Washington Redskins: Mike Shanahan Doesn’t Deserve the Criticism

The Washington Redskins fell to the Seattle Seahawks 24-14 Sunday night, ending Washington’s post season campaign.

Washington started off firing on all cylinders, scoring 14 unanswered points. However, the Redskins were not able to get anything going after their first two drives. It was all attributed to the play before Washington’s second touchdown with 3:23 remaining in the first quarter. QB Robert Griffin III fell awkwardly on his injured knee and hobbled his way back to the huddle. Two plays later, Griffin was able to distribute the football to tight end Logan Paulsen for a touchdown. But it was clear that Griffin had re-injured his knee.

Robert Griffin III, of course, sprained his LCL against the Baltimore Ravens a month ago but only missed one game – finishing the last two of the season.

“We probably had our best first quarter,” Mike Shanahan said. “After that first quarter, we just didn’t seem to get things done.”

Washington scored on their first two drives, but after Griffin suffered his injury prior to the second touchdown, the team wasn’t able to generate anything on offense. “We weren’t the same team,” Shanahan admitted.

The Washington Redskins were only able to accumulate 63 total yards in the entire second half. It was beyond ugly. Griffin wasn’t able to plant his foot or drive the football. This forced many people to wonder if Mike Shanahan should pull the plug and bench Robert Griffin III because of his inefficient play. The final straw came in the 4th quarter with 6:25 remaining in the game, when Griffin fumbled after his knee buckled when attempting to plant his foot in the ground. The Redskins ruled Griffin out, soon after the play. But for the fans, it was a decision that came far too late.

Mike Shanahan could have decided to bench Robert. Sure, he probably should have. But Shanahan could do no right or wrong in that situation.

After the game, Shanahan defended his decision – “I talked to Robert and he said to me, ‘Coach, there’s a difference between being injured and being hurt.’ He said, ‘I can guarantee I’m hurt right now but give me a chance to win this football game because I guarantee I’m not injured.’”

Shanahan went on to say, “That was enough for me. I thought he did enough this year to have that opportunity to stay in the football game. It’s always a tough decision when to pull a guy and when not to. I talked to him at halftime and had to feel good about him to go back in. I told him we’re going to run the football and he’s going to have to prove to me and like I said before, he said, ‘Trust me. I want to be in there and I deserve to be in there,’ and I couldn’t disagree.”

The trust factor is huge. Just a month ago, Griffin displayed enough intelligence to pull himself out the football game against the Baltimore Ravens when he initially suffered his LCL injury. You have to trust your football players, but at the same time you have to be smart.

Former NFL coach and current NFL analyst Steve Mariucci backed Shanahan up – “He (Griffin) earned the right to play. He’s a mature kid – very bright, very smart – I don’t think he would try to fool anyone for a personal agenda.”

Kurt Warner, retired football player and current NFL analyst agreed saying – “They would have to cart me off the football field for me to stop playing.”

It’s a two way stream. In 2011′s NFL Championship game between the Packers and Bears, QB Jay Cutler was bashed for pulling himself out the game after suffering an MCL injury. The media picked him apart.

Former NFL player Derrick Brooks tweeted soon after Culter’s injury – “I have to be crawling and can’t get up to come off the field — Meds are available.”

“As a guy who has had 20 knee surgeries, you’d have to drag me out on a stretcher to leave a championship game,” Redskins’ alum and ESPN analyst Mark Schlereth exclaimed.

Of course, Washington was only in round one of the tournament. But the bottom line is, you want your best players to play, even when injured. It’s football, as Redskins receiver Pierre Garcon said after the game.

You have to have guts to play football. A nasty and rugged mindset to play injured gains respect in this league, to be honest. A level of stubbornness is a behavior trait that top tier athletes possess. And the players around them typically raise their game to another level. That didn’t happen with the Redskins. Leonard Hankerson had a chance to lay out for a catch that would have extended a crucial drive for the Redskins. Had he caught that football, the result of this game could have been different.

In order to be trusted, you have to be smart.

“My job is to be out there if I can play,” Griffin said after the game. “The only time I couldn’t play was when I went down. I took myself out of the game. That’s just the way you have to play. I don’t feel like me being out there hurt the team in any way. I’m the best option for this team, and that’s why I’m the starter.”

Kirk Cousins completed 3 of his 10 passing attempts when he entered the game for the injured Griffin, although it was late in the game. To think Washington had a better chance to win with a healthy Cousins would be naive. The Seahawks were able to pin their ears back and just harass him in limited action.

“It’s no doubting him at this point — he’s the same guys that got you to the playoffs and scored two early touchdowns,” hall of famer Deion Sanders said.

There would have been no right or wrong decision by Mike Shanahan. If he pulled Griffin and Cousins came out struggling, people would wonder if Griffin was really too injured to play. It’s funny how sports works.

Shanahan trusted his quarterback. However, there’s a thin line between trusting players and allowing them to take full control of you. Griffin didn’t control Shanahan – he wanted to fight for his football team. That’s the quickest way to gain long lasting respect in a locker room.

“We wouldn’t play him unless the medical staff said he was fine to play – check with the doctors and ask them their opinion if we would be hampering his LCL if we did play him, or was he in good enough shape to go into the game and play at the level that we need for him to win, Shanahan said.”

This, of course, coming after an early report that team physician and a doctor many NFL players use, Dr. James Andrews told USA Today that he was very nervous with Griffin playing on that knee. To no one’s surprise, Andrews also revealed that he did not clear Griffin a month ago when he first injured his LCL against the Ravens. It was odd timing. But doctors have to cover themselves and he was attempting to promote his book that will soon be released. Everyone has different pain tolerance levels and athletes recover differently.

Where Washington went wrong is, they strayed away from running the football. Alfred Morris had 5 carries for 20 yards in the second half, after accumulating 60 yards on 11 carries in the first half. That’s just unacceptable and is the true mishap that should be criticized. The wrong Shanahan is under the microscope. Offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan did not do a good job at adjusting his play calling to help take pressure off of Griffin. It was obvious early in the game that the Seahawks had no answer for Alfred Morris.

This won’t be the first or last time Mike Shanahan will get criticized. But let’s not forget this is the same guy that flipped a horrible trade for Donovan McNabb and ended up with the aforementioned Alfred Morris. He’s also the same guy that overcame an injured football team with a 3-6 record, only to finish with a 7 game winning streak – becoming NFC East Champions. Not to mention, Mike Shanahan “mortgaged” the future for a quarterback and constructed an offense that allowed him to have an historic rookie season. There was no right or wrong way to handle that situation. But what Shanahan did accomplish was displaying his level of trust in Robert Griffin III. At this point, that’s all that matters.