Monday Observations: This is not the RG3 we were expecting to see
Robert Griffin III looked horrible vs. the Texans on Sunday, and the schedule doesn't get any easier for the third-year quarterback.
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This is not the same Robert Griffin III who stormed upon the NFL in his rookie season. And the differences aren't merely physical.
RG3 is now well removed from his latest ACL repair, he has a new coach and a new offense and hope was renewed for Washington and the rest of the NFL with opening week upon us. But the precocious gunslinger, the kid who dazzled with his athleticism and raised his arms to the heavens after his first touchdown throw and who seemed to be having more fun than anyone else out there, well, he's just not there. The unflappable dervish who oozed confidence and seemed capable of anything, I'm not sure he's coming back.
Yes, it's still very early for Griffin and his teammates, but things can also get late quickly in this league, and this couldn't have been the kind of script rookie head coach Jay Gruden envisioned in his debut. The Skins remained an error-prone bunch. Griffin -- limited now to more or less a pocket passer -- was accurate but only mildly effective, lacking verve, being caught and tackled all too easily, seeming oddly uncomfortable out on the edge. The team once again succumbed to some mind-numbing turnovers and special teams meltdowns, and after losing to Houston, the NFL's worst team from 2013 (albeit one certainly improved on defense), next week's home game against Jacksonville already takes on the feel of a must-win game.
Griffin's numbers looked OK -- 29 for 37 for 267 yards with no touchdowns or interceptions -- but this was dink and dunk city, with seemingly everything near the line of scrimmage. He had just three rushes for 2 yards. When he did connect for a big play, someone like Niles Paul fumbled it away. When the Skins did finally put together a drive to get back in the game, RG3 lost his footing and heaved the ball away on a botched handoff. Oh, and oft-injured tight end Jordan Reed quickly was lost again to a knee injury, and Griffin was left to absorb his usual pounding, with protection suffering and him no longer able to sprint past everyone on the field. Safety D.J. Swearinger made a day of harassing him and J.J. Watt was an unblockable beast. Especially before rookie Jadeveon Clowney left the game due to injury, the Texans were terrorizing the Skins offense.
Washington's two turnovers and 3-for-12 third-down performance told part of the story, and it managed to get nothing going early in the game with Griffin taking a pounding on third down. And its special teams nightmare continued, with a blocked extra point and a blocked punt returned for a touchdown. And so this outfit brings a nine-game losing streak (dating back to last season) into the game against Jacksonville, a team that gave the Eagles all they could handle for three quarters before wilting.
Gruden should be good for Griffin, and clearly they have just begun their journey. But this isn't like Week 1 last season, when his tender knee was still an issue and a rapidly deteriorating relationship with former head coach Mike Shanahan and coordinator Kyle Shanahan was about to punctuate a season of doom. The Texans' defense is no longer a slouch, and I wasn't expecting an offensive explosion, but Griffin just seems different. More passing. Less at ease in just letting his talent and athleticism take over.
Pocket passing was never his forte, so losing even another half a step could be problematic. If this offense no longer has at least the threat of gouging the defense from the pistol and Griffin isn't able to tear down the sidelines and scamper past defensive backs and open up the offense with his legs, I'm not sure his arm alone is going to carry enough of a load to make this team more than an afterthought again in 2014. If he's limited to tepid, short-to-intermediate passes, that ain't gonna fly.
He'll have his hands full with Gus Bradley's defense on Sunday, and then it's the Eagles, Giants and Seahawks. It's not going to get easier.
Special teams prove costly in Week 1
Special teams, especially early in the season, can be the difference. Seems like every year we see some fundamental breakdowns in this area, particularly early on as teams are just coming together, the units are filled with inexperienced players, and, well, there isn't nearly as much practice time available to coaches in the preseason as there used to be.
I've already chronicled the issues with the Redskins that negated any chance to win. In Baltimore, Mike Nugent hit five critical field goals to build a 15-0 lead on a day when neither the Bengals' nor the Ravens' offense could finish. Had Justin Tucker been able to nail a long attempt for Baltimore -- not out of his range -- that game could have changed. The Jags had two missed field goals at a time when they built a 17-0 lead, which began to slowly swing momentum over to the Eagles, who reeled off 34 straight points.
Matt Bryant crushed a 51-yard field goal to send the Saints-Falcons game to overtime -- he was huge throughout -- and then ended it with a 52-yarder. The Steelers, at a point when the Browns were surging back from a 24-point deficit, pulled off a fake punt on a fourth-and-10 from pretty deep in their own territory that served to alter field position some and help stem the mounting Cleveland tide (Pittsburgh won on a field goal as time expired after blowing that 27-3 lead).
Run game, defense highlight new-look Dolphins
I'm not sure whether Logan Mankins would have been able to stabilize things or not, but the Patriots offense was horrific in the second half after a typically promising start. Tom Brady was engulfed in constant pressure led by Cameron Wake, and New England finds itself in the rarest of positions -- looking up at the AFC East.
Of everything that transpired in Week 1, this shocked me the most (the Bills taking out the Bears would rank second, I suppose). The Pats were outscored 23-0 in the second half. They lost all semblance of offensive continuity and turned the ball over with frequency. Brady could not get comfortable and after featuring Rob Gronkowski early, he faded in the second half as well.
New England had 248 net yards in the first half, on pace for -- wait for it -- nearly 500 yards in the game. But credit Dolphins defensive coordinator Kevin Coyle for dialing up ways to pressure Brady in the second half and offensive coordinator Bill Lazor for getting Ryan Tannehill into positions to succeed. Lazor fed Knowshon Moreno the ball even though the Dolphins were trialing. The Patriots managed a grand total of 77 yards in the second half, the bulk of which came in garbage time after the Dolphins built a 33-23 lead.
I'm not sure Miami can keep this up and I wonder about its offensive line over time and Moreno certainly is a health risk. But the combination of a robust running game and opportunistic attacking defense has served many a team well. I still expect New England to win this division, but perhaps it won't be quite as easy as I originally believed.
More observations
• If I had to give an offensive game ball out it might go to Moreno (134 yards rushing) and a defensive game ball would go to Watt, who had sacks, constant pressure, blocked an extra point and was more or less a human wrecking ball.
• Jay Cutler still doing Jay Cutler things with that second interception (surely one he would want back). Chicago's defense still looks beyond shaky. The Bears had two starting offensive linemen go down with injuries and receivers Brandon Marshall and Alshon Jeffery were hobbled as well. As harbingers go, this was troubling.
• Joe Flacco showed moments where the switch to the West Coast offense looked like a great fit, but he also fell prey to poor decision making. At the end of the first half, rather than throw the ball away, he wasted eight seconds that negated a shot at a chip-shot field goal. He tossed an ill-advised pick when the offense finally got going, and successive sacks at the end of the game, when driving for a potential game-tying TD, were a killer. His protection looked much better and Justin Forsett was very lively in Gary Kubiak's zone scheme, but this offense had yet another moribund first half, which was common most of 2013, and dropped passes had a big impact on the outcome as well. The only good news is Thursday's opponent (on CBS!) is the Steelers, who allowed 183 yards rushing on 31 carries (more than 6 per rush) against Cleveland, a team that runs the same ground scheme under Kubiak pupil Kyle Shanahan. The Browns had four different players pull off rushes of at least 10 yards, and even after losing starting running back Ben Tate to a knee injury, had backup Terrance West rush for 100 yards on just 16 carries in his NFL debut (he was playing at Towson University this time last year). So, um, I'm thinking Kubiak pounds the rock Thursday -- we'll see if Bernard Pierce gets out of the doghouse after a key fumble Sunday -- on a short week.
• Saw a stat a few years back about how Rob Ryan's defenses tend not to be nearly as strong in his second year. Now, I know the Saints were facing a high-powered offensive team in Atlanta on Sunday, but that secondary, after all the resources poured into it, was brutal. I'm not sure they have many NFL-caliber corners on the roster as they could not play with a lead and they failed to take advantage of a reshuffled offensive line due to injury. I just wonder if that Saints defense takes a step back in 2014.
• Really liked what I saw of Derek Carr, the lone rookie QB to start Week 1, in the first half. In the second half Rex Ryan had his way with him. The kid could be good, though, and there is plenty to build on with him.
• Wonder how long new Bengals coordinator Hue Jackson sticks with the pitches and keepers for Andy Dalton. Those plays ended up failing on at least three third downs, and I suspect defenses only make more astute adjustments the more it goes on. No one fears Dalton running with the ball in his hand.
• Relish the opportunity to watch these games with the likes of Tony Gonzalez, Bart Scott, Boomer Esiason and Bill Cowher. Tony kept pointing out Sunday how often the biggest hits to large tight ends, and the most significant injuries, come when guys try too hard to extend a play, leave their feet to try to hurdle, and get themselves into vulnerable positions. He says he learned as he got older, quickly, when it made sense to fight for an extra yard and when to protect his body. Even after all he has been through injury-wise it was hard not to notice Gronk ending up sideways and off balance heading into the air a few times Sunday. Much like we talk about guys like RG3 knowing when to slide and get out of bounds, for a guy like Gronk to figure out when to go down and live to fight another play could be a huge factor for his team.
