The Redskins finished up the preseason with a 24-10 victory over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and finished with a (completely irrelevant) 3-1 record. While the result and record may be insignificant in the broadest of schemes, the game meant everything to many of the Redskins who played – guys fighting for their NFL lives. Who helped or hurt themselves?
Here are ten guys that helped themselves:
Feel like you’ve been kicked in the groin repeatedly? We all do. It’s never a great feeling when you feel like your team played it’s worst game in the last two months, to end the season. Obviously the story of the game was Robert Griffin III – his injured knee – and the decision to leave him in the game. I can’t believe the vitriol that I have heard spewing from many in #RedskinsNation’s mouth:
Somehow a game that started ugly for the Washington Redskins, never really seemed in question for most of the second half, as they steam-rolled over the Cleveland Browns with an impressive 38-21 victory. Here are some quick thoughts on the game:
1) Kirk Cousins – I tweeted before the game that I wasn’t worried about Kirk getting the start because at the end of the day – I see the same great qualities in Kirk off the field that I see in Robert Griffin III – poise, intelligence, and born leadership. That by no means guaranteed success, but I felt that we have been playing with some real swagger, and that our growing confidence would help Cousins do what he needed to do in my opinion – not make any mistakes.
Is it me or are the Washington Redskins actually starting to turn into a resilient football team? I’m not saying that they can overcome all odds or anything – but they proved on Sunday that they could overcome some pretty big ones. When Robert Griffin III went out with a right knee injury in the … Read more
Many fans consider the fourth preseason game to be ‘a waste of viewing time’ because so many starters will not only not play much, they will not play at all. However, it may be the game where the most NFL roster positions are decided, as the second and third stringers battle it out for the right to back-up their often more heralded teammates. Sometimes the games can be a little less polished, but they can also often be a little more hotly contested.
Here are five Redskins that I’ll be paying close attention to, against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers tonight:
Does my title confuse you? I am calling this things that I think I think I know, because they are preseason lamentations, and reaching solid conclusions from such vanilla observances, can often be sticky. They are things that I know that I saw, I just don’t know how much weight that can be granted, given the overall practice nature of the NFL’s preseason.
1) Kirk Cousins has a future in the NFL. He put on an impressive performance on Saturday night against the Bears, tossing three touchdowns, and shredding the Chicago defense time after time in the second half. Pretty impressive for a guy seeing his first real NFL game action. He looked poised and comfortable, and really seemed to have a firm grasp of his reads, and the Redskins offense.
I absolutely hate preseason – I tweeted as much during the game – it’s like watching four Injury Bowls in a row. Unfortunately for the Redskins, their 33-31 loss to the Bears was no exception – Brian Orakpo and Brandon Meriweather left the game with first half injuries. MRIs for both players will likely tell a better story this week. Other than that, it was a typical preseason game – filled with highlights and lowlights. Here are some observations:
A lot of people were excited by Brandon Banks 91-yard punt return for a touchdown, and rightfully so, it was an exciting play. But many people in Redskins Nation seemed to believe that him doing so, guaranteed himself a roster spot. I don’t think so. Obviously, the return won’t hurt his claim any, but the Redskins already know that Banks can be a great return man – after all, it’s his third consecutive preseason with a return TD. The Redskins coaching staff told Banks he would have to take a wide receiver spot if he was going to make this team – returning a punt doesn’t do that. Banks definitely flashes brilliant play-making abilities at times, but will it be enough to make this team in 2012?
Earlier in the week, we asked our fellow THNers to please send us in some of their photos if they went to training camp this week.
Here are some great photos that we received from Mozelle Meyers, @Sportsgal5_2000 on Twitter, and a die hard Washington Redskins fan:
Robert Griffin III was just named named 2011 Big 12 Sportsperson of the Year. The award is given to the student athlete that “displays an extraordinary degree of sportsmanship and/or community service during the academic year.”
On top of being the first Heisman Trophy winner in Baylor history, Griffin has been setting the standard off the field for even longer. According to the Big 12’s Press Release about the awards, on top of being an ambassador for the entire school, Griffin, “was also a Special Olympics volunteer and served at Friends for Life, a daycare for mentally-challenged individuals. He has also volunteer and spoke at many local schools. Other community service projects include Santa’s Workshop, Food for Families and greeting new students for the Baylor admissions office during the annual on-campus celebration of Dia del Oso.”
As Redskin fans spent Monday pouring over article after article about the Redskins mini-camp that came to a close on Sunday, one thing that seems painfully obvious, Robert Griffin III blew the doors off of his first NFL on-field assignment.
Sunday was the first opportunity that the media were granted access to Mini-Camp, so all eyes were focused squarely on the new Redskins quarterback, and that usually means just one thing in Washington – scrutiny. And yet in a city that seems to love to hate as much as it loves to love, very few souls seem willing to venture out into that gentle abyss and rock the RGIII boat – at least not yet.