Play 27
Situation: 3rd and 13 at WSH 17
Description: Q4 - (2:13) (Shotgun) R.Griffin pass incomplete short middle to A.Roberts.
Sideline View
Endzone View
RG3 in shotgun has Garcon and Jackson wide, while Roberts is in the slot. RG3 snaps the ball and stares down Roberts who is running a skinny-post over the middle. LB50 Borland follows RG3’s eyes and almost makes a play on the ball, but the ball is thrown short to Roberts.
This is another display of RG3 not going through his progressions and missing his checkdown receiver. Watch RB29 Helu from the left side of the line sitting in the flat wide-open. You can tell Helu is frustrated by this throw as he throws his fists down to his sides.
Play 28
Situation: 1st and 14 at WSH 4
Description: Q4 - (1:29) (Shotgun) R.Griffin pass incomplete short right to N.Paul.
Sideline View
Endzone View
This is the start of the final drive for Washington. The Redskins are down 13-17 so RG3 needs to drive them down the field and score.
RG3 in shotgun snaps the ball and finds his first read Jackson running a seam route from the right side. He is covered so RG3 moves on to TE Paul his checkdown WR on the right side in the flat. While RG3 is finding TE Paul he starts drifting towards the right side of the pocket where LB55 Brooks is present and gaining penetration. RG3 sees him at the last minute and short-arms the ball off of his backfoot. The ball predictably sails short at the feet of Paul.
In this play it shows RG3’s inability to recognize where the pressure is coming from resulting in him not being able to make a proper throw on the ball.
Play 29
Situation: 2nd and 14 at WSH 4
Description: Q4 - (1:25) (Shotgun) R.Griffin scrambles left tackle to WAS 10 for 6 yards (A.Brooks).
Sideline View
Endzone View
RG3 in shotgun has trips right and Garcon by himself on the left. RG3 sees Jackson on the outside of the trips breaking on the drag route, but he doesn’t release the ball. Instead he takes the ball and scrambles through the open hole between the LT and the RB sitting in the left flat. This play resulted in a solid gain of 6 yards, but at 1:25 remaining in the game at your own endzone RG3 should have released the all to Jackson immediately off of his drag route. He was open and could have made the most out of the play due to his speed. RG3 needs to get better at quick decision making in these types of situations.
Play 30
Situation: 3rd and 8 at WSH 10
Description: Q4 - (:59) (No Huddle, Shotgun) R.Griffin sacked at WAS 3 for -7 yards (J.Smith). FUMBLES (J.Smith), RECOVERED by SF-A.Brooks at WAS 7. A.Brooks to WAS 7 for no gain (M.Moses). R.Griffin is charged with a 3-yard sack loss.
Sideline View
Endzone View
Sack-Fumble Alert! RG3 in shotgun has trips right and Garcon alone on the left. Same formation as the previous play. RG3 starts the play watching Garcon run a go-route against off-man coverage. He then finds TE Paul over the middle running a seam route, but he is covered too. By this point, Jus. Smith beats around the edge easily in a speed rush to strip-sack RG3 to end the game. If Moses did not get beaten RG3 would have had more time to throw to the checkdown receiver over the middle or possibly launched it deep to Jackson on the right sideline running a go-route.
RG3 should not have started his first read as Garcon after the ball was snapped. Off-man coverage is built around allowing the CB time to stay with the deep pass while letting shorter throws go by. Knowing Garcon is running a go-route, what makes him the first read? This is another issue that plagues RG3. Inability to adjust pre-snap from the original play call. Instead, if RG3 started on the trips side, he might have been able to see the checkdown receiver in time.
Summary
As you can see from these plays, it’s a combination of good defensive play both in pass rushing and pass coverage by the 49ers, terrible offensive line protection and horrible plays by RG3 that cause the offenses’ inefficiency. This game was better for him than previous week versus the Buccaneers, but this game still illustrates how RG3 still has many fundamental errors with his game.
First, RG3 has a problem with staring down his intended receiver. This draws the linebackers and safeties to the intended target and either stops the play from happening or minimizes the potential impact of the play. Second, RG3 needs to anticipate his WRs routes better and throw to get them open as opposed to waiting until they are open. Against an elite defense the times that the WRs are wide-open are very minimal and you have to take advantage of it. If you wait, it will be too late. Third, RG3 needs to get better with his basic footwork by stepping into his throws. He short arms the ball and doesn’t drive it with his lower half. This leads to a loss in velocity on the ball and the McNabb syndrome of hitting the feet of every WR.
Going back to the game, you will notice that the Skins for the vast majority ran very basic plays from the shotgun. RG3 doesn’t fit in a convential offense so I don’t understand why Jay Gruden is forcing him to play in one. Look back at the plays where RG3 was on the move or there was an added element of play-action or read-option. RG3 simply played better in these situations.since he isn’t good at reading defenses or working through his progressions yet.
Finally, the Redskins NEED to improve their offensive line. Rookie LT Moses played horribly. The Redskins knew he was a project player when when they drafted him, but fundamental mistakes and missing assignments littered his game against the 49ers. As a whole, the 49ers pass rush caused 5 Sacks, 4 hits, and 6 hurries on RG3. Not many QBs can survive that type of punishment, so it’s not surprising that by the end of the game RG3 was looking to scramble.
Colt McCoy the Starter
Colt McCoy will be starting against the Colts on Sunday. Counter to popular opinion, this is actually a good decision by Gruden. First, Gruden sees both QBs every single day in practice and has a better assessment on their abilities than most. Second, even though the Redskins are 3-8, the Redskins can still use the latter half of the season to build momentum for the following season. Third, it is not fair to the rest of the team and their confidence in the coach/management if there is a better QB on the roster, but the inferior one is getting a start due special treatment.
Some may argue that RG3 might get the Redskins a better draft pick in the future, so he should remain the starter. This argument is silly. Players are evaluated on an individual basis and coaches know that they are evaluated based off of the result of the games and potential in the future. From a long-term standpoint, having a higher draft pick would theoretically help the Redskins become a stronger team, but no team during the season will purposely tank to get a higher draft pick because the fans and players will all hate the franchise. The NFL is simply not the NBA in this respect.
Benching RG3 might actually help RG3. He needs to keep working on his footwork and ability to read defenses pre-snap. After three years, he has not developed the mental side of the game sufficiently enough if he continues to make fundamental mistakes like in the 49ers game. RG3 can use the time to focus on this and get back into form with no pressure from the fan base to win and no pressure from Gruden to make plays happen. He needs to use this time to start preparing for an inevitable QB competition next summer.
I don’t think McCoy is the future of the Redskins. Limited upside and an average arm make him a career back-up in my opinion, but he is clearly outplaying RG3 right now.
