Mike Shanahan Should Get Most of the Blame For RGIII Injury

A day after the Seattle Seahawks came from behind to defeat the Washington Redskins 24-14 in the NFC Wild Card round, the lasting image, at least in my mind, is the frightening sight of Robert Griffin III [Left] going down in the fourth quarter after twisting his already-injured knee going after a botched snap.

It sealed the fate of the Washington Redskins' season and put a shadow over the team's future. 

It became pretty clear that RGIII was injured pretty badly. He was hobbling on option runs, his throws were off target, he was not following through with his right leg on those throws, and the Washington offense was unable to put together a solid drive after jumping out to a 14-0 lead. 

Did RGIII truly give the Redskins the best chance to win the ball game yesterday? It became clear by late in the third quarter that backup QB and fellow rookie Kirk Cousins probably would have given Washington a better chance to put together a scoring drive, which could have been all the Redskins needed to pull away with a victory. Cousins should have entered the game at some point in the third quarter at the latest. By that point, it was clear that Cousins was the better option than the damaged RGIII.     

I understand keeping RGIII in the game after he aggravated the knee right before throwing that second TD score in the first quarter; if you are Washington Head Coach Mike Shanahan [Right], you have to at least see if RGIII could still run the offense and make something happen, at least with his arm if not with his legs. 

But Shanahan rolled the dice by leaving a clearly-injured RGIII on the field as long as he did and now he has some questions to answer to. He is the one who ultimately made the decision to keep RGIII in the game. 

As time wore on, it became painfully clear that he was not comfortable back under center. He was fragile. Hurting. Limping. And, quite frankly, watching RGIII out there made me feel uncomfortable (I'm sure Redskins fans share the sentiment).

If RGIII was 100% yesterday, the Redskins would have defeated the Seahawks yesterday. And they probably could have done it quite handily considering the way they opened up the game. Who knows how far the team could have gone in the playoffs with a healthy RGIII (I thought the Super Bowl was clearly a possibility this year).

Being the competitor RGIII is, it's understandable why he wanted to stay in the game and lead his team in hope of bringing a victory to a franchise desperately thirsting for playoff success. I don't blame him for wanting to stay in the game. If he pulled himself out of the game, chances are the same critics who are ripping him for staying in would have called him a coward for bowing out (a.l.a. Jay Cutler). 

But Shanahan should have known better. They should said enough is enough and taken him out of the game. Both for the good of RGIII and the team. RGIII is paid to play and Shanahan is paid to make the decisions. The buck stops with the latter.  

Shanahan said after the game: "[RGIII] said, 'Hey, trust me. I want to be in there, and I deserve to be in there.' I couldn't disagree with him."

Wrong, Coach. You could have disagreed with him. You should have disagreed with him. It's your job to do so. No matter how unpopular it is, no matter how upset your QB might be afterwards, your job is to protect the franchise QB from further harm if you can help it (in this case, he could have) and give your team the best chance to win, both now and in the future. He failed in both regards on Sunday night.   

RGIII is the Washington Redskins. He is the future of this franchise. With him healthy, this team will be going to Super Bowls. But if this injury requires extensive surgery, it puts a dark cloud over this franchise moving forward.  

Now we wait to see how bad the damage is.    

4 Reasons Why The Redskins Are Going To The Super Bowl

Mark it down: The Washington Redskins are going to the Super Bowl.

Yes, the NFC is filled with seasoned and experienced teams like Green Bay, Atlanta and San Francisco, making the road for the Redskins to New Orleans a difficult one.

Heck, the Redskins haven't even locked up a playoff spot yet. But they will make it into the playoffs by winning the NFC East. Washington controls their own destiny with games against the down-on-their-luck Philadelphia Eagles and at home against the inconsistent Dallas Cowboys. Plus, they hold tie-breakers over the Cowboys and the New York Giants thanks to head-to-head win percentage. 

So make no mistake, the Redskins are going to be in the playoffs come January, and when they do, they're going all the way. Here's why.

1) Run D.C.

The Redskins can do it all on offense thanks to the dynamic play of rookie sensation Robert Griffin III, who has taken the nation's capital storm, but they are especially dangerous on the ground, becoming the league's No. 1 rushing attack. But while everyone is talking about the rookie quarterback's incredible season, no one is talking about a fellow rookie in the backfield out of Florida Atlantic: Alfred Morris [left]. With two games remaining, RGIII and Morris, who has 1,322 rushing yards (3rd in the NFL, behind only Adrian Peterson and Marshawn Lynch) have combined for 2,070 yards on the ground.

  

RGIII, thanks in large part to coach Mike Shanahan's willingness to mold an offense that utilizes the young quarterback's explosive skill set, has been able to make the pistol offense a major headache for defensive coordinators across the league. Not only does the offense help the running game, but it also opens things up for the pass, making defenses especially vulnerable to the play-action pass.

With the Redskins scoring more points per game (27.2) than any other team in the NFC with a shot at the playoffs, no team has been able to really figure out how to stop them. 

2) Protecting The Ball

But not only are the Redskins explosive on offense, they're also careful with the ball. In fact, Washington is tied with the Houston Texans with the fewest turnovers in the NFL this season (13) and the Redskins have a +13 turnover differential.

One of the things I love about RGIII is his efficiency, which has been outstanding, especially for a rookie NFL quarterback. He has only thrown four interceptions (about 1 interception for every 87 passes he has thrown this season), compared to 18 TD tosses so far. He has led an offense that has   

When playoff time comes around, every mistake is magnified. But with how disciplined this Redskins team has been in 2012, it shouldn't be a problem. 

3) Scorching Hot

While temperatures in the D.C. area continue to drop as we head into the heart of winter, the Redskins seem to be getting hotter and hotter. And at just the right time. 

Washington is the hottest team in the NFC, having won their last five games, including tough wins against the Giants and Baltimore Ravens. During the streak, the Redskins have put up 30+ points in four of them, indicating that their offense is in full stride with the playoffs right around the corner. 

The momentum is so strong that even with RGIII out with an injury last week, the Redskins were still able to score 38 points against a Cleveland Browns team that  had only allowed a combined 38 points in its previous three games (all Cleveland wins).

You can ask the defending Super Bowl-champion Giants how important momentum is heading into the playoffs. 

4) Improving Defense

It's easy to point to RGIII and the offense for the team's rise to prominence, but the Redskins defense since their Week 10 bye has been a key part to the team's momentum shifting five-game winning streak.

It's also easy to point to Washington's 381.1 yards allowed per game, which is 13th in the NFC, as a weakness, but if you look deeper, the Redskins are more solid defensively than people give them credit for. Due to a number of injuries, the Redskins defense has had it's problems. But they have shown improvement.

During the streak, the Redskins have allowed about 20 points per game, which is a big improvement from their first nine games in which they allowed 27.5 points per contest. They've improved in a number of key categories and have stepped up in big games, especially in Washington's 17-16 win over the Giants despite New York possessing a huge ball possession advantage.

With the way the offense has been performing, the defense doesn't have to be great. It just needs to be good enough. And right now, they're doing just enough to make the Redskins a credible threat and Super Bowl contender.   

The Ozzie Guillen Dilemma

"I love Fidel Castro. ... I respect Fidel Castro. You know why? A lot of people have wanted to kill Fidel Castro for the last 60 years, but that (expletive) is still there."

 - Ozzie Guillen to Time Magazine

Oh, Ozzie.

We know you're loud. We know you're brash. We know how much you love to talk about, well, everything and anything.

But you went too far. Way too far.

It's not the first time he has said something like this about Fidel Castro, Cuba's infamous dictator. But this time he said it as the Marlins manager. The face of the franchise with a new ballpark located in the heart of the Cuban-American community.

A lot of people seem to want to brush this off as "Ozzie being Ozzie." Not a big deal. It has nothing to do with baseball. 

But that's because you do not understand what lies beneath those comments. The pain that is harbored in a community that has suffered at the hands of the man that Ozzie said he loved and respected.  

NOT ABOUT FREE SPEECH

For starters, this is not a First Amendment issue. Ozzie has the right to speak his mind and he did so. The First Amendment protects Ozzie from government intrusion. If this was Cuba and he had said something that offended the government or a large sector of the population, Ozzie would be in jail. So get off the free speech train. The FBI won't be knocking on Ozzie's door tomorrow and shipping him off to some secret prison somewhere.

Ozzie exercised his right to free speech and now the Cuban-American community is exercising its right to free speech by reacting to what he said. There may be a significant boycott that follows and the estimated 200 people that protested at Marlins Park while Ozzie delivered his apologies could be just the beginning. Do not underestimate the drive and influence of this community in Miami. They might be able to put a dent where the Marlins will feel it most: their wallets. 

The Marlins are a private entity. A business. They need to protect the brand and the image. They hired Ozzie to be the face of the franchise, so he is representing the team as a spokesman for the team. A punishment was necessary in order to send a message to Ozzie and other managers in the league: don't upset your fan base and don't say you admire a dictator that has caused so much pain to so many people.

I question whether the five-game suspension handed down by the Marlins is a strong enough statement to appease the uproar and send a message, but it is something. It is a start. But I doubt this will be the end.  

THERE IS HISTORY

Let me get something out of the way: I am an Americanized Cuban-American. I was born here in Miami, but I do somewhat understand what Fidel Castro means to the Cuban-American community. But I will never fully and truly understand the pain that my parents and grandparents went through, leaving the land they called home because their freedoms were stripped away by a tyrant named Fidel.

For over 50 years, Castro has broken families. Forced them to leave their homes. Killed dissidents. People have given up everything to come to America. To start all over with nothing because of this man and his broken promises of freedom. He has blood on his hands. A lot of it. And because nothing has changed, there is a deep brokenness, bitterness and frustration that very few others can really ever understand. Myself included. All I know is from stories told to me by family members and friends.  

Ozzie lives here in Miami. He was a third base coach here when the Marlins won the World Series in 2003. He is from Venezuela, which deals with its own maniacal leader in Hugo Chavez, and should know better.

Many people in this country, and even in Miami, do not understand what Fidel Castro means to the Cuban-American community. He is what Adolf Hitler is to the Jewish community. What Osama bin Laden was to Americans. If Ozzie had praised Osama bin Laden for his resilience in evading capture or death for over a decade after 9/11, how do you think America would react? He wouldn't have lasted 24 hours before being shown the door at whatever organization he was at. 

What Ozzie said, uttering the words "love" and "respect" in association with Fidel Castro, in any context, is unacceptable. Especially in Miami. Especially when a team is trying to embrace a community in Little Havana where its new, controversial ballpark is located. It's the one thing you don't say. And he said it.  

NOW WHAT?

The press conference apology was a good first step. He deserves another chance to redeem himself for this and get his act together. 

But consequences are needed for reckless actions and words spoken, and Ozzie has evaded the hammer for far too long for past offenses. For years, he has operated without a filter in his mind for what comes out of his mouth. He needs to develop one fast.  

Whether the rest of the Cuban-American community will be as forgiving is yet to be seen. But one thing is clear: this is strike one and Ozzie is still on thin ice. This cannot happen again. He has to change the way he conducts himself for his own sake and for the sake of the Marlins. 

If he messes up again, it won't be a suspension or a fine that is dealt. It'll be a pink slip.