The Redskins have yet to win at home this season, losing 24-17 to the Atlanta Falcons, but that pales in comparison to team losing it's number one quarterback late in the third quarter.
On a play in the third quarter, the Redskins had a pass-play design that didn't call for Griffin to run with the ball, but the versatile quarterback decided he would try to extend the play. During the play, RG3 was hit by Falcons' Sean Weatherspoon; a hit that took him out of the game and into the locker room for examination.
Falcon head coach Mike Smith alluded that quarterback runs, aren't always a good idea.
“Well when you are a runner, I don’t think there is a definition of a defenseless player. He [Griffin]was definitely a runner on that play. Safety is very important. We teach our guys that there is a strike zone that you hit that is basically from your knees to your chest. That’s the area that you want to hit. When that occurs and you are on target, you are probably not going to have the opportunity for a flag to come out. On that play, he was a runner, and when you’re a runner there is no protection, as we all know.”
The result of that 'no protection' play for the Redskins?
Tests by team doctors determined that Griffin had a concussion.
“...At that time, when he wasn’t really sure what the score was or what quarter it was, we knew he had a mild concussion", head coach Mike Shanahan explained to reporters after the game. "I’m not really sure what happened at the end, but he usually does a great job extending the play.”
The Skins performed well during the first quarter, keeping the 4-0 (now 5-0) Falcons scoreless.
Credit the Skins' defense, powered by nose tackle Barry Cofield who registered his first sack of the season in the fourth quarter, giving him 14.5 for his career.
A solid performance by running back Alfred Morris proved impressive. Morris had a career-high 115 yards on 18 carries in today's game.
Billy Cundiff's 23-yard, third-quarter field goal allowed the Skins to take a 10-7 lead. Cundiff missed three field goal kicks last week, but came through to win the game for the Skins against Tampa Bay. (Cundiff missed a 31 yard field goal today in the first half).
Linebacker Ryan Kerrigan scored the second touchdown of his career, intercepting a Matt Ryan pass, returning it 28 yards for a touchdown in the second quarter. (It was his first score since his pick-six in his NFL debut vs. the New York Giants on Sept. 11, 2011).
But an undefeated team is undefeated for a reason. And with Griffin out of the game, it was easy for the Falcons to find their momentum.
On a play in the third quarter, the Redskins had a pass-play design that didn't call for Griffin to run with the ball, but the versatile quarterback decided he would try to extend the play. During the play, RG3 was hit by Falcons' Sean Weatherspoon; a hit that took him out of the game and into the locker room for examination.
Falcon head coach Mike Smith alluded that quarterback runs, aren't always a good idea.
“Well when you are a runner, I don’t think there is a definition of a defenseless player. He [Griffin]was definitely a runner on that play. Safety is very important. We teach our guys that there is a strike zone that you hit that is basically from your knees to your chest. That’s the area that you want to hit. When that occurs and you are on target, you are probably not going to have the opportunity for a flag to come out. On that play, he was a runner, and when you’re a runner there is no protection, as we all know.”
The result of that 'no protection' play for the Redskins?
Tests by team doctors determined that Griffin had a concussion.
“...At that time, when he wasn’t really sure what the score was or what quarter it was, we knew he had a mild concussion", head coach Mike Shanahan explained to reporters after the game. "I’m not really sure what happened at the end, but he usually does a great job extending the play.”
The Skins performed well during the first quarter, keeping the 4-0 (now 5-0) Falcons scoreless.
Credit the Skins' defense, powered by nose tackle Barry Cofield who registered his first sack of the season in the fourth quarter, giving him 14.5 for his career.
A solid performance by running back Alfred Morris proved impressive. Morris had a career-high 115 yards on 18 carries in today's game.
Billy Cundiff's 23-yard, third-quarter field goal allowed the Skins to take a 10-7 lead. Cundiff missed three field goal kicks last week, but came through to win the game for the Skins against Tampa Bay. (Cundiff missed a 31 yard field goal today in the first half).
Linebacker Ryan Kerrigan scored the second touchdown of his career, intercepting a Matt Ryan pass, returning it 28 yards for a touchdown in the second quarter. (It was his first score since his pick-six in his NFL debut vs. the New York Giants on Sept. 11, 2011).
But an undefeated team is undefeated for a reason. And with Griffin out of the game, it was easy for the Falcons to find their momentum.
“Robert Griffin [III] creates a lot of issues", Falcons' coach Mike Smith said. "He’s a very
good player... I think he has taken the league by storm
through the first four weeks of the season. It’s a different dynamic when he’s
not in there...so it
did change our game plan once he left the game.”
Oh, how the game changed.
Falcons' QB Matt Ryan continued to find an open Julio Jones who scored a TD late in the game, but looked phenomenal throughout the day with his up-in-the-air catches over Redskin defenders.
Falcons' Tony Gonzalez had 13 receptions for 86 yards in the first half (123 yards on the day).
With Griffin out for the remainder of the game backup quarterback, Kirk Cousins got a chance to shine.
Briefly.
To his credit Cousins, in his NFL debut, hit an open Santana Moss for a 79-yard touchdown catch, giving the Redskins a 17-14 lead.
Cousins would try the same play to Moss at the two-minute mark in fourth quarter, to no avail. The pass was picked off by Atlanta, to the disappointment of Mike Shanahan.
"You have to anticipate that throw and there’s nothing you
can do about a throw like that. I was pleased with the throw, but obviously not
the end result.”
Cousins threw another interception with 1:21 left in the game, sealing the fate of the Redskins.
Summing up the game, coach Shanahan had this to say:
“... it’s always disappointing to lose a
game like that, because we had opportunities to kind of put it away; especially
early I thought we had the momentum. We had a chance, if we didn’t burn a
couple of third downs in that first half, then get a little momentum on our
side, because we were making some big plays and good runs. You have to make a
couple of plays that we have made over the last four weeks. And if you don’t
against a good football team, it comes back to haunt you.”
October is the month for haunting. Hopefully it won't last the entire month for the Redskins.
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