Tag Archives: Robert Griffin III

NFL Week 12: Robert Griffin III or Andrew Luck??

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Robert Griffin IIIWhen you talk about sports there is always some team or someone being compared…Magic vs. Bird, Jim Brown vs. Walter Payton, Barry Sanders vs. Emmitt Smith, the 1985 Chicago Bears defense vs. the 2000 Baltimore Ravens defense, and without further adieu we bring you the newest in Andrew Luck vs. Robert Griffin III. For those that are fans fo the Colts or Redskins, we know you’re biased and this is more for the NFL fan who can stay objective.

So who is better??

From the Heisman Trophy presentation in New York, through the combines and the NFL Draft, these two have been compared extensively to one another. Right now, both the Washington Redskins and Indianapolis Colts feel they have their man. Although Washington has a 5-6 record at the present time, there is a new energy and excitement this team is building on this year. Do you realize that when the ‘Skins and RG III beat Minnesota 38-26 back in October, they broke an 8 game losing streak at home?? At home?? The final touchdown was a 76 yard touchdown run off of a scramble that iced the game. For many, this is the stark difference between the two quarterbacks.

RGIII has completed nearly 70% of his passes in his rookie season.

RGIII has completed nearly 70% of his passes in his rookie season.

However upon further review of Griffin III’s passing statistics (205 of 304 for 2,497 yards 13TDs and 4 ints), you notice that he’s completing 67.4% of his passes and has a 1.3% interception ratio. At the moment his passing percentage is higher than Tom Brady’s 65% and has a lower interception ratio than Aaron Rodgers at 1.7%. When he has gone back to pass, he’s made plays from the pocket  just like his first TD to Pierre Garcon against the Saints in week 1. Yet his detractors aren’t giving him credit for this. Sure he has made some spectacular plays on the run but his nerve with the clock winding down is something he displayed even back at Baylor.

In the aforementioned game with Minnesota, the Vikings had just scored to come within a touchdown and had the momentum. On second down, the pocket broke down and Griffin III scrambled for the first down before a downfield block opened it up for him to take it to the house. A very improptu play. The following week, his Redskins faced a fourth and 10 play with less than 4 minutes to go. After a scramble and throw for the first down, he calmly led the Redskins for what looked like a game winning drive. Once at the 30, RGIII perfectly read a Giants blitz and feathered a pass to Santana Moss who had adjusted and run a corner route. With less than 1:30 to go in the game it appeared to be the game winner. However Eli Manning’s 77 yarder to Victor Cruz won it for New York 27-23 on the next play, but Griffin had done his part.

Speaking of doing their part…

Luck runs for yardage against the Buffalo in last week's 20-13 over the Bills.

Luck runs for yardage against the Buffalo in last week’s 20-13 over the Bills.

Wasn’t the Indianapolis Colts supposed to struggle under the weight of a rookie coach and quarterback?? Now consider the fact that Head Coach Chuck Pagano has missed the last four games. How much leadership has Luck had to display as a rookie?? Might be the most in NFL history when you really give it some serious thought. The reality is with his being drafted to replace Peyton Manning, he has two quarterbacks to be compared to…so let’s start with the obvious: Luck v. Peyton Manning.

If you look at what Luck has had to endure as a rookie versus Peyton, keep in mind Manning had Jim Mora who was in his second stint as a successful NFL Head Coach, although was in his first year with Indianapolis. The steadying hand of a coach who had been there before along with future Hall of Fame running back Marshall Faulk, kept Manning from feeling the weight of the franchise on him. He also had a young dynamic Marvin Harrison at wideout where now the top wideout is an elder version of Reggie Wayne.

Wayne has helped ease Luck into the mix like Marshall and Harrison did for Manning. Unfortrunately this year’s Colts are 17th in rushing which has put the onus back on Luck and the passing attack. This year’s statline isn’t that bad where Luck’s completed 56.8% of his passes, completing 255 of 449 for 3,205 yards 13 TDs along with 13 interceptions. Yet let’s ask the question: With this year’s mediocre running attack (Ballard 427 yds / Donald Brown 404 yds) how often has Luck had to throw into the teeth of defenses?? Seriously?? Do you realize Colt running backs have combined for just one touchdown this year??

Before we give you Luck’s rushing totals, remember Peyton Manning had Marshall Faulk come within 92 receiving yards of joining Roger Craig as the second 1000/1000 yard running back. Faulk ran for 1,319 yards 6TDs while catching 86 passes for 902 yards and another 6 scores. With that help Peyton Manning completed 56.7% of his passes, 3,739 yards, 26 touchdowns and 28 interceptions. So with less, Luck has done more than his predecessor’s rookie season. Especially when you factor the 2012 Colts record of 7-4 vs. the 1998 Colts going 3-13.

302853-andrew-luckSo where one school of thought doesn’t give RGIII his due as a passer, Luck’s detractors overlook the fact he’s rushed 41 times for 183 yards and a team leading 5 touchdowns. That only gives him one less rushing touchdown than the 6 RGIII has for the Redskins. However RGIII has run twice as often with 100 attempts for 642 yards and is just off pace from a 1,000 yard season. Yet Luck isn’t glued to the passing pocket and can run when he needs to.

In RGIII’s rookie year he’s had the benefit of a two time Super Bowl winning coach (Mike Shanahan) and a veteran laden squad as compared to the Colts, who are rebuilding on the run. The Washington Redskins are 5-6 and have a two game home winning streak. They are much better than they have been over the last decade or so and have a promising future thanks to their rookie quarterback. Yet when you look on the other side of the conference ledger at the 7-4 Colts, Luck has made that team relevant faster than our CEO originally thought, and it’s hard to believe how hope with his play and future has drowned out the despair over Manning’s departure.

Each have an edge over the other whether we’re talking stats or wins and playoff position. You thought we were going to conclude this argument?? We just want to pour gas on the fire. Much like Barrack Obama and Mitt Romney… their followers aren’t going to be swayed. The beauty of this one is that each has gone to the other conference and a possible Super Bowl matchup between the two could happen.

How do we know which veterans right now are looking at Washington and Indianapolis as future free agent destinations because of these two?? What happens if somehow the Colts draft Le’Veon Bell, RB from Michigan State or Kenjon Barner RB from Oregon?? Think that would pull up the defense and allow Luck some passing room?? What happens if the Redskins draft Baylor wideout Terrance Williams (1,693 yds/ 12TDs) to reunite with RGIII and this year’s draftee Leonard Hankerson?? How much more potent will the Redskins be??

Possible Super Bowl L matchup??Time will tell...

Possible Super Bowl L matchup?? Time will tell…

 In Washington and Indianapolis, the future is bright!! So the question is: Robert Griffin III or Andrew Luck?? The choice is yours…

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NFL Week 7: NFC East – Interesting Times In The Division

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Pierre-Paul brings down Alex Smith for one of New York’s 6 sacks last week.

Well there is one old adage that still serves: If you want to become a champion you have to beat the champion. The San Francisco 49ers had spent the better part of two weeks dispatching AFC East also-rans, in the Bills and Jets, to the tune of 79-3. Everyone anointed them the best in pro football yet forgot their next game was against the defending champion New York Giants. Now that the Niners have beaten Seattle and held 3 of their last 4 opponents to 10 points or less, you begin to understand how strong the Giants 26-3 win in Candlestick was.

Not only did Eli Manning come through in another big win on the road, Ahmad Bradshaw ran with more thunder than usual (116 yards/1TD). The Giants defense was as forceful as it was opportunistic with 6 sacks and 3 interceptions. The pendulum has swung on expert ideas on who the best team in the NFL is.

Now at 4-2 the Giants have to start taking care of business in their own division. With losses to Dallas and Philadelphia, here comes the NFL’s newest ultimate weapon in Robert Griffin III coming into The Meadowlands. Just as the Giants are coming off a confident and very focused win out west?? Should be interesting… Lets take a look at the NFC East standings

East Division

W

L

T

PCT

PF

PA

HOME

ROAD

DIV

CONF

STRK

LAST5
New York Giants Giants 4 2 0 .667 178 114 2-1 2-1 0-2 3-2 W2 4-1
Philadelphia Eagles Eagles 3 3 0 .500 103 125 2-1 1-2 1-0 1-2 L2 2-3
Washington Redskins Redskins 3 3 0 .500 178 173 1-2 2-1 0-0 3-2 W1 2-3
Dallas Cowboys Cowboys 2 3 0 .400 94 119 1-1 1-2 1-0 2-2 L2 2-3

RG III eludes Viking defenders for 138 yards and 2 touchdowns in last week’s 38-26 win.

How can you not be impressed by the Redskins RGIII?? Most young quarterbacks rely on their running or scrambling ability as they get their understanding of the pro passing game down. Now most of these runs are of the 7-10 yard variety that are a nuisance to defensive co-ordinators, but what do you do when a QB can break a 76 yard TD gamebreaker?? Especially in the fourth quarter on a defense that has tired from chasing him all day. It happened to the Minnesota Vikings last week.

When asked before the season who would be better between RG III and Andrew Luck, it was this facet of his game that our CEO thought gave him the edge. Do you realize that in 6 games he has 379 yard rushing and 6 TDs. That projects to his becoming the second quarterback in history to rush for 1,000 yards (1,010) yards, and would break Cam Newton’s rushing touchdown record of 14 touchdowns with 16. All of this before we remind you he’s completing 70.2% of his passes for 1,343 yards and 5 TDs.

What makes RGIII’s season more remarkable is everyone thought the Redskins defense would be stout enough to allow him to make mistakes and ease into his role. No one expected a 27th ranked defense giving up 417 yards per game. We know the loss of Brian Orakpo was big, but Washington’s offense has to perform at a high level to bail out their defense.

This week they travel to New York to battle the Giants. The Redskins are a personal foul call away from being 3-0 on the road however this will be different than trips to New Orleans, St Louis, or Tampa. This front four can tee off with the most athletic defensive line in the NFL. Where everyone thinks the key is to stop RGIII first, is the wrong approach. Osi Yumeniora, Jason Pierre-Paul and that front need to stop RB Alfred Morris (538 yards / 5 TDs) first. Once they are one dimensional or forced into passing situations, look for delayed blitzes and combination coverages keeping the safeties in tight. They’ll need to be there when Griffin III can’t find his receivers and looks to run. Couple that with the crowd noise and you’ll understand why we take the Giants in this one.

Michael Vick’s 8TDs and 8ints. coincide with the Eagles record of 11-11 with him as a starter. Can he turn it around??

As for the tight-rope walking Philadelphia Eagles… can you believe the Eagles are thinking of benching Michael Vick?? They also fired their defensive co-ordinator and promoted Todd Bowles. Listen, when you see teams making moves like this, it’s a sign of desperation. The Eagles have lost 3 of 4 and two of those came against losing teams in the Steelers and Lions. So they are a bad 3-3. We hate to say it but you’re looking at the end of the Andy Reid era in Philadelphia. After the public comment by owner Jeffery Lurie ”That a year without making the playoffs is unacceptable” pressure is mounting by the week.

One thing they can do is get the ball into LeSean McCoy’s hands more. With 111 carries for 459 yards and 1 touchdowns, he’s getting 18 carries per game but they need to push the limit of what he can take. Sure they risk burning him out but if it comes down to he and a more stationary quarterback, defenses will focus totally on him and limit his effectiveness completely. The Eagles are caught in an ugly vice and it’s all on Vick to save his and Andy Reid’s jobs. Horrible time for a bye week…& the clock is ticking.

Speaking of coaches who’s job is on the line…keep your radar locked in on Cowboys coach Jason Garrett. Dallas is 1-2 on the road after giving away a game to the Ravens last week, but now they play 4 of their next 5 on the road. Uh oh!! Considering that they were 2-6 on the road last year with the same cast of characters, tells us this losing will continue. Garrett is in deep, deep, trouble.

As for more on the Cowboys and week 7 : https://taylorblitztimes.com/2012/10/14/nfl-week-7-turning-points-the-dallas-cowboys/

Time is running out on this era of inconsistent Cowboys football. We here at Taylor Blitz Times are always saying “At some point, you have to believe what you are seeing.” This is an average ball club with average personnel and very average results. In their last 200 games, the Cowboys are 100-100. They are a mistake prone bunch that will give games away like they did last Sunday. Constant mistakes at the point where they’re concentration should be at their best says something about the damaged psyche of this football team. Can they straighten themselves out before this season is over as Jerry Jones would have you think?? The Chancellor just left our meeting shaking his head.

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Baylor’s Robert Griffin III Takes Home the Heisman Trophy

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Robert Griffin III outruns Andrew Luck for the 2011 Heisman Trophy

Congratulations to the 77th Heisman Trophy winner in Baylor’s Robert Griffin III. He was easily the most electrifying player this year, a Cam Newton-lite if you will. It may have been a benefit Newton didn’t win it last year. Although he was swirled amidst off field allegations, had he won it last year the voters may have looked to give the award to another type of player this year or position. However if you look at Griffin III’s season in a vacuum, he deserved it hands down.

All he did was lead perennial doormat Baylor into the National spotlight completing 267 of 369, for 3,998 yards, 36TDs to only 6 interceptions. He was also a threat on the ground where he ran for 649 yards and another 9 touchdowns. He’s just 353 yards away from a 5,000 yard season against stellar competition and still has an Alamo Bowl showdown with Washington to pad his stats further.

Statistics don’t tell half the story. It was this electrifying talent that led his teammates to believe they could play with anyone. It started with his destruction of #14 TCU’s highly ranked defense, to the tune of 359 yards passing and 5 touchdowns in building a 47-21 lead. After the Bears offense grew cold, Griffin proved his mettle driving the Bears to the winning field goal 50-48 and a collegiate star was born. This was the first great early game of the season and talk of Griffin III’s exploits were showcased on national television.

Then really grew steam when he performed the coup de gras against Oklahoma. His Baylor Bears were ranked 22nd and were taking on media darling Bob Stoops and his #5 ranked Sooners. You have to understand the Bears were 3 weeks removed from losing badly to ranked #4 Oklahoma St. (59-24) and #23 Texas A & M (55-28). Their confidence was shaken as a team going into this game and it was do or die to find out if they were for real.  Griffin, who passed and ran his team to a 38-24 fourth quarter lead in one of the game’s of the year, dazzled early. Once their momentum crested, the high powered Sooners sprang to life and rallied to tie the score 38-38, with 2:38 to go.

With Oklahoma holding all three time outs, the Bears came out conservative and ran a dive showing they were content to go to overtime. Stoops called the first of his timeouts, which showed the Sooners wanted to force the Bears to punt the ball back and give the Sooners a chance to win it in regulation. Baylor’s body english looked defeated and Waco was completely silent. Armed with the knowledge of what Oklahoma intended to do, it was Griffin III who charged back to the huddle to breathe life in his team. He completed two strikes in the heart of the Sooner’s zone to put Baylor in field goal range reversing the momentum. Instead of waiting to kick the winning field goal, on first down he scrambled to his left and fired a 34 yard touchdown to Terrance Williams with :08 left. BALLGAME!!

By the time he engineered a 48-24 trouncing of the 22nd ranked Texas Longhorns, it was obvious this was the best player in all of college football. He led the Bears to a 4-2 record over top 25 teams. In the aforementioned games with Oklahoma and Texas how’d he do?? Against Oklahoma Griffin III ran for 98 yards while throwing for 479 yards and 4 touchdowns. Then you had him toast up the Longhorns rushing for 36 yards and 2 TDs, while throwing for 320 yards and 2 more scores.

Buoyed by these three signature games, it was impossible to hand the Heisman to another player. He carried his team into national prominence and backed up the press clippings with performance. The Baylor Bears went 9-3 with him at the helm and had their best record since 1986. Now further that distinction with bringing the school it’s first ever Heisman winner. So what does he do as an encore?? We suspect a 500 yard performance (rushing and passing) and a high draft status in April.  With the Colts eyeing a pure drop back passer in Andrew Luck, it looks like many teams would vie for his services. Right now, the Cleveland Browns are on the clock.

For if he’s Cam Newton-lite, he may be just as deadly in his rookie year. We’ll have time for that later. As for right now, congratulations Robert Griffin III. You deserved your Heisman with a performance for the ages.

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