Sophomore Slump?

He might be the most explosive and dynamic player to enter the league since Michael Vick in 2001. He has a cannon for an arm and runs like a gazelle. Kids want to be him and coaches want to coach him. He wears number ten and goes by Robert Griffin III. Griffin is in his second year in the NFL and may be dealing with what most NFL players deal with in their second year, the sophomore slump. With all the talent Griffin has and the type of person he shows up to be every day, it’s hard to put the Redskins three and seven record all on the former Heisman trophy winner, or is it?

Griffin started out his NFL career like most rookie quarterbacks dream of, ending the season with an astounding 102.4 quarterback rating. He neglected to make many mistakes throwing twenty touchdowns and only five interceptions Yea, that’s right, five interceptions. That’s a mark that most NFL quarterbacks surpass halfway through the season. Right now only three quarterbacks have under five picks with at least 1500 yard passing; Alex Smith, Aaron Rodgers and Sam Bradford. Folks, we still have six weeks to go, as you can see only throwing five interceptions is quite a feat for any quarterback, never mind a rookie. Even with the hall of fame season Peyton Manning is having, he still has 6 interceptions at week 11. Griffin went through the air for 3200 yards on his way to the playoffs, he also tacked on another 7 touchdowns and 815 yards on the ground. As the great John Gruden would say: He’s a stat sheet stuffer. While racking up yards and touchdowns, most importantly, Griffin was winning; finishing with a record of 10-6 and won their first NFC East title since 1999.

Granted Griffin is coming off a knee surgery, everyone and their brother expected to see Griffin back out on the field making things happen with both his legs and his arm this year. As we have all seen it hasn’t been all daffodils and dandelions for the sophomore. Griffin’s already thrown 10 picks, that’s twice as many mistakes as he made all of last year, he’s also seen quite a drop in quarterback rating, at 83.6 so far. He is however on pace to throw for more than 20 touchdowns with 14, but he would have to throw forty to compare to what he did last year. The major issue I see, is the drop in rush yards, with 352. Some might say; he needs to protect himself so he is running less. That may be true, but when you take away Griffin as a runner, obviously you’re losing out on potentially a thousand yards rushing, but most importantly you’re making an unpredictable player, predictable. This just makes it easier for the defense and much more difficult on Griffin. If they don’t have to account for him running as much, there is going to be more defensive backs in coverage. Without divulging too much into the great debate of a “pocket passer” versus a “running quarterback” I’ll say this, if you got into the NFL  with your legs, then you need to continue taking advantage, just at Cam Newton did against the Patriots this past weekend; punishing the defense with his legs, after not being able to find anyone open.

So Griffin is statistically having a worse year, which is expected, but the question is can we put the blame on Griffin? My simple answer is, hell fuckin’ yea we can. He’s a quarterback, he gets all the money, and he got all the glory for winning and bringing the team to the playoffs last year. So yes, I’m impolitely pointing my finger at RGIII. With that said, as any Redskin fan will tell you, it looked a lot worse before Griffin showed up. A backup quarterback at best, by the name of Rex Grossman was taking the snaps, and when you throw six more interceptions then touchdowns, you’re going to end up on Santa’s naughty list. I’ll leave you all with this, its Griffin’s fault if they win and its Griffin’s fault if they lose. We have to remember as fans of the game, that this is a quarterback driven league, and as much as people praise football for the ultimate team sport that it is, if your signal caller has a bad day, the chances of you walking away with a win are slim to none, ask the Giants.

Not So Hard Now

Hard hitting, tough, strength, blood, sweat and tears. These are things that are usually directly related to the game of football. These are 300 pound men out there giving everything they have every day to become bigger, stronger and faster. Now I love football; as any real man does, but I find myself forgetting why I love the sport at times. Especially when this past Sunday, America’s game of the week was decided by an unsportsmanlike call, for hitting too hard.

The New Orleans Saints, hosted the defending NFC Champion 49ers on Sunday. With just under four minutes to go in the game, Drew Brees backs up to pass and is hit hard by linebacker Ahmad Brooks and fumbles the ball. The 49ers recover the ball with a three point lead, game over right? Not quite, as Brees peals himself off the turf he is welcomed with a fifteen yard personal foul for roughing the passer. Saints ball which leads to a Saints field goal to tie it up, and later take the lead.

First things first, helmet to helmet hits are dangerous, unhealthy and bad for the sport. That is my honest opinion from both experience on the football field and what I’ve seen in my years of watching sports. This folks was not a case of a violent or malicious hit, this ladies and gentleman was a case of a little man playing a big man’s game. Brees was hit and hit hard, there’s no denying that. That same hit wouldn’t have drawn a flag against a quarterback over six foot. Most importantly, if you watch this hit on Brees carefully, you will see that Brooks makes an effort to drop his head to the side and use his shoulder and arms to make the tackle. It just so happens that Mister Brooks is just much bigger and stronger, and Brees took a shot from his blind side. Brees recalls thinking, “Wow, that must have been a penalty.”  Why? Because it hurt? It’s supposed to hurt, its football and quarterbacks eatin’ dirt is the average fans favorite part.

Above all the noise, I still love football, as will most of us. But if I were The NFL Commissioner, I might take note of the fact I’m looking forward to watching some hard hitting playoff hockey this winter, as are more and more people are every year.