Rick Reilly, Open Your Eyes: Luck-RG3 Not Just About The Numbers

Late last week, ESPN’s Rick Reilly wrote an “interesting” column where he argued that despite RG3’s early season hype Andrew Luck was actually the rookie quarterback who had played better up to this point in the season. As the 1st and 2nd picks in last spring’s NFL draft, the Luck-Griffin comparisons are going to go on for the entirety of their careers, and a pro-Luck piece is totally acceptable given all the praise heaped upon Griffin so far this year. But a tagline like “Andrew Luck is a better QB than RG3” is enough to rile me up.

Luck better than Griffin? Not as simple as QBR, Rick.

That’s cut-and-dry enough of a statement that you better be clearly correct, and I don’t think Reilly or anybody else can definitively say that at this point. Is Luck actually better? He very well might be, but Reilly’s tone makes him look foolish to put it nicely. Is Luck playing on a terrible team? Yes. As a rookie signal-caller, is he already the face of his franchise? Check. If you look at new-fangled stats like QBR and the average distance each pass traveled in the air, Luck betters Griffin up to this point. That’s all fine and good, but to say Griffin has had it easier because he has a better team around him (as Reilly also suggests) is ridiculous.

Reilly seems to love stats (like QBR), but it seems he has spent too much time reading them instead of actually watching games. He points out that Griffin has a head coach with nearly 300 NFL games under his belt and a supporting cast that knocked off the Super Bowl champion Giants just last season. That’s true, but it’s also an incredibly lazy point to make. The 2011 Washington Redskins finished just 6-10, and those 2 wins against the G-Men were 1 of the anomalies of the season. Mike Shanahan has a wealth of experience, but his record in his 2+ seasons in the nation’s capital is a less than stellar 14-26.

If Reilly would care to turn on the DirecTV package he boasts about rather than simply rattling off numbers, he could have seen more evidence to contradict his point yesterday, where Luck continues to throw to future Hall of Fame receiver Reggie Wayne and gets superhuman efforts from guys like Vick Ballard (what a play, by the way). Griffin has Alfred Morris to hand the ball off to and…not much else.

Pierre Garcon had 1 great quarter before basically being shut down up to this point in the year. RG3’s next favorite target, Fred Davis, went down last week with a torn achilles. Now what? The helmet-throwing Josh Morgan, the fumbling Santana Moss, and who else? The cut and recently resigned Chris Cooley? Leonard Hankerson? Dezmon Briscoe? Aldrick Robinson? How’s that for a better supporting cast? No future HoF-ers on that list. Did I mention that the Redskins dropped 10 passes yesterday in their loss to the Steelers? Yes, it was wet, rainy, and miserable in Pittsburgh, but the Steelers’ receivers didn’t seem to have the same problems holding on to the ball.

C'mon, man.

It’s more than likely that I am more protective of Griffin than most other players when I read something negative about him, but that’s no excuse for lazy writing. And this isn’t to say that Luck isn’t great, because I think he may have an equally if not more electric career than Griffin's. But RG3 is playing in a tougher division where he basically has to keep the Skins in games all by himself, which simply isn’t the case for Luck. I don’t need stats for that. It’s called the “eye test.” Maybe if Reilly turned on an actual game instead of reading off a list of numbers he would see that.

Friday Fluff: NFL Sack Dance Power Rankings

The more time passes, it seems the more choreographed celebrations have popped up in the NFL. The league tried to curtail this several years ago, when it seemed like almost every score was followed by some elaborate dance or pantomime. It’s tough to argue that it hadn’t gotten out of control, but I admittedly enjoyed some of the routines. I subscribe to the Tony Kornheiser philosophy, which is that I will pretty much forgive anything for “smart and funny.” As annoyingly self-promoting as he was, I actually enjoyed T.O.’s dalliances with sharpies, pom-poms, and bags of popcorn. On the other hand, Joe Horn’s hiding-a-cellphone-in-the-goalpost routine seemed stupid…so if you’re going to do something, it better be good. If not, hit the bricks. While the NFL has since legislated out any celebrations involving props or multiple teammates, players have actually found a new, smarter (in my opinion) way of celebrating scores: coming up with their own personal celebration that they repeat over and over. In today’s sports world of making your own brand and selling yourself, this seems like the way to go. Even casual football fans will recognize Aaron Rogers’ title belt/discount double-check motion, Victor Cruz’s salsa dance, and Arian Foster’s bow. Eventually though, defensive players must have said, “Hey, what about us? Why should the skill players have all the fun?” Now, we have a slew of (of all things) signature sack celebrations to rival those from the offensive guys. Much like the T.O.-Joe Horn comparison, some are good, and some are not so good. I attempted to make a list going from worst to 1st…

10. Ndamukong Suh’s “Head Smack/Roar/Flex”…Suh is an absolute beast of a player, and I wouldn’t want to be the 1 to tell him this to his face, but his sack dance is pretty wack. Is he going out of his mind? Is he flexing? Roaring? What? As you’ll see further down, it just seems derivative of a bunch of other celebrations on this list. Also, it doesn’t really seem to fit with Suh’s personality, and because of that it appears somewhat forced, as if he gets a sack and then thinks to himself, “Oh s***, I forgot I have to do my dance thing. How does it go again?”

9. Shawne Merriman’s “Lights Out”…Due to injuries, he’s mostly irrelevant now despite being only 28 years old, but he still gets consideration for being an active player (Buffalo resigned him last week). Merriman’s “Lights Out” dance was cool, but it was also a little over the top, convoluted, and WWE-ish. It was called “Lights Out,” but it looked like he was firing off a machine gun or something, and it resembled what the wrestling world’s Batista would do to pump up the crowd more than anything else. I could be wrong, but it seemed like he never completely thought it through.

...the f***?

8. Terrell Suggs’ “Flexing/Being A Badass/Looking Like A Tough Guy”…As you can see from my description, Suggs’ post-sack move is kind of hard to describe. It’s not so much a move as a general swagger and display of attitude. In another wrestling-inspired metaphor, think of Triple H’s schtick, which is mostly snarling, being jacked, and looking tough. Suggs will sometimes add a double finger point at the crowd or something too, but he proves that in the celebration game sometimes less is more.

7. Brian Orakpo’s “Roar/Flex/Bursting Out Of His Own Skin”…Did I mention how nice it is that Microsoft Word doesn’t autoformat your list when you write the list in reverse order? I’m going to make reverse order lists more often for that reason alone. Like Suh’s celebration, Orakpo’s dance seems a little forced and copycat-ish. The concept of being so hyped that you tear off your own skin is kind of rad I guess, but maybe Orakpo should bag this until he stops tearing pec muscles at least.

6. DeMarcus Ware’s “Kane Dance”…Sense a wrestling crossover trend here? I have never heard him talk about it or seen anything written about it, but to me Ware’s sack dance is so blatantly a rip-off of the WWE’s Kane’s thing he does before his fireworks go off that I see no other reason to call it anything but the “Kane Dance.” Having said that, he is a scary dude, and he plays against my Washington Redskins twice a year, so do whatever the f*** you want. Just please don’t kill RG3.

Does that make Jay Ratliff The Undertaker?

5. JJ Watt’s “Salute”…It’s really simple, and the “Mile High Salute” will always be the original salute celebration, but it works for Watt. I also give Watt props for “throwing away” Roger’s title belt and another famous Packer’s move before saluting the crowd in their game against Green Bay a few weeks ago, but I guess I also have to deduct a few points because the Packers won that game going away despite Watt’s strong play.

4. (Tie) LaMarr Woodley’s “Kick Open The Door” and Larry Foote’s “Stomp Out The Fire”…How can this be anything but a tie? Both are Steelers’ linebackers who played their college ball at Michigan, both celebrations use their feet, and I’ve wanted to use both equally awesome moves during our adult recreational coed 2-hand-touch football games at 1 time or another.

2. Jared Allen’s “Lasso”…I must confess that for years I didn’t even know what Allen’s “Lasso” move was. When I found out, my initial reaction was “WTF,” as the kids say these days. However, for a player that is equal parts wacky and great the move is fitting, as Allen’s “Lasso” is as ridiculous as it is awesome.

1. Clay Matthews’ “Predator”…I also must confess that I Googled “Clay Matthews Sack Dance” to figure out what his celebration was called for fear of having to use some variation of “Flex/Pose/etc.” again. Turns out, it was inspired by the movie Predator, but whatever the origin it’s probably the coolest looking signature football move out there today. And maybe, just maybe, it has something to do with Matthews’ penchant for being an unblockable, relentless freak of nature as well. Watt can toss Matthews' “Predator” out all he wants, but Matthews doesn't appear to be going anywhere anytime soon.

If your sack dance appears in multiple commercials, you know you've got something.

In Latest Loss, Watching The Redskins' Defense Was Almost Too Much To Bear

Count me as 1 of those guys that believed the Redskins and RG3 were due for a game like this. A lot of winning the turnover battle has to do with being careful with the ball on offense and wreaking havoc on defense, but it also has at least a little bit to do with chance or luck or randomness or whatever you want to call it…a tipped pass could fall into a defender’s waiting hands instead of harmlessly to the turf, or a fumbled ball could roll towards the opposing team instead of bouncing right back into your arms, etc. In light of that, the Redskins’ offense coughed the ball up only 5 times through their 1st 6 games, which is mind-boggling to anyone who watched Sexy Rexy play quarterback last season. So yes, maybe they were due yesterday…especially playing a division game on the road against the defending Super Bowl champion Giants.

And maybe Griffin was due as well. Through his 1st 6 games, you couldn’t say RG3 played poorly in any 1 of them. A bad game against a strong opponent (and a subsequent thumping at the hands of the Giants) was almost half-expected. And after a turnover-free 1st half, the Skins gave the ball away 4 times in the 2nd half. 2 of those belonged to Griffin (a fumble and a interception), and yet he still performed well by all accounts. The rest of his numbers for the day: 20 for 28 passing for 258 yards and 2 touchdowns as well as 89 yards on the ground. His 4th and 10 completion with the game on the line was epic. His 30 yard touchdown bomb 2 plays later to Santana Moss looked like it would put this game on ice.

Unbelievably, it looked like Griffin and the Redskins would have that bad day at the turnover offense they seemed to have been avoiding up until that point, and they still somehow looked to have the game in hand. My 1 fear, with about a minute and a half to play, was that Washington left too much time on the clock for Eli Manning to do his thing…which he did. Manning, who seemed off for most of the day (his missed touchdown pass to Victor Cruz earlier in the game and his 2 uncharacteristic interceptions probably cancelled-out the Redskins’ own turnover woes) needed only 2 plays it turns out. That’s how bad Washington’s pass defense is right now.

Cruz, who is by far the Giants’ most dangerous receiver, somehow beat double coverage, and got free for a 77 yard step-on-your-throat touchdown…cue the salsa dancing. Washington DBs Josh Wilson and Madieu Williams apparently thought that placing 2 guys on the field in Cruz’s vicinity would be enough to cause Eli to look to another option, but just because your defensive alignment calls for “double coverage” doesn’t mean you don’t actually have to play defense on that guy. An unimpeded Cruz ran right by Wilson and Williams like 2 burgandy and gold traffic cones. He had gotten so much separation that Manning’s slightly underthrown pass still didn’t allow any Washington defender to catch him. Another week…another minor league performance by the Redskins’ D. No, not much was expected of these Redskins this season...but it was another opportunity wasted just the same.

How About I Just Keep Recycling This Title? RG3 To The Rescue Again

It wasn’t turning out to be a banner weekend for DC area sports fans, what with the Nationals’ 9th inning meltdown in game 5 against the Cardinals (makes the game 4 dramatics seem pretty anticlimactic now) and the Redskins’ once seemingly insurmountable lead dwindling away late in the 4th quarter against the Vikings. A once 19 point lead had been trimmed to 5, as the Skins’ bend-but-don’t break defense had a little too much bend to it in the 2nd half for my taste.

However, RG3 had different ideas. With just under 3 minutes remaining in the game and Washington facing a 3rd and 6 from their own territory, the Vikings chose to blitz, and Griffin broke containment. Even at this early stage in his career, I have seen enough RG3 to know that when he gets to top gear if you don’t have an angle on him, you’re not going to touch him. 1st down, move the chains, and continue milking the clock…but when a 2nd Minnesota defender took a poor angle, possibly underestimating Griffin’s world-class track speed, it became almost instantly clear that Griffin could go the distance. No flags…game over.

Through 6 games of watching RG3 as a Redskin, there is 1 thought that keeps popping into my mind: this is what it’s like to have a real playmaker on your team. I don’t know if anyone really knows what Griffin really is yet. He’s not Peyton Manning or Tom Brady or Drew Brees. In fact, he may very well be something the likes of nobody has ever really seen before (only time will tell). But for the 1st time in my lifetime, the Redskins have a guy on their roster who actually has the ability to take over a game.

If you forget about schemes and injury concerns and what his teammates have done around him, you would have to give Griffin a very high grade in each of his 1st 6 games. Sure, maybe he has taken too many hits, but he has played great by almost any measure. It’s that playmaking, take-over-a-game ability that makes you think the Redskins have at least a chance to win every week. And that’s with a lousy defense, a makeshift offensive line, and, despite Alfred Morris’ surprising start, a collection of skill players that isn’t exactly awe-inspiring. No more was this on display than last week, when Griffin was knocked out of the game. Both my heart and my head say Washington beats Atlanta if he doesn’t get concussed…the Falcons are the last unbeaten team in the NFL by the way.

As it stands though, the Skins are 3-3 and only a game behind the Giants, who they will play next Sunday. If you asked me before the season started, I would’ve taken that place in the standings through 6 games. The Giants in the Meadowlands will be Washington’s toughest test to date, but as long as RG3 can avoid getting bludgeoned by Jason Pierre-Paul, Justin Tuck, and company (no easy task in and of itself), Skins’ fans at least have to think they have a chance again. They know they have 1 guy who can make a play.

Where Does The Time Go? Baseball, RG3, And Other Odds And Ends

12 days since the last BCAS (B-Court All-Star) post…let’s just say my job hasn’t been cooperating with my blog-writing ability. Work busy-ness hasn’t exactly dwindled today, but it’s late Friday afternoon, and my motivation is taking a metaphorical nosedive. Let’s hit a few topics real quick before I ride off into the sunset for the weekend…

- Things looked pretty bleak for the Nationals yesterday…until Jayson Werth happened, that is…

Epic crowd reaction/roar in my opinion…the O’s also won yesterday, breaking a 1-all tie in the 13th. Both series are tied at 2 games apiece. Both deciding game 5’s are tonight…stay tuned.

- A lot of hullabaloo concerning RG3’s concussion during the Skins’ 24-17 loss to the Falcons last Sunday. Sports talk radio guys and ESPN talking heads all put in their 2 cents all week, but I’m not sure what Griffin should have done differently there…run out of bounds? Throw the ball away? He was scrambling outside the pocket trying to score off a broken play in a game that was tied in the 2nd half, not running a quarterback-keeper on a triple-option play. You take away his natural instincts and athleticism, and you limit his effectiveness as a player. And yet it was scary to see that, even in RG3’s youth, he really is the engine that makes the whole car go for Washington’s offense. Kirk Cousins had a nice touchdown pass to Santana Moss in relief duty, but that seemed as much to do with a blunder by Atlanta’s secondary as it did with offensive execution. If Griffin stays in the game, I think the Redskins win that game, which would have somehow put them in a tie atop the NFC East…yeah, on 2nd thought, run out of bounds next time, Griffin.

- Fantasy football…do I even have to talk about fantasy football anymore? Sheesh…1-4, 11th place in a 12 team league, and relying on William Powell and Alex Green this week. Who?

Yeah, exactly…

- The NBA preseason is underway, which means we might be only a short while away from the BCAS NBA Power Rankings! Or not…because of last year's lockout, I actually kind of forget what pre-Christmas NBA games look like, but I’m probably better off not diving into pro basketball until after the new year (especially with football in full effect).

- I’m not sure if anyone else noticed (or cared), but unbelievably the 6th season of Jersey Shore started last week. That’s right, Jersey Shore now somehow officially has more longevity than Friday Night Lights and as many seasons as Lost. (What is the world coming to?) The last time I mentioned our 8 most famous guidos and guidettes, I wondered aloud whether their 15 minutes of fame was about 4 minutes past the expiration date. After watching the opening episode of season 6, I’m honestly not sure what to make of our cast of Italian American misfits. The last few seasons had gotten so stale that they were borderline unwatchable, and this year’s edition looked to be more of the same, as Pauly D, Ronnie, Vinny, Snooki, Deena, J-Wow, Situation, and Sammi made their annual trek to Seaside Heights for 1 more summer. But if the season premiere is any indication, Jersey Shore might actually have some twists this year. Situation has apparently gotten himself sober and cleaned up, Snooki is pregnant, and Ronnie and Sammi…well, they still probably will get drunk, break up, and get back together every 2 seconds, but who’s kidding who? To say it was odd to see Mike and Vinny conversing about their respective issues instead of GTL-ing or Snooki making actual grown-up responsible decisions is a huge understatement…maybe this last season will actually be different. Or maybe by episode 4 it will just be the same ol’ s*** again, and I will curse myself for adding Jersey to my DVR queue for a 6th time. No matter what, I guess I’m in for a dime and in for a dollar...updates to follow soon.

Here we go again...oy vey.

In A Game The Redskins Looked Determined To Give Away, RG3 To The Rescue

As I’ve documented the last couple of weeks, being a Washington Redskins’ fan is really tough sometimes. Not only do you have to deal with losing, but you often have to deal with losing and simultaneously being the laughing stock of the sports world too. If they don’t lose because of a childish ball or helmet flinging incident, it’s usually because of some coaching blunder, having an offensive line or defensive secondary that provides about the same resistance as a grocery bag, or something else even more horrific. Take yesterday, when 2 players, who would at worst be considered important role players if not starters at times, knocked each other out in pregame warm-ups. To add insult to injury, Redskins’ kicker Billy Cundiff seemed hell-bent on trying to lose the game all on his own by missing 3 field goals, 2 of which were extremely makeable.

So, when the Skins’ D let Tampa QB Josh Freeman march right down the field to set up a Connar Barth go-ahead field goal with under 2 minutes remaining in the game, I was about to burst through my own skin. The game should have long ago been well in hand, but it looked as if defense and special teams would once again spoil a pretty solid day for RG3, Alred Morris, and the Redskins’ offense…until RG3 came to the rescue, that is.

With 1:42 left in the game and with only 1 timeout remaining, Griffin marched Washington 56 yards in 7 plays to set up a possible redeeming field goal try for Cundiff, who looked like he was going to be the Redskin to officially s*** the bed on this particular day filled with plenty of potential burgundy and gold bed-s***ters to choose from. These ranged from the terrible 2nd half pass defense to Mike Shanahan’s continuation as the worst head coach of all time in challenging calls to Kyle Shanahan’s dubious choices for 60 yard bombs when what the Skins really needed to do was get 1st downs and chew up clock in the 2nd half to Kory Lichtensteiger’s inability to keep from jumping offsides before Griffin was even able to get under center…sigh. At least Cundiff had the decency to describe his own performance as “crap” even after he snaked his last try through the upright, but without RG3 none of that really matters.

Nevermind that Tampa boasted 1 of the worst pass defenses in the league going into this game, or that the offense stalled a little bit in the 2nd half, or that this particular Redskins’ team is most likely going nowhere in particular this year. In a vacuum, this was probably the best 2-minute drill I had watched the Redskins execute in 20+ years as a fan. (No, that is not hyperbole on my part.) Mark Brunell once beat the Cowboys with 2 heaves to Santana Moss with the clock winding down, but that was more flukiness than anything else. There have been other game-winning drives in that span of time, but they usually seem more bumbling and chaotic, where the Redskins appear to win the game almost in spite of their own ineptness. This looked like what a game-winning 2-minute drill is supposed to look like: crisp and organized where every yard and second counts…and all that while RG3’s headset supposedly went out.

I will try not to gush, but Griffin’s numbers through 4 games are staggering, especially considering the Donovan McNabbs, Rex Grossmans, and John Becks we’ve had to stomach the past 2 seasons: 1,070 passing yards, 4 passing touchdowns, and a completion percentage of nearly 70%, all while only throwing 1 pick so far. Add in a 6.5 yard per carry clip and 4 rushing TDs, and it’s even harder not to gush. Just imagine if Griffin had an actual offensive line, a defense, or a big time receiver to work with. While the losses to St. Louis and Cincinnati exposed Washington as a team with flaws o’ plenty this year, 1 thing should be certain by now (if it wasn’t a given already): they have a quarterback…on to the next.