RG3 needs to smarten up. Quick.
And it would help if his coached stopped enabling the "tough guy" act.
This was said before the season, during the season, and right up until the minute Haloti Ngata dump-trucked the franchise's leg into a grotesque 120 degree angle.
You keep running him, he's gonna get killed.
And nobody likes an "I told ya so", but when the people who need tellin', ain't listenin', then you gotta keep sayin'.
So here I am. Just sayin'...
Either change his ways and change this scheme, or get all the good DVD highlights you can these next few years. It's that simple.
RG3 is nothing like Mike Vick. He's smart. He's humble. He's dedicated. He throws with an accuracy that Vick can only dream of, with a better motion and all the power. He's slightly faster in straight line acceleration. And he can read defenses. Well. Already.
But RG3 is just like Vick in one area. He's human. And like Vick, he's doomed to never play full seasons with this style. He's not quite as slight for the position as Vick. But he's close.
And when you get "out and about" on that field of monsters, you put yourself in the most danger.
Pocket hits and those behind the line of scrimmage can be bad. Like a car accident with somebody running a red light.
Downfield hits are like railroad collisions. You never win those.
Hell, there was a play where unapologetic head-hunter Bernard Pollard launched at Griffin with his crow-logoed warhead just an instant after RG3 slid. Griffin popped up and begged for a flag. They don't flag misses, my friend. And I can assure you Pollard didn't care about the 15 yards or the $50,000.
Said Pollard just a month ago: ""If a quarterback is going to the sideline, and I have a chance, I swear to you I'm going to kill him."
He was only half-joking.
Griffin said after the game he's confident it's not an ACL. We'll see. He also called it a fluke incident. No, it's not. These hits are like rolling snake-eyes in craps. Not a fluke. Just a matter of rolls.
I already fear we have enjoyed the very sweetest nectar of the RG3 Era. That may sound stupid, and reactionary, and pessimistic, but hey, you know me, I'll just say it if I feel it.
If this knee injury scrubs off just enough of his speed going forward, if NFL defenses get a good handle in the off-season on how to defuse the pistol, and if RG3 takes ANOTHER dump-truck hit to another part of his body...
Well... don't yell at me. You know you think these dark thoughts too.
Should RG3 never scramble out of the pocket for positive yards? Of course not.
Should RG3 be instructed as a "pure" pocket passer? No.
But this is too much designed QB running from the Shanahii already to be sustainable. And RG3 thinks he can escape any pack of pursuers.
Right now, he almost can. That will not last.
He needs to be drilled hard by the coaching staff on NEVER cutting back INTO the field of play on downfield runs. (Slide, or duck out of bounds)
He needs to be coached up on throw-aways, tuck-and-covers, and ditching screen pass plays that are sniffed out by the defense.
And putting him back out there to limp around for a few plays was beyond stupid. Shanny needs to think about the "long game" here and not just this season. Even if trainers *thought* he had all key ligaments intact, can you imagine if we find out an ACL strain turned into a full tear by him proving what a "warrior" he is?
There's only ONE of him. And a LOT of games to be played, and won.
Time to start doing the math on all that.
Bravo!
ReplyDeleteRedskins QBs just like getting their legs snapped I guess.
ReplyDeleteyeah, and the last one to get his leg snapped was in the pocket. Hmmm
DeleteI understand your angle and concern here Czabe. Though, I'm not so sure we would have won a single game this season without RGIIIs ability to run. Sorry to say. Defenses are setting up against us with that in mind. Without it, the Skins don't have a lot. They won't have a lot next year or there after either. 3 more losing seasons likely. That means they would likely blow up the team again at some point. Inconsistency in the coaching realm, and we know how well that works out. There is danger is ruining him in either direction. In all sports, the name of the game is winning, and win now. If you can win now, do it. No one is gong to tell you any different because sports are fleeting. How many times have you seen a really good team come so close only to fall to the bottom the next season. You take it when you can. He's had so many runs in critical situations that make the difference in the game. Baby him forever and you may never see his potential. Imagine how many hits he would be taking with this O-line without his potential to run? He might be hurt already. He's had some incredibly bad hits while being in the pocket. Some of his worst in fact. Look how many QBs get hurt sitting in the pocket. It's going to happen. Period. It's Football. Think about how much better he's doing since earlier in the season with taking big hits.
ReplyDeleteYou seem to veer hard between liking and hating 'the system'. Your tweets from the 1st half of yesterdays game 'Pitch and Catch. Pitch and Catch. Its like they are playing in a different league.'
ReplyDeleteThen RGIII gets hurt on a scramble drill play and the system has to change?
And your dark tone on 'if they get a handle on the pistol' blah, blah assumes that it and coaches will remain static.
A. They don't call many designed runs anymore. He was injured scrambling downfield in a desperate situation. That has nothing to do with any "system" and it's not going to be coached out of him.
ReplyDeleteB. If he's just a drop-back passer, he's going to take just as much abuse if it's a sub-par offensive line without the threat of the running game. When he's running the ball, he has some control over the situation (ie sliding or running out of bounds). When he's in the pocket, he's a stationary target.
C. Sounds like you're just fishing for an excuse to bring back Jim Zorn's Slip 'n Slide.
Agreed on ALL points. While this was the most exciting and satisfying win I've seen in forever, these hits scare the living @!?# out of me, and any Skins fan with some sense should feel the same way. I think he'll figure it out, I just hope he starts his evolution process before he gets severely injured (torn ACL, major concussion). I know it's part of the game - everybody knows that - but you have to be smarter about it. I'm sick of watching other teams tee off on him, and sick of them getting the opportunity to do it.
ReplyDeleteCan we get rid of all this talk about him getting hit, It was a QB trying to make a play not a design run. Football is a contact sport no matter how much the league is trying to take hitting out of the game. They're not going to put the guy in bubble wrap.
ReplyDeleteI remember you saying what a great Hero Matt Stafford was when he got hurt and came back to throw that touch down pass to win the Lions that game a few years back.
ReplyDeleteI think to me it is very clear. You don't like the Shanahans. No matter what they do. This is a very prejudiced opinion. IMO Kyle Shanahan is a genius and he will be a very succesful head coach. Too bad we refuse to recognize that.
The character of this team is so different from the past years. They are playing like a team and i give all credit to the Shanahans to build them that way.
It is very easy to sit on a couch and type away positively when the game goes well and negatively when things turn bad. Good we are not running an NFL Offense or Defense.
Last word on this:
ReplyDeleteQB get hurt no matter what they are doing.
Andrew Luck - Knee (pocket passer, leading league in hits taken)
Kevin Kolb - Ribs
Jay Cutler - Neck
Mark Sanchez - Back
Carson Palmer - Thumb
Michael Vick - Concussion (Running QB, suffered while in the pocket)
Ben Roethlisberger - Shoulder
Byron Leftwich - Ribs
Jake Locker - Shoulder
Alex Smith - Concussion
Wettest blanket ever. Thanks for writing this.
ReplyDeleteYou dummies who want to talk about designed run plays not being called are missing a huge piece of the puzzle. That's only half the equation. When Griffin scrambles, but then refuses to duck out of bounds or slide, but rather insists on cutting back into the open field, this is the stuff that can happen. The risk of injury can't be eliminated outright, but not taking advantage of the player protections afforded by the rules of the game is recklessly foolish.
ReplyDeleteNice of you to label those in disagreement as "dummies," but I don't see anyone saying RGIII should "refuse to duck out of bounds or slide."
DeleteThe coaches have stressed the importance of him learning to protect himself and avoid kill shots.
But it was a moment of desperation in the 4th quarter, and the kid was trying to do everything in his power to move the chains and get us a win.
Yeah, he STILL needs to slide, but I don't care who the coach is or what "system" we're running, with a game on the line in the 4th quarter and a play broken down, the kid is gonna try and scramble to make a play.
Czabe's quote was "you keep running him, he's gonna get killed."
Well guess what, nobody was "running him," he was running himself, because it's part of his game.
Don't blame the messenger, chief. Cutting back into the open field is dumb. Those who don't recognize that are "dummies" specifically and above all others Griffin himself if he doesn't grasp that concept.
DeleteWe're not playing against Kansas State anymore, Toto. A depleted Ravens defense is still murderer's row compared to what is seen in the BigXII. RGIII will learn that lesson soon enough...or be the next Michael Vick, minus the shitty attitude and animal cruelty.
I'm not blaming the messenger, I'm explaining that czabe has no point.
DeleteIf you think "cutting back into the open field" is a bad idea, that's fine, and everyone agrees Robert needs a better sense of how to protect himself when he's running.
But Czabe's hatred of all things Shanahi is forcing him to make idiotic "arguments" that he doesn't even believe.
Robert had seven rushing attempts on Sunday. SEVEN. Off the top of my head, at least three of those were scrambles off of pass plays. The idea that that is overkill and needs to be dramatically cut back before the qb gets injured is insane.
But hey, whatever, instead of getting him out on to the edge with his speed, let's just have him take seven step drops straight back into the pocket 50 times a game, because no one ever gets hurt that way.
That didn't quease me out as much as something I saw on a certain night back in the fall of 1985, but it looked really bad nonetheless. The guy's a sublime talent, but he is going to get hurt very badly in the current scheme. Not a matter of if, more like when. Yes I root for the other side, but I don't want to see him get wrecked.
ReplyDeleteWhether you want to blame the O-line, TEs, running backs or all of the above, the fact of the matter is this team is not very good at pass protection. RG3 is under constant duress when he drops back in obvious passing situations, and is just as likely to get hurt in the pocket (hit to the back yesterday?) as he is on scrambles or even designed runs. They also don't have the best weapons in the passing game, which exacerbates the issues with pass protection.
ReplyDeleteThe options are:
1) Ignore the team's weaknesses and allow RG3 to get sacked 50-70 plus times a la Aaron Rodgers, Jay Cutler and Big Ben.
or
2) Compensate with scheme and use RG3's legs to mask the Offenses deficiencies.
As others have pointed out, he is not taking bad hits on designed runs, but on scrambles, and every QB in the league has to scramble from time to time. It's not unreasonable to believe that, as a rookie, he will learn to make better decisions on scrambles, and there's no reason to believe he won't have similar success as a pure drop back passer if and when the strength of the team becomes their abiity to pass protect and the talent around RG3 improves.
What they're doing is working, so I say keep doing it. He just needs to slide and get the hell out of bounds sooner. No other adjustments are needed at this time.
Czabe, the play was not a designed run. Drop pack pass, RG3 escapes an unblocked blitz and runs .. it was 2nd and 19 in winning time in a playoff and division title hunt. Do you want him to throw it away and think about winning next year? Its football things happen. Steve Young & John Elway never had a season ender. Most season enders actually come in the pocket, see Brady, Green, Cassel etc. Czabe if you actually pay close attention RG3 is not getting hit much anymore on the reda option plays. They corrected that issue early in the season. Most of the bad hits he is taking are coming in the pocket. Take another look @ the play before the play in which he was injured. Left DE headed right for his knees .. made me cringe ...
ReplyDeleteYes Miraculous that he survived that! The car must be possessed or something hhe was simply just turning the corner and could not control it? Maybe he should not be driving? Good thing nobody was walking on that trail.arizona car accident attorneys
ReplyDeleteI don't know what hurt more, watching RG3's leg whip like that or reading this rhetoric called a "blog".
ReplyDelete