Redskins snap 8 game home losing streak against the Vikings

Robert Griffin III rushed for 138 yards, a Skins QB record
(Jonathan Newton/Washington Post)

The Washington Redskins snapped an 8 game home losing streak by defeating the Minnesota Vikings 38-26 to improve their record to 3-3.  Robert Griffin III bounced back from a concussion suffered last week in a loss to the Atlanta Falcons, by putting on yet another dazzling offensive performance, and energizing the Redskins entire fan base.  Griffin completed 17 of his 22 pass attempts to maintain the highest completion percentage in the league, rushed for 138 yards, a Redskins quarterback record, and accounted for three touchdowns.

After a sluggish first quarter in which the the Redskins were dominated by the Vikings, the team trailed 9-0.  Fortunately, Washington's ailing defense was able to prevent the Vikings from reaching the end zone despite multiple trips to the red zone for Minnesota.  Holding Minnesota to three first quarter field goals proved to be a deciding factor in the game.

The Redskins responded by scoring 24 unanswered points, including a 50 yard field goal by the team's newly signed kicker Kai Forbath in his NFL debut.  Griffin III and the Redskins have scored touchdowns on all 12 of their goal to go situations this season.  The team's red zone efficiency, induced by the threat of Griffin's elite running ability, was on full display as Griffin passed to fullback Darrell Young for a 6 yard touchdown, took the ball in himself for a 7 yard rushing touchdown, and handed the ball off to running back Alfred Morris for a goal line touchdown.

RG3 leaps into the crowd after a 76 yard rushing TD
(Martinez Monsivais/Associated Press)

Washington's defense came up with 3 huge turnovers, including a pick 6 by free safety Madieu Williams, and a fumble recovery by linebacker Lorenzo Alexander that gave the Redskins possession of the ball at the Vikings 6 yard line.

The Vikings scored two 4th quarter touchdowns  to cut the Redskins 19 point lead down to 5.  With just under three minutes remaining in the game, the Redskins faced a crucial 3rd and 6 which they had to convert in order to prevent the Vikings from completing a demoralizing comeback.  Griffin III dropped back to pass, broke a tackle, scrambled to his left and used his world class speed to outrun the defense for a breathtaking 76 yard rushing touchdown, the longest by an NFL quarterback in over 16 years.

RG3 has been nothing short of a godsend for a Redskins franchise that had lacked a quality starting quarterback for over two decades.  With Griffin III under center, the Redskins have been among the most exhilarating teams to watch this NFL season.

Definitely Werth It!

(Rob Carr/Getty Images)

Jayson Werth sent the nation's capital into a frenzy with his walk off home run in game 4 of the NLDS.  Werth's Washington Nationals tied the series at 2-2 with their exhilarating 2-1 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals, setting up a deciding game 5 tomorrow night.  After being shut out in game 3 of the series, the Nationals were finally able to put a couple of runs on the board off the bats of Werth and Adam Laroche who hit a home run in the 2nd inning.  Werth's towering solo homer came off a fastball from converted reliever Lance Lynn, as a result of a magnificent 13 pitch at bat.

(John McDonnell/Washington Post)

Southpaw Ross Detwiler, a St. Louis native completing his first year in the National's starting rotation, shook off his nerves and pitched a 6 inning gem, in which he allowed no earned runs.  Starting pitcher Jordan Zimmermann pitched a flawless 7th inning out of the bullpen, striking out all three batters he faced.  Tyler Clippard, Washington's setup pitcher, and Drew Storen, the team's closer, struck out 5 combined batters.

Gio Gonzalez, a 21 game winner and a Cy Young candidate, will start the series finale Friday night against Adam Wainwright of the Cardinals.

Nationals win first postseason game in 79 years

Tyler Moore hit a game winning 2 run double
(Jeff Roberson/AP)

On Sunday afternoon the first postseason baseball game in 79 years was played by a Washington D.C. Major League Baseball franchise.  The Washington Nationals, the pride of the nation's capital after winning an MLB best 98 games during the 2012 regular season, continued their historic season by defeating the St. Louis Cardinals 3-2 in game 1 of the NLDS.

Gio Gonzalez, a National League Cy young candidate after winning a majors leading 21 games this season, started the game for Washington.  Gonzalez gave up only 1 hit in 5 innings pitched, but struggled with his command and walked a season high 7 batters.  Gonzalez walked 4 in a wild second inning in which he gave up the only 2 runs of the game on a wild pitch that got by catcher Kurt Suzuki, and on a sacrifice fly by Jon Jay with the bases loaded.  Nationals manager Davey Johnson decided to trust his ace and allowed Gonzalez to continue to pitch for three more innings.

The Cardinals' starting pitcher Adam Wainwright, in his first season back from Tommy John surgery, struck out 10 batters in a masterful 5 and two thirds innings pitched.  Wainwright baffled the Nationals and demonstrated complete control of his knee buckling curve ball.  Wainwright only struggled for a brief stretch of the second inning during which Suzuki put the Nats on on the scoreboard first with an RBI single to the left field gap that brought home first baseman Adam Laroche.

Jayson Werth robbed the St. Louis of a home run
(Dilip Vishwana/Getty Images)

Two crucial momentum shifting defensive plays by the Nationals prevented the Cardinals from pulling away in the latter innings of the game.  In the 6th inning, right fielder Jayson Werth leaped over the right field wall and robbed Daniel Descalso of a 2 run homer that would have given the Cardinals a 3 run lead.  The second crucial event occurred after Washington relief pitcher Ryan Mattheus entered the game with the bases loaded and 0 outs in the 7th inning.  On the first pitch Mattheus threw, the Cardinal's Allen Craig hit a ground ball to Washington shortstop Ian Desmond who threw to home plate for a force out that prevented the Cardinals from scoring.  On the very next pitch, Mattheus got St. Louis catcher Yadier Molina to chase a pitch outside.  Molina hit a ground ball to third baseman Ryan Zimmerman, who flipped it to Danny Espinosa at second base.  Espinosa then leaped over a sliding Cardinal and threw the ball to Laroche at first base for the double play, allowing the Nationals to escape the dire situation unscathed.

Drew Storen struck out Matt Holiday
to end the game
(photo by Nir Levy)

In the top of the 8th inning with left fielder Michael Morse and Desmond both on base, rookie Tyler Moore pinch hit for Mattheus and hammered a 2 run double to put the Nats ahead.  Moore's hit was the biggest of the year for the Nationals and continued a trend of bench players coming up huge for the team.  Reliever Tyler Clippard and closer Drew Storen each disposed of all three of the batters they faced in the last two innings to retain the lead for the Nats.  Storen struck out 6 time all-star left fielder Matt Holiday on three pitches to end the game.
The series will continue tomorrow with the Nationals' Jordan Zimmermann facing Jaime Garcia of the Cardinals.

Griffin leads the Redskins to a 4th quarter comeback victory against the Buccaneers

Robert Griffin III orchestrated his first game winning drive
(Al Messerschmidt/Getty Images)

Week after week, rookie sensation Robert Griffin III makes the Washington Redskins appear wiser and wiser for having mortgaged the future in order to select him in the 2012 NFL draft.  In a must win game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in week 4, Griffin led the Redskins to the first 4th quarter comeback of his career.  The Buccaneers had just made a field goal to take a 22-21 lead over the Redskins with 1:47 remaining in the game, when Griffin led the Redskins offense onto the field at their own 20 yard line.  Washington had blown a commanding 21-3 lead, and to make matters even more dire, Griffin's headset was malfunctioning, preventing him from communicating with his coaches on the sideline.  Despite the adversity, Griffin displayed his preternatural poise by brilliantly moving the Redskins offense down the field and managing the clock like a ten year veteran.  Griffin calmly dissected the Buccaneers defense in completing all four of his pass attempts on the drive, including two for over 15 yards.  On a 2nd and 6 play with under 40 seconds remaining, Griffin recognized that the Bucs prevent defense provided him with ample running room, and took off, picking up 15 yards.  Even after a false start penalty moved the Redskins back five yards, Griffin was able to hit Santana Moss on a crossing route for a seven yard gain to set up Billy Cundiff's game winning field goal.

Cundiff was in the midst of one of the worst games of his career, having missed all three of his field goal attempts, including both a 31 and a 41 yard attempt.  Cundiff's final field goal attempt of the day, a 41 yarder with only 3 seconds remaining in the game, redeemed him by putting the Redskins up 24-22, and made him a hero in the nation's capital, until at least next week.

Besides orchestrating the game winning drive, Griffin was sensational throughout the game, completing  74% of his pass attempts for 323 yards and rushing for 43 yards and a touchdown.  His use of the hard count to draw the Tampa Bay defense offsides was astounding for a player making only his 4th NFL start.  Griffin was hit far less against the Buccaneers than he had been during the Redskins two previous losses to the Rams and Bengals, an encouraging sign for Redskins fans.  The return of left tackle Trent Williams solidified the Redskins offensive line, which limited the Bucs to 4 quarterback hits after giving up 13 to the Bengals. Additionally, Griffin had only three designed runs, limiting the abuse he could take from the Bucs defense.

Much credit must be given to offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan and head coach Mike Shanahan for their creativity in the offensive game plan.  The Redskins offense threw the Buccaneers defense off guard by having Griffin take snaps under center, something he rarely did in the first three games of the season.  The Shanahans ran plenty of misdirection plays, and limited the use of the triple option, which was a staple of the Washington offense throughout the first 3 games,  but often resulted in Griffin being hit hard.  On the final play of the third quarter, the Shanahans demonstrated their offensive genius through a trick play in which Griffin lateraled the ball to wide receiver Brandon Banks, who then lateraled back to Griffin across the field.  After receiving the ball, Griffin completed a 30 yard pass to tight end Niles Paul who was wide open.  Griffin's 103.2 passer rating ranks 4th in the NFL through a quarter of the season.

Alfred Morris had a 39 yard touchdown run
(Rick Carioti/The Washington Post)

Griffin received plenty of help offensively from rookie running back Alfred Morris, who ran for 113 yards and a touchdown on 21 carries.  In the second quarter of the game, Morris broke several tackles en route to a 39 yard touchdown, which he celebrated by pretending to hit a home run.  Morris has the 5th most rushing yards in the league through 4 games.  As a team the Redskins have the league's top ranked rushing attack and third ranked offense.

Defensively, the Redskins were very effective in the first half, limiting the Bucs to only two field goals. The Redskins front seven put constant pressure on Bucs quarterback Josh Freeman, led by outside linebacker Ryan Kerrigan who had a sack and a pass batted down.  The Redskins pass rush in the opening half helped out the much maligned secondary, which shut down the Buccaneers passing game.  Cornerback Deangleo Hall intercepted a pass which led to a Redskins touchdown.  The second half was a much different story, as the Buccaneers aerial attack abused the Washington secondary in scoring 19 unanswered points.  The key to the Redskins success defensively appears to be pressuring the quarterback, however, without Brian Orakpo and Adam Carricker both of whom have suffered season ending injuries, achieving a consistent pass rush will be a very difficult task.