After the Redskins lost to the Eagles on Sunday, Robert Griffin III said that Philly "kind of knew what was coming" from the Washington offense. It sure sounded like he wanted to say "outcoached" but didn't. You'll never believe this, but Mike Shanahan doesn't agree with his comments.
Shanahan was asked if he was worried about "losing the trust of his quarterback" and if he agreed that the Eagles anticipated what the Redskins would do and pointed to the effectiveness of the Redskins running game.
"No. What happens – teams are going to play different defenses. If a team has been very good against the run and very poor against the pass, you play a soft coverage," Shanahan said. "We kind of anticipated that during the game so that’s why our running game was so effective in the first half against a defense that has normally shut down the running game. They were going to take the passing game away and [that was] one of the reasons we had the success we had early running the football."
Shanahan -- whose responses to various questions was chronicled by Dan Steinberg of the Washington Post here -- was also asked how he "would react" to RG3's comments about the Eagles knowing the plays. And he pointed out that Griffin is seeing different coverages than he's ever seen before. (In lengthy fashion.)
"Robert is so used to having teams play us in an eight-man front where they’ve got to stop our run, and we’ve had people through the years – we’ve had wide receivers wide open," Shanahan said. "Our first year everybody played us in an eight-man front, sometimes almost in a nine-man front with their free safety, and when you do that you’re going to have guys wide open like we did last year – one of the reasons why the play-action game was so good and one of the reasons why we were ranked where we were throwing the football with yards per play.
"This year they’re saying hey we’re going to play a little more passive. You’re going to have to earn your right in that running game, which we’ve been able to do, and you’re not going to always get that deep ball so you’ve got to dump it off and be patient. That’s part of the NFL. No matter what quarterback you’re going against. No matter what system you’re going against. You’ve got to be able to relate or adjust your game plan accordingly. That’s one of the reasons why we ran the football so much against a team that was very good stopping the run."
One could even say that Shanahan was taking a shot at Griffin here. Sure it might've been a passive shot -- or a passive-aggressive shot -- but it sure sounds like a shot nonetheless.
The Redskins are 3-7 and sitting dead last in a weakened NFC East. There's no miracle seven-game winning streak coming for Washington this year and as things continue to unravel, it's quite possible the simmering feud between Griffin and Shanahan could eventually come to a boiling point.
