It took three quarters for Robert Griffin III to come to life, but when he did he nearly led the Washington Redskins to a come from behind victory over the Philadelphia Eagles. The Eagles scored the first 24 points of the game, but were held scoreless from then on out, and allowed the second-year Redskins quarterback to engineer three long drives to end the game.
The Redskins defense had an easier job in the second half than the first as the Eagles’ offense became more conservative when they were up by 24. While the Eagles were building their 24-point lead however, Griffin was relatively ineffective throwing the ball, and was unable to make a real difference using his legs either. This has unfortunately been a trend Griffin has shown throughout the season as he rarely makes a huge impact early in the game, but tends to make up for it by having an impressive second half.
The Redskins are clearly having a disappointing and frustrating season as they now stand at 3-7 on the year, and have almost zero possibility of making the playoffs. The NFC East has been down this season, but the play of Griffin and the Redskins defense has made it impossible for a repeat playoff appearance.
Griffin was able to finish the game with a respectable 264 passing yards and two touchdowns, but if he had been playing at a high level through all four quarters, the Redskins would have likely been leaving with a victory instead of a loss. With playoff hopes at a minimum and most of the focus being put on making this team better for the future, Griffin must play out the rest of the season strong if the Redskins hope to improve in 2014.
The ACL injury he suffered last season limited Griffin’s ability start the season strong, but with 10 games under his belt now, Griffin must begin showing more consistency throughout each game if he hopes to remain a threat on offense.
Nick Baker is a contributing writer for Rant Sports and you can follow him on Twitter, Facebook, and add him to your network on Google.