Tale of the Tape: Andrew Luck vs. Robert Griffin III, Week 18

The comparisons are inevitable. Andrew Luck, the No. 1 overall draft pick in 2012, and No. 2 pick Robert Griffin III will be scrutinized throughout the season, and probably throughout their careers, unless one of them does his best Ryan Leaf impersonation. And RG3 always will be looked at through a prism of Luck. That's why we're compiling all the most important stats for every game they play this year, and some of the most unimportant aspects of those contests as well. This way it'll be easier to tell who is his team's savior and who should be forced to join JaMarcus Russell in the corner away from the rest of civilization.

Wild-card weekend: Luck stopped his end-of-the-year slump with a decent performance, but the Colts were still out-muscled by the Ravens 24-9 to end their season. The Redskins lost 24-14 to the Seahawks, but the biggest story to emerge from the game was RG3 and the knee injury he suffered in the fourth quarter.

Passing stats

Luck: 28-54, 288 yards, zero touchdowns, one interception

Griffin: 10-19, 84 yards, two touchdowns, one interception

Rushing stats

Luck: Four carries, 35 yards

Griffin: Five carries, 21 yards

Longest play from scrimmage

Luck: On the final play before the Colts kicked a field goal to end the first half, T.Y. Hilton made a nice leaping catch and then button-hooked around the Ravens defenders to record another 10 yards. The 25-yard pass play ended up getting the Colts into field goal range.

Griffin: On the first drive of the day, a relatively healthy Griffin faked the handoff and found his favorite receiver, Pierre Garcon. Garcon had to make a nice catch and then he broke a tackle from Seahawks cornerback Brandon Browner to complete the 30-yard play.

Best play

Luck: Luck was very good at converting third and short in the second half, and his team needed it when it was down by 15 with 6:34 to play. On a third-and-5, Luck took the shotgun snap and dropped back before immediately racing out of a hole on the right side of the line. Ravens linebacker Ray Lewis gave chase but had no chance to catch him, and Luck finished with an 18-yard gain.

Griffin: Two plays after it was obvious Griffin's knee still hurt him, he flicked a 4-yard touchdown pass to Logan Paulsen to give the Redskins a 14-0 lead. It wasn't smart of Mike Shanahan to keep Griffin in the game, but you can't question Griffin's courage in continuing to play on one leg.

Worst play

Luck: With the Colts moving the ball and at the Baltimore 30-yard line, Ravens linebacker Paul Kruger knocked the ball out of Luck's hand and the Ravens recovered to stall the drive. Luck had open receivers and was just about ready to throw, which is probably why he had only one hand on the ball when Kruger hit it.

Griffin: On first-and-goal near the end of the first quarter, Griffin rolled to his right before attemping a pass to the end zone. But Griffin fell to the turf without being touched and got up limping badly. Two plays later, he still threw the touchdown. But it was a harbinger of things to come.

Best pregame line

Luck: No one would confuse Andrew Luck with the Washington Redskins' Robert Griffin III, the Carolina Panthers' Cam Newton or the Seattle Seahawks' Russell Wilson -- three quarterbacks who finished the regular season at the top of the NFL at their position in rushing. ... Luck may not be as swift as Griffin or Newton, but his 6-foot-4, 234-pound frame reminds Ravens defensive tackle Arthur Jones of an AFC North passer the defense is quite familiar with. "They've got a great quarterback over there, and he's a guy that's way ahead of the game,” Jones said. “You don't think he's a rookie at all when you watch him on film. He's a guy that makes huge plays, and he's a fast runner and has a big body like Ben Roethlisberger. -- Edward Lee, Baltimore Sun

Griffin: The Seattle Seahawks were more than familiar with the face of the Washington Redskins' franchise. After all, Robert Griffin III can be seen nearly any time of day on television hawking cars or sports drinks or athletic gear. Preparing for Sunday's first-round showdown at FedEx Field, the Seahawks have spent the past several days in the film room trying to familiarize themselves with the arm and legs of the Redskins' talented rookie quarterback. The conclusion? “He has all of those commercials for a reason,” Seattle Coach Pete Carroll said. -- Rick Maese, Washington Post

Best postgame line

Luck: There will be better days for Andrew Luck. There will be many better days, in fact, even if he didn't win on Sunday to set up a juicy showdown with the legend he replaced in Indianapolis. He's already emerged from the long Colts shadow cast by Peyton Manning. He spent the season proving he can be a star worth following for the franchise all on his own. That's a big reason why, in the emotional moments after an unimaginably difficult season ended with the Colts' 24-9 loss to the Baltimore Ravens in the wild-card playoff round, a teary-eyed Jim Irsay was so happy to look ahead. Ten months ago his franchise was starting over after releasing Peyton Manning. Three months ago he had to tell the world his head coach, Chuck Pagano, was battling leukemia. Now the Colts owner is looking ahead to happier times. -- Ralph Vacchiano, New York Daily News

Griffin: Carroll initially said the Seahawks were fearful of Griffin eluding their pass rushers and turning broken plays into big gains. Griffin carried the ball three times for 12 yards in the first quarter, but injured his knee two plays before throwing his second touchdown pass. Shortly after that, Carroll realized Griffin could no longer muster the same dual threat he is known for. “If you noticed it earlier, when we rush[ed] the passer, everyone was worried about him getting out and containing him,” Carroll said. “After we saw what he was doing and how he was moving, I tried to encourage the guys to not be worried about [him] breaking containment and running like crazy. It was more like a normal quarterback back there, and [that] we keep our pressure and our rushes and not be so concerned about him, trying to keep him in the pocket.” -- Mike Jones, Washington Post

Team savior scale (1-5)

Luck: He didn't end the season on a great note, but he gave a solid performance in the final game of his rookie season. He gets a 3 (last week was a 4; overall this season, he was a 65.9 percent team savior).

Griffin: The season ended disastrously for Griffin. Commend him for his heart, but after he reinjured his knee in the first quarter he was a drain on the Redskins offense. He should have been replaced by his coaches. He gets a 2 (last week was a 3; overall this season, he was a 67.5 percent savior).

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