskins. The chief question
that I continue to encounter is how a team that played well last year is so bad
now, having been officially mathematically eliminated from the playoffs this
week. Chiefly, why is Robert Griffin III
so bad? This single query has prompted
many heartbreaks and frustrated vents than any I’ve seen in my time as a DC
resident. We all knew previous teams and
players were bad…no one called for the coach’s head when Patrick Ramsey didn’t
work out. We might’ve when Donovan McNabb
played poorly, or when Albert Haynesworth refused to even look at one of his
teammates. But the success bred high
expectations, which has in turn caused another Washington Malaise: the
messianic cult surrounding Kirk Cousins.
Before I go to great lengths, I will fully accept
that it may be time to give him some playing time now that we have lost any
chance of the playoffs. I also will say
that Cousins strikes me as a great guy and one that has provided an admirable
amount of insurance for a backup quarterback.
He’s been thrown into games with no warning, his arm resembling a
popsicle, and has played alright.
Yet, Cousins is not the answer.
Many of you might be wondering why I would take the
time to write what will in the end look like a fairly common sense piece. Truthfully, it’s because tons of people are
seriously telling the sports world that Cousins should play. I’ve heard the term “fluke” applied to
Griffin recently, and Jon Gruden said he thought Cousins should absolutely play
before the season’s end. Ravens lineman
Chris Canty said the same thing this past week.
That’s all well and good, and I have to admit that I will gladly accept
the argument that Cousins should play at some time in order to keep Griffin
healthy. But there are much better
arguments for Griffin to not only play, but to play the entire season:
1.
We
bet the farm on him
Many are now pointing out that our trade with St.
Louis is likely not going to work out in our favor. That’s likely true, but Griffin proved last
year that he is worth the investment.
Ultimately, the entire question should rest on whether Average Fan
believes Griffin is worth what the team paid for him. Seeing as he won the division title last year
and the NFC East shows no sign of improving, the case is open and shut. He deserves more than 29 regular season games
before being told that Washington “wants to see what we have” in Kirk
Cousins. We made the gamble, and it’s
time to see if it plays out.
2.
He
needs the reps
We all saw what happened when Griffin returned with
no preseason. We have noticed his
inability to read coverages, elude pressure, and make good decisions. He often overthrows receivers, and throws
into triple coverage a fair amount.
Having been the starting quarterback for almost a full two seasons, it’s
not that he needs to study the playbook.
We are talking about execution, and keeping Cousins in games hinders
Griffin from making the proper adjustments.
3.
The
team cannot afford to poison its relationship with RGIII
Before putting up deceptively bad numbers in
Arizona, Carson Palmer told the Bengals he wanted no part of their
organization. Cincy recovered, but he
had led them to the playoffs and to serious contention in the AFC North. But a bad relationship poisoned that team’s
potential success. Every Redskin fan
should worry about RGIII in this regard.
He’s young, impressionable, and new to the cutthroat dynamics of the NFL
locker room. I fully agree that he needs
to jettison his father from the picture, but the team should not do anything
that might cause Griffin to think he doesn’t have the full organization behind
him. His personality is such that he
will view events in that light, as was apparently
felt during the lead-up to the
season opener, in which he rushed back to save his job from the evil clutches
of Cousins. The young man needs to work
on that, but let’s not give him extra reason to think he isn’t welcome.
4.
Good
young quarterbacks take time
Especially for those quarterbacks with a large
running portion of their game, it’s necessary to give them a little time. No one is discussing Cam Newton, but his quarterback
rating in his second season was right where Griffin’s is right now (83.3). Or Drew Brees, who in his second year of
starting games threw more picks than touchdowns and had a rating of 76.9 with a
2-9 record before being hurt! (Before
you O-line people bring that up, Brees only was sacked 24 times his first year…Griffin
has already been downed 33 times this season).
In Michael Vick’s second full season as a starter, he threw 14 touchdows
and 12 picks while sporting a rating of 78.1, and that was a playoff team. I am not, of course, saying Griffin will be
like either Newton or Brees, but let’s not act as if we “need to see” what the
backup has only two seasons into the great experiment. While the NFL has plenty of examples where
sophomores didn’t pan out, the potential upside is worth the trouble. We all hope we have a Tom Brady or even a
Tony Romo on our bench, but let’s not get crazy here, which brings me to my
final point…
5.
Cousins
is not good
Bill Barnwell wrote an excellent
piece on why the Skins have failed this year. I’m going to parrot one of his stats: Cousins
has thrown five picks on 57 pass attempts, which would equate to 48
interceptions in a full season. I also
watched his game against the Ravens last year in which he showed great flashes
of brilliance, but his win against the Browns continues to be ballyhooed beyond
all recognition: Cousins threw an
admittedly very impressive 329 yards against a Browns defense that gave up the
8th most passing yards in the league last season. While he deserves credit for leading the team
to a comeback victory in that game, any honest football fan should not take the
performance in one game as any kind of guarantee. Ask the Seahawks and Raiders how that worked
out with Matt Flynn. Are we really going
to sit a guy that led us to the division title last year in favor of a possible
Matt Flynn impersonator? While I realize
his numbers were good in spot action, the eye test does not tell me that we
have a Kurt Warner currently riding the pine.
Frank Reich and Ty Detmer played great games during their careers, but
were perennial backups who couldn’t land a starting job. I’m not about to recommend that Cousins play
considering how good RGIII was last year…the talent levels aren’t even close.
That’s my case…five points in all. I actually suggest that those who want
Cousins to start promptly shut it and focus on Christmas shopping. This team, while terrible, does not need a
quarterback controversy and, truthfully, the situation doesn’t merit one. According to stats from last Sunday night,
the Redskins have spent the largest percentage of their gameplay while
trailing. The season has been miserable
and represents a giant step backward for the organization, but the calls for a
quarterback change, even for a little bit, are supremely misguided and,
frankly, idiotic.
