Twenty years from now, when we assemble our All-Time Draft Busts lists, we will come to Robert Griffin III, pause for a moment and try to remember what went wrong.
Griffin will not fall into that frustrating 'million-dollar arm, 10 cent head' category with Ryan Leaf, Jeff George and JaMarcus Russell. He was not a pure injury case like Steve Emtman. His story has a trade-gone-haywire element, like Ricky Williams or Herschel Walker, but crazy trades have their own list.
But we will feel compelled to slot Griffin somewhere.
Griffin looks like a lock to make those future lists of false promises and broken dreams. Sunday may have sealed his fate. He landed awkwardly while scrambling in the first quarter, then crumpled to the turf with a dislocated ankle. Kirk Cousins threw a touchdown on his first pass in relief, then coasted to a 41-10 victory over the Jaguars.
Griffin will be out for weeks, and while he may reclaim his starting job upon returning, it has been a long time since he looked truly good. He is now locked in the kind of quarterback controversy the frontrunner rarely wins, the kind where the backup has the support of loudest fans and the developing confidence of his coaches while the erstwhile superstar is burdened with every possible kind of baggage.
If the RGIII perceptions and quarterback politics were the only issues, I would not be sweeping Griffin toward history's dustpan. This is not just about the disconnect between Griffin and 'RGIII,' the latter a mythic mass-media creation that was almost predestined to overwhelm and consume the former.
There is a much more fundamental problem. Griffin does not look like a great athlete anymore. He jerked and stumbled like a newborn colt on that fateful scramble. His legs flail when he runs, like Elaine from Seinfeld trying to dance. This farewell to RGIII is based on the sad fact that the mobile quarterback is no longer mobile-and the rest of his skills have not developed in time to save him.
You will read and hear many RGIII storylines this week, because it is clearance sale time at the RGIII Storyline Furniture Showroom. Everything must go! Many of the other storylines will be simple rewrites of old angles and observations, some accurate, some ridiculous:
The guy in the office next to you knew from the start that Griffin was all hype. Good for him! He is either smarter than everyone in the NFL or just one of those contrary people who always takes an opposite opinion because he thinks it makes him sound smart. You probably know which.
The Redskins should never have traded for Griffin. Well, they should never have traded two future first-round picks and a second-rounder to get him. That was an insane ransom, but no one noticed at the time because it was fashionable to say, 'If you have a chance to get a franchise quarterback, you do WHATEVER IT TAKES' on television talk shows. Trading all your top picks to get a rookie quarterback is like spending your entire life savings to impress a girl on your first date. That date will probably go so well that you will get second and third dates. What do you do then?
Mike Shanahan ruined Griffin. Maybe a little. You can trace most of Griffin's problems to that playoff game against the Seahawks at the end of the 2012 season. That's when his rushing ability got swallowed by the divots in FedEx Field, and that's when the suspicious, protective Shanahan-versus-Griffin family feud began. But ... Shanahan has been gone for nine months. Why did Griffin still have the mechanics of a junior-high javelin thrower when he took the field on Sunday?
Dan Snyder spoiled Griffin. Maybe a little. Snyder could have made sure FedEx did not look like the Pimlico infield after the Preakness two years ago. His ability to turn the corporate chain of command into a friendship bracelet makes him a delight to coach for. But let's be fair: Snyder does not call plays, throw passes, supervise rehabilitation or do anything that leads directly to where we were on Sunday afternoon.
Cousins was always a better quarterback, anyway. No. Not in college, or 2012, or 2013, when Shanahan gave him a long, strange starting stint that ended with a 52.3 percent completion rate and seven interceptions in 155 attempts. If Cousins is now the better quarterback, it's because Griffin has fallen off precipitously, not because Cousins is anything more than a sturdy spot starter.
Ah, but Cousins won big on Sunday, even though DeSean Jackson was also knocked out of the game. You can hear the cheapest and phoniest of the storylines now. The Redskins are better off without those guys. That's the oldest talk radio standby: that losing exceptional talent makes teams better, because sports are about 'wanting it,' not 'being good at it.' Cousins and Niles Paul will lead the Redskins to glory, as long as they keep playing the Jaguars every week.
The storylines will keep getting discounted as this year progresses. Cousins' approval rating will probably never be higher than it is at this moment.
Griffin will disappear for over a month, with at least one 'some players prefer Cousins' rumor leaking from the locker room per week. Griffin will return to the lineup facing an almost impossible situation: look better than the RGIII of 2012 immediately, look like the RGIII of fan fantasy, or face a stadium-and probably a locker room-full of skeptics.
After another unsuccessful Redskins season, the storylines will get tossed into the discount bin. Snyder exercises Griffin's fifth-year option next spring, but a vote of confidence from the guy who paid Donovan McNabb millions of dollars to not be sore about a benching only goes so far. Griffin lurches in and out of the lineup for two years, trading the job with Cousins or others, his prestige and production fading by degrees. He moves on to other teams as a reclamation project, signed at the start of free agency, cut at the end of camp, once or twice or five times.
And then, 20 years from now, we assemble our latest All-Time Draft Busts list, and the old timers among us remember Rick Mirer. Mirer was the second overall pick in the 1993 draft. He was a scrambler from Notre Dame with big talent and plenty of name recognition. He looked pretty good for the Seahawks as a rookie, then took a step back as a sophomore. Mirer kept going backward as he absorbed too many sacks and the Seahawks changed coaches and coordinators. By his fourth season, Mirer was a banged-up, befuddled mess whose game consisted of dump-off passes and uninspiring scrambles.
Mirer in 1995-96 was a lot like Griffin is now. Mirer was once a staple of All-Time Draft Busts lists, but guys like JaMarcus Russell pushed him off the back. Twenty years later, it's hard to remember the details of Mirer's story, and many younger fans may not know much about him.
Could that be the fate of RGIII? To not even make the lists, but to fade slowly away?
It seems hard to believe now. But if it happens, try to remember that Sunday, Sept. 14 th of 2014 marked the beginning of the end.
All Men are Mortal. Richard Sherman is a Man. Therefore, Chargers WinThe Chargers' 30-21 upset over the Seahawks was the most shocking final of the week. If your mind is reeling at the very notion of the Seahawks exhibiting human frailty, here are five takeaways to help you collect your thoughts about Sunday's most remarkable game:
1. If you really thought the Seahawks were godlike creatures who bend girders with their thoughts, it does not mean you are crazy. The Seahawks were 24-4 since December of 2012, counting postseason games. They crushed the Broncos in the Super Bowl and embarrassed the Packers in the season opener. At some point, the most logical conclusion a person can make is, 'The Seahawks will win, unless perhaps they are facing the 49ers.' Deep down, you knew that they were flesh and blood. It just became convenient to imagine otherwise.
A related matter: Richard Sherman, like every cornerback in history, occasionally gives up completions. Deion Sanders and Ronnie Lott gave up completions. That 'shutdown corner' who never allows a single reception on an entire half of the field exists only in your mind.
2. The Chargers have a strong ball-control game. The Chargers pull off their best upsets by using their consistent offense to methodically grind their way down the field. They controlled the clock for 42:15 against the Seahawks, which is uncanny. The Chargers controlled the clock for 38:49 last season in their Broncos upset, which is remarkable for different reasons: about the only thing as difficult as staying on the field against the Seahawks is keeping Peyton Manning off the field.
The secret to winning the time of possession battle meaningfully (instead of, say, falling far behind and wasting 10 minutes on the final scoring drive in a 38-10 game) is to execute effectively on first down. The Chargers picked up first downs on five 1st-and-10 plays in the first half. They also converted five 2nd-and-1, 3rd-and-1 or 3rd-and-2 situations in the first half, the benefits of successful first-down plays. Not even the Seahawks defense can dictate strategy on 1st-and-10 or 3rd-and-short, unless they have a huge lead. The Chargers are great at winning those down-and-distance splits, and it often results in actual wins.
3. The Seahawks have two unresolved offensive problems. The right side of their offensive line is still vulnerable, as Justin Britt and J.R. Sweezy caved in a few times, resulting in Russell Wilson sacks and unprofitable scrambles.
The Seahawks still have a nasty habit of getting sacked out of field goal range. Dwight Freeney chased Wilson down for a 13-yard loss on a play that started at the Chargers 33-yard line early in the game. Whether it's Darrell Bevell's play calls or Wilson's Randall Cunningham impersonations at times when he should throw the ball away or just eat it, the problem keeps costing the Seahawks three points that, sometimes, they actually need.
4. The Seahawks are still the best team in the NFL. And the 49ers are second, despite taking the second half off against the Bears. These teams have built up a body of work that does not get undone by a pair of losses to solid opponents.
5. Don't sleep on the Chargers. Philip Rivers has become Houdini, the offensive line gets better every week, and the Mike McCoy-Frank Reich game plans are brilliant. The Chargers were the playoff team no one talked about last year. They look like an even stronger playoff team now, despite their 1-1 record, and you can bet that people will start talking about them after Sunday's upset.
Participation TrophiesNot everyone deserves one, but everyone gets one!
Ref ... er, Madness Trophy (Awarded to the officiating crew that must have been smoking something). If Percy Harvin stepped any farther out of bounds on his quick-pitch touchdown against the Chargers, he would have flipped over a bench. An official following Harvin up the sideline on the play even pointed to the ground just after Harvin took his extended walk on the wild side. Hmmm, something curious happened right about THERE that was clearly worthy of my attention. Yet there was no review.
Fantasy Leech Trophy (Awarded to the fullback, tight end, fourth receiver or moonlighting linebacker who scored so your fantasy first-round pick could not). Lions fullback Jed Collins caught a 1 yard touchdown in the Lions' 24-7 loss to the Panthers. Since when do the Lions have a fullback?
On a related note, Calvin Johnson continued a Lions tradition with one of his patented near-touchdowns, though the man who rewrote the rulebook on receptions appears to be slipping. He ended up resting his head on the football like it was a neck support pillow at the end of his near catch. It was a fairly obvious incompletion. What happened to the catches that could only be analyzed into incompletions using micrometers, calipers, high-speed cameras, a special assembly of the rules committee and the Hubble telescope? If Collins keeps getting the ball in the red zone, they could disappear forever.
True Grit Trophy (Awarded for toughness above and beyond the call of duty). Philip Rivers and Cam Newton split this one. Rivers moved the Chargers down the field against the Seahawks with a bloody arm. He looked like Curt Schilling, except of course that Schilling was a baseball pitcher who A) never had to face a pass rush and B) had plenty of time to change that sock between innings back in 2004 but chose not to. Rivers also trash-talked Seahawks linebacker Bobby Wagner at the end of a scramble; if you allow Rivers to scramble for positive yards, you deserve to hear him yap about it.
Newton endured several big hits behind a depleted offensive line but threw for 281 yards and a touchdown in a 24-7 win over the Lions. It was enough to make us forget the 'Donkey Kong Suh' remarks. Tune in next week when he refers to a Steelers safety as 'Troy Pokemon Naruto.'
Salvador Dali Melting Clock Trophy (Awarded for the strangest clock management of the week). The Jaguars win this award for two bad decisions. First, the Redskins faced 4 th-and-20 from their own 38-yard line in the final seconds before halftime. The Redskins came to the line threatening a Hail Mary, so the Jaguars waited until there was one second left ... then called timeout. Of course, that allowed the Redskins to plan a more organized Hail Mary. Defender Josh Evans volleyball-spiked the attempt, so it did not cost the Jaguars.
But the other clock mistake did. The Jaguars kept their starters in the game and kept throwing downfield in the final minutes when trailing 41-10. Allen Hurns, the impressive undrafted rookie discovery who caught two touchdown passes against the Eagles last week, suffered a leg injury while catching a three-yard pass on 4 th-and-16. Bill Parcells' teams were not blown out often, but when it happened, he put the backups in and called lots of inside handoffs. There was a reason for that.
Meaningless Fantasy Touchdown Trophy (Awarded for the most unnecessary, yet fantasy-relevant, touchdown of the week). James Jones caught a touchdown from Derek Carr late in the fourth quarter to cut the Texans' lead over the Raiders to 30-14. It was Carr and Jones' second late-fourth quarter touchdown of the year. Keep that in mind if you are already getting fantasy desperate after two weeks.
Necessary Adjustment Trophy (Awarded to the coaching staff who figured things out). The Packers' and Bengals' offensive staffs split this award. Their mutual secret: simplification.
The Packers figured out an obvious formula for beating the Jets: protect Aaron Rodgers at all costs and throw to Jordy Nelson. Nelson caught nine passes for 209 yards once Rodgers stopped running for his life and just zeroed in on his favorite target, who was covered by a cast of Jets mystery cornerbacks.
The Bengals had red zone troubles against the Ravens last week, and those woes became worse against the Falcons on Sunday, when kicker Mike Nugent missed three field goals. So Hue Jackson scrapped all the fancy stuff inside the 20-yard line and began pounding Jeremy Hill and Gio Bernard into the line. Bernard scored a touchdown at the end of six straight running plays; Hill added another after the Bengals rushed five times in six plays. The Bengals won 24-10. It should have been a rout, but a least the Bengals have discovered the value of keeping things simple.
The Bears get honorable mention for finally taking steps to figure out the read option in their 28-20 upset of the 49ers. Colin Kaepernick kept the ball on an option late in the fourth quarter, but Jon Bostic made an 'assignment perfect' play to stuff Kaepernick for a loss. With a fully functional run defense (something they appeared to lack last week), the Bears could be scary.
Mysterious Touch Trophy (Awarded to the defender, lineman, or specialist who got an unlikely carry or catch of the week). J.J. Watt caught a 1 yard touchdown pass in the 30-14 rout of the Raiders. He did not kick the extra point, the slacker. So Watt's a pretty good tight end when not doing just about everything else for the Texans. What's next? Quarterback? New Astros owner? Texas governor? COMMISSIONER? C'mon, folks, we can get behind that last one.
Turning the PageIt's tough to be a Week 1 goat. With no season-long reputation to build upon and magnified attention on one bad game, the player who fails in the season opener looks like a guy who will never turn things around. Especially if he's Tony Romo!
Several players and units who bungled their debuts had a chance to flip the script on Sunday. Here is how they fared:
Tony Romo: That was not the 'Same Old Romo' we saw last week against the 49ers. That was a new, different and unbearable Romo, a caricature that sprung to life from the imaginations of the world's loudest Romo bashers and began ignoring wide open receivers in the end zone so he could throw interceptions instead.
This week's Romo was more like the real thing: He kept plays alive, fed Dez Bryant wherever possible and saved the really stupid stuff for when the whole world was watching. Because the Cowboys were playing the Titans, the whole world was not watching.
The Cowboys defense also looked effective in a 26-10 victory, though it spent most of the afternoon watching DeMarco Murray chew up the clock while Jake Locker threw inaccurate passes. What happens in LP Field stays in LP Field, folks.
Eli Manning: It's one thing to be outdueled by Matthew Stafford and quite another to be outdueled by Drew Stanton. Manning looked better against the Cardinals than he did against the Lions, but the Eli we see bouncing interceptions off defender's shoulders is now the Eli we get.
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Manning is on pace to throw 32 interceptions this year. Yes, the 'on pace' routine is cheesy after two weeks, but Eli threw 27 interceptions last year, nine of them in his final five games, so our sample size is growing. The last quarterback to throw 32 interceptions in a season was Fran Tarkenton in 1978, his final season. Only 10 quarterbacks have thrown 30 or more interceptions; George Blanda did it twice. Sid Luckman reached the plateau in 1947. Eli is climbing into some rarified company.
The passes Manning does complete are usually 10-20 yarders outside the numbers, with the receiver diving or reaching at a 45-degree angle to grab a not-quite-accurate pass. Victor Cruz now permanently lists sideways as a result of frequent Eli reaching. If Odell Beckham's hamstring injuries result in one leg that's about 5' shorter than the other, he will become Manning's favorite target.
Manning could still figure things out. If not, he can always switch to kicker and play for another decade.
The Patriots Offensive Line: The Patriots juggled their offensive line again this week, inserting rookie Brian Stork at center because he was the only linemen left who didn't play in the loss to the Dolphins. The Stork Club: Tom Brady was sacked just once, and Patriots backs rushed for 150 yards in a 30-7 rout over the Vikings.
Before we declare all to be well among Brady's protectors, keep in mind that the Stork Club got help from two of an offensive line's best friends: defensive (or special teams) scores and a big lead. The Patriots spent the early game running draw plays on 3 rd-and-8 and receiver screens on 3 rd-and-11. Brady opened things up for a while mid-game, but after Chandler Jones' blocked punt return brought on the rout, the Patriots went back to the draws on 3 rd-and-19. It's a lot easier to protect your quarterback when you have the luxury of playing punt-and-pin on passing downs.
The draws and screens suggest that the Patriots are not fully confident in their reorganized line. That said, their run blocking and pass protection looked much better this week than last.
Derek Sherrod: The Packers right tackle looked like a beach ball at a Buffett concert against the Seahawks, and he was only slightly less inept against the Jets. Sherrod got tossed to the ground by Quinton Coples on a sack of Aaron Rodgers in the first quarter. A series later, he was beaten inside easily, surrendering a big hit on Rodgers. Sherrod made other mistakes, but the Jets lost Mo Wilkerson to an ejection, and the Packers switched to 'max protect and bomb to Jordy Nelson' tactics, taking the heat off their right tackle.
Sherrod looks like he is trying to push a pickup truck out of a snowbank when he blocks. He shifts all his weight forward and lunges, using his target for support. Now imagine using that technique to push a pickup truck that wanted to avoid being pushed. Do you picture a grown man looking very silly as he falls forward? Slap a Packers jersey on him, and you have just pictured Derek Sherrod.
Chris Conte: Conte made an excellent diving interception against the 49ers. He also intercepted a pass against the Bills before getting used as Fred Jackson's lawn spreader. Conte is the coverage type of safety, folks, not the tackling kind of safety.
Conte then left the game with a shoulder injury. Suddenly, the Bears' tackling improved, and they came back to upset the 49ers. Truth is stranger than fiction, and the second halves of Sunday night games are almost always stranger than truth.
Saints Cornerbacks: It may not be possible to cover a group of receivers as incorrectly as the Saints covered the Browns' in the final seconds of Sunday's 26-24 Browns upset. You have seen the highlight: both Keenan Lewis and Corey White chase Miles Austin into the flat, ignoring Andrew Hawkins. Watch it again and notice Patrick Robinson (Saints #21) racing across the field at the last second before the snap, then grabbing Taylor Gabriel as he runs a crossing route.
The Browns were playing without Josh Gordon, Ben Tate, and Jordan Cameron. There is no excuse for allowing 14 catches, 155 yards, and a touchdown to the trio of Hawkins, Miles Austin, and Gary Barnidge. That may be why Sean Payton and Rob Ryan were sniping at each other on the sideline. Here's exclusive Hangover footage of the event:
Oops, wrong angry member of the Ryan family. The Saints are nothing like the Buddy Ryan-Kevin Gilbride-Jack Pardee 1993 Oilers, though. They are a team whose high-octane offense has a track record of success but a habit of not getting the job done outside of its domed home stadium, while the 1993 Oilers ... oh dear. Someone give Payton a helmet.
Last CallIn our final look at Sunday's images, we acknowledge that this was a week when the NFL's bigger issues overwhelmed the action on the field.
Round-table discussions. There were many of them, as pregame shows toned down the yucks and asked analysts to weigh in on serious subjects like child abuse, domestic violence and the NFL's troubling and garbled discipline procedures.
Some of the discussions were productive-Cris Carter said 'my mom was wrong' when discussing corporal discipline, while Ray Lewis' 'to much who is given, much is required' statement on NFL Countdown represented anti-grammatical wisdom-while controversy magnets like Charles Barkley played their familiar roles as braying, embarrassing foils. Overall, the attempt at solemn, sober discourse sounded labored, as ex-jock after ex-jock navigated conversational labyrinths far beyond their rhetorical abilities.
Here's an idea, pregame producers: If you are going to broadcast roundtable discussions of serious subjects, how about bringing in some actual EXPERTS on those subjects? Social workers, child psychologists, domestic violence experts and district attorneys are not hard to find, and they can turn those television minutes into something valuable and informative.
No one really wants to hear Bart Scott's opinion on child abuse. If a pregame show needs to get serious, then it should really get serious.
'Goodell Must Go' Banners. You had to be in our near a stadium to see them, because heaven knows the telecasts would not show them. Two domestic abuse advocacy groups paid for the banners that flew over stadiums in New York, San Francisco and Cleveland.
The skies around stadiums are often prime spaces for political messages-'Impeach Obama' is a pretty common sight in some regions-but the Goodell banners were chilling reminders that the opening kickoff did not make the NFL's problems go away and stadiums are not cocoons in which the league can hide.
Grim Faced Broadcasters. Play-by-play men and color commentators usually introduce games with standard facial expressions and body language. They look confident and a little chummy, speaking in a 'what will it take for you to drive home in this new Acura?' tone.
Such a tone was not appropriate for launching into a discussion of Adrian Peterson, however. So Ian Eagle and Dan Fouts were grave and ashen-faced when introducing the Vikings-Patriots game. If you watched the pre-kickoff banter for several games at once, as I did, the contrast could not have been more jarring. Everyone else looked like eager and excited; Eagle and Fouts looked like pall bearers. They eventually donned curt smiles as they transitioned into football mode, which was jarring in its own way. There is no right way to segue from the deplorable to the entertaining; the NFL's only hope is to do something about all of the 'deplorable' the league and its players fed us this week.
Patriotism ... and Pride. This week's crimes and scandals were so all-consuming for those of us in the NFL sphere that it was almost possible to forget that Thursday was 9/11. Broadcasters took extra time to televise the national anthem-sung by stars like Lee Greenwood and Pat Monahan in some cities-and to display the giant flags, parachute drops and other patriotic trappings that commemorate the day that reshaped America.
The most touching tribute was paid by Cincinnati firefighter John Winfrey, who sang the national anthem before the Bengals-Falcons game. All national remembrances are patriotic, but 9/11 is not precisely about soldiers or veterans, like Memorial Day or Veterans Day. It's about domestic first responders: police and fire fighters, hospital employees, EMTs and other people we take for granted until the moment disaster strikes.
At our best, we are a nation of everyday citizen heroes, capable of exceptional bravery, charity, and sacrifice. That's an important thing to remember, not just in the face of tragedy, but when our manufactured sports heroes prove far more flawed and fallible than we want them to be. We have the power to be our own role models, whether as community leaders or simply as spouses and parents. Nothing can take that away from us.
Mike Tanier covers the NFL for Bleacher Report.