With two touchdowns on the first two drives of the game to give them a 14-0 lead, the Washington Redskins appeared to be in control of Sunday’s playoff game against the Seattle Seahawks. Unfortunately ,everything went downhill for the Redskins since that second touchdown as star rookie quarterback Robert Griffin III suffered a knee injury that would impact the rest of the cake and bring head coach Mike Shanahan under fire.
Throughout the final three quarters of the game, it was clear Griffin was incapable of playing at full strength as his knee prevented him from making the types of throws and runs he’s been so successful with during the 2012 season. For a quarterback as talented as Griffin to finish the game with just 84 passing yards and 21 rushing yards to go along with two touchdown passes, there’s no reason why he should have remained in the game and Shanahan deserves all of the criticism in the world during the offseason for keeping his quarterback in the game.
Remember how impressive Kirk Cousins looked a few weeks back when he filled in for Griffin at quarterback when the Redskins took on the Cleveland Browns? What’s the point of having a reliable backup quarterback for these types of situations if a coach like Shanahan isn’t even going to use him when he needs to?
Who cares if it was the playoffs–Shanahan should have been focused on the long term for the Redskins considering the chances Griffin misses part of next season due to the injury. There have been plenty of dumb head coaching decisions over the years, but Shanahan may have taken the cake on this one by allowing Griffin to remain in the game on Sunday against the Seahawks when he clearly needed to be watching from the sidelines.
“Like” Dan Parzych on Facebook
Be sure to follow Dan on Twitter @DanParzych
