One Night Only: Offensive Packers-Redskins Game Review, Mythbusters Edition

[GTripp0012]

Originally Posted by Daseal

I can't buy the arguments, GTripp. RG3 hasn't been able to move this offense until the game is already out of reach. The only time our games have been competitive is between kickoff and 13:00 minutes remaining in the first quarter. I do not believe all of our woes are because of RG3, but many of them are on RG3.

Here are some of my casual observations from the two games thus far:
1) RG3 is not planting and throwing. His mechanics have gone to hell and I believe that is because of the status of his knee. He's throwing it sideways and he rarely drops back, plants, and fires.
2) Because he's using poor mechanics, we're seeing a lot more balls sail on him. This kid used to deliver balls on a frozen rope, that is gone. He is no longer delivering with the velocity and accuracy he did in the past. I understand he's going from the pocket now, but it remains that he's not delivering like he had.
3) I want to emphasize WHEN he's put up his numbers. In the GB game it was 31-0 before we scored our first points in the 3rd quarter. At that point, the defense isn't worried about putting pressure on the QB and making big plays. They're concerned with working the clock and giving underneath throws. The first game was the exact same way before we scored our first offensive TD. We are scoring in the 4th quarter and 3rd quarter. At this point, defenses have already softened and they're working on the clock.
4) The commentators you blast, many of them have had the same type of procedures. Everyone said it took a significant amount of time to come back and feel comfortable. While the only person that can truly answer this question is RG3 himself -- I believe the consensus is that these procedures often require more time to heal -- both physically and mentally.

Just to briefly respond to the points of disagreement.

A lot of this analysis is based off the Green Bay game. Perhaps RG3 should be docked for having two or three balls sail over the intended target against Philadelphia, but the accuracy wasn't really an issue against Green Bay. He completed 65% and threw some in-completions because he tried forcing a couple passes to receivers that weren't open, usually on third downs.

If you thought Griffin was a big-time plant-and-fire guy last season, I don't know how to respond. He can clearly rip it, but he's not a consistent strider, and you have to keep that in mind when concluding that he's "not stepping into his throws." There are some throws he isn't stepping into, others he is, and this isn't all that different from last season.

You point out his ball velocity is affected. I just don't think it is, like, at all. This would be something that would be cool if we could see it measured objectively, but I don't have a way of doing that. I can tell you that he isn't underthrowing receivers any more often than last year, but I haven't seen data on the actual ball velocity. It just looks normal to me. If I'm wrong about that, I'm wrong about that.