It's not Robert Griffin's inconsistent play that is the culprit of the disappointing 2013 season for the Redskins. Neither is it the fault of a passing defense which ranks 27th in the league. It's not even their middle-of-the-road offense (outside of the the second-best rushing attack in the NFL) or porous offensive line which is to blame for a 3-10 campaign.
The onus rests on one man's shoulders: Mike Shanahan.
Doubt has followed Shanahan all season. People wonder how he has failed to acclimate Griffin to his style of coaching. In reality, Shanahan- like any good coach- would have been better served to play to his quarterback's strengths all along. But that would require him to suck up his pride, and would also require the one thing that has been missing for some time: a firm decision.
The red flag that signaled the unraveling for a once great coach came last year against the Seahawks when Griffin was put back in the game after limping off the field prior. The ACL/LCL tears soon followed, and number ten lay in a heap on the field. One question would haunt the head coach into the offseason and likely for the rest of his tenure in Washington: Why did he put RG3 back in the game?
One may never know exactly why Shanahan did what he did that January night but recent accounts (courtesy of Adam Schefter) only decrease Redskins fans' confidence in him. Maybe Dan Snyder is a powerful persuader -but the decision to leave wasn't his. It was up to Shanahan to decide whether or not he wanted to stay on. He would be called a quitter by many, but he would have gotten to leave on his terms. But now the pressure mounts, and soon the decision will be out of his hands.
It never had to be this difficult. Mike Shanahan made it that way...all by himself. As radio host Steve Czaban (AM 980's The Drive with Cooley and Zabe) said, "Shanahan drove us [Redskins fans] out to the woods, kicked in the navigation screen, told us to get out and shot out all four tires." Shanahan wanted to take the team and fanbase down his road, convinced it would work.
It hasn't.
Now he is in a corner, forced to put in Kirk Cousins as starter against the Atlanta Falcons on Sunday. This decision is made out to be some sort of accomplishment likely influenced by Snyder. But in reality, it is a desperate move for a desperate coach. Not that I disagree with the starting of Cousins- I am all for it. But it shouldn't have taken fourteen weeks for him to start a game.
Coming off a major injury and playing in no preseason games, we can all safely say now that RG3 was not ready for action. Come hell or high water, Shanahan trotted him out in Week 1 against the Philadelphia Eagles. The 33-27 score is deceiving as it required a furious second half rally just to lose by six. The Eagles were like a fighter throwing a copious amount of punches early only to gas out in the later rounds. Yet the Redskins still could not manage a win at home. The slow starts and second half rallies would begin to become the team's calling card -but more often than not it would end in disappointment.
It wasn't until Week 2 when I truly doubted Shanahan's decision making. Down 38-7 to begin the fourth quarter, RG3 was still in the game attempting somehow to comeback at Lambeau to beat a healthy Aaron Rodgers and company. Play after play, Griffin was exposed to the defense whether it was a play-action pass or a quarterback draw. In a futile attempt to come back against daunting odds, Mike and Kyle Shanahan were only putting the future of their franchise further at risk.
But not even Kyle is defending his father's most recent "decision". Seeds of dissension are now planted, with Kyle and a host of others wondering what the elder Shanahan's agenda is. Is he trying to get fired by benching Griffin? If that's the case, why not just quit? I feel like this is groundhog day, and every time there is a crucial decision to be made, Shanahan goes against rational thought each time. Now he is at a crossroads, where the decision between being right and wrong is bleaker than ever. If he benches RG3, it is because he has an alternate agenda. If he doesn't bench RG3, he is holding on to some faint hope that last year's offensive rookie of the year will suddenly show everyone why they traded up to get him.
As Mike Wise of the Washington Post notes, the move from RG3 to Cousins is for all the wrong reasons. Instead of making this decision before the season, Shanahan only prolonged the inevitable. What's done is done. If Shanahan believed the questions and doubt would cease with this one move- then he's more oblivious to reality than we all thought.
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