The 3-7 Deadskins are in turmoil, and it starts with the quarterback and the head coach.
Robert Griffin III has regressed from the day Mike Shanahan turned him into RGKnee by asking him to win a playoff game on one leg and scares no one except his own team now. Some critics are calling for him to be benched in favor of Kirk Cousins.
Shanahan is 24-34 with the Redskins, and there is a growing sentiment that Daniel Snyder should and will change coaches before he agrees to change the club’s nickname.
The strained relationship between quarterback and coach led them ostensibly throwing each other under the bus after Washington fell to 3-7 thanks to that disgraceful 24-16 loss in Philadelphia.
RG3: “They did a good job of scheming us up. They kind of knew what was coming before it was coming and that was disheartening. But like I told the guys, regardless of what’s going on out there, we’re the players and we have to make the plays work, and we just weren’t doing that in the first half.”
Shanahan on what RG3 was thinking on his backpedaling dagger interception by Brandon Boykin from the Philly 18: “I really don’t know. I have to take a look at the film and kind of go through his thought process. It’s really hard to say. I didn’t talk to him after the game.”
When he does talk to him, he can ask him why he had 57 passing yards on seven lousy completions through three quarters and why Nick Foles was the better quarterback. And RG3 can ask Shanahan why Chip Kelly was the better coach. Again.
Defenses catching up with Kaepernick
Did the 49ers catch lightning in a bottle last year with Kaepernick?
Or is he just going through the growing pains of a second-year starting quarterback?
Those questions are being heard a lot in San Francisco in the wake of Sunday’s crushing, 20-17 overtime loss to the Saints that dropped the Niners to 6-4 and, more importantly, all but guaranteed the streaking Seahawks will supplant Jim Harbaugh’s team as NFC West champs.
Much of the blame is being put on Kaepernick, who has looked mostly awful in back-to-back losses to the Panthers and New Orleans that erased all the good feelings he and the Niners had built up while rallying to 6-2 after a 1-2 start.
A slump was to be expected, considering how much of a bolt from the blue Kaepernick was in taking over for Alex Smith in the middle of last season. Some of the best defensive minds in the game didn’t know what to make of the brawny but incredibly athletic quarterback who could kill you with his cannon arm or with his incredible speed in the read option.
But that was 2012, and the league appears to have adjusted. Opponents are better prepared to defend Kaepernick in the option (which Niners offensive coordinator Greg Roman, for whatever reason, appears hesitant to commit to), and the deer-in-the-headlights look Kaepernick is showing as a passer is a surefire sign that defensive coordinators are confusing him with different coverages and alignments.
Adding to the frustration is San Francisco still refuses to commit to giving the ball regularly to the dangerous Frank Gore to take the pressure off Kaepernick. As a result, Kaepernick already has thrown more interceptions in 10 games (seven) than he did in 13 starts last year (three) while being sacked 24 times — eight more than he endured in 2012.
Kaepernick also has suffered from not having his favorite target, Michael Crabtree, all season, but Crabtree is expected back soon. That should help Kaepernick immensely and quiet his critics.
But if it doesn’t, Harbaugh is playing without a net. Smith was traded to Kansas City and the backup is Colt McCoy, so — for better or worse — this is Kaepernick’s team and season to lose.
It’s a real mess with the Texans
Every time you think it couldn’t get uglier in Houston, the imploding Texans outdo themselves.
In this week’s episode of “As the Texans Turn,” Gary Kubiak’s team gave up three touchdown passes to undrafted rookie free agent Matt McGloin in a 28-23 home loss to the Raiders, quarterback Case Keenum was benched in favor of local Public Enemy No. 1 Matt Schaub, Schaub was showered with boos, Schaub got into an sideline argument with star wideout Andre Johnson and Johnson walked off the field before the final play of the game.
Kubiak hurried back from a mild stroke for this?
The Texans have been one of the NFL’s most anonymous teams since their 2002 debut, but not anymore. This is as spectacular and complete of a franchise meltdown as you will ever see. The Texans have lost eight in a row following a 2-0 start and everything you thought you knew about them has been exposed.
Houston owner Bob McNair is extraordinarily patient (Kubiak is just his second head coach in 12 seasons), but the situation has gotten so out of hand that it merits a massive housecleaning in which J.J. Watt and maybe Johnson are the only untouchables.
That means Kubiak is likely to go, too, though he remains a favorite son in Houston and is liked by McNair. But none of Kubiak’s hand-picked quarterbacks have been able to get the Texans over the hump even when they were going a combined 22-10 the previous two seasons.
Chip Kelly’s immediate NFL success could mean McNair looks to the college ranks for a coach, and there are several interesting candidates in the state — including one in nearby College Station, Texas — should McNair lean that way.
Texas A&M’s Kevin Sumlin, Kliff Kingsbury of Texas Tech and Baylor’s Art Briles all run a wide-open passing offense that could get the Texans’ fan base excited again, so it wouldn’t be a surprise if McNair at least gauges their interest.
Briles is older and isn’t thought to be interested in the NFL, but Sumlin or Kingsbury certainly would be intriguing.
Whatever happens, McNair needs to do something — anything — to rescue a franchise quickly headed back to oblivion.
And what happened to the Falcons?
While the Texans’ meltdown has been ugly and noisy, the Falcons’ collapse continues to be remarkably stealth.
It’s increasingly difficult to believe Atlanta was 13-3 and just 10 yards from going to the Super Bowl in January after the Falcons fell to 2-8 with Sunday’s 41-28 blowout loss to the Buccaneers.
(These were the same Buccaneers, mind you, who went into the game 1-8 after securing their first win of the season just six days earlier against a Dolphins team that was, uh, a bit distracted by other matters.)
Atlanta’s collapse has been a team-wide effort, too, not one that can be placed at the feet of Matt Ryan. Both the offense and the defense have fallen off the map in unison, with the Falcons plunging to 23rd in scoring from seventh a year ago and to 29th in scoring defense from fifth.
Julio Jones’ season-ending foot injury was huge, but that doesn’t totally explain this disaster because Ryan is still posting respectable passing numbers.
The bigger problem appears to be on defense, where the Falcons let key pieces like John Abraham and Brent Grimes walk and are now paying for it.
As a result, Atlanta isn’t forcing mistakes and is now minus-11 in turnover margin a year after a plus-13 differential was one of the driving forces in its run to the NFC Championship game.
Coach Mike Smith is well-liked by owner Arthur Blank, and with a new stadium already in the works, Blank isn’t under immediate pressure to change. That might explain why Smith received a ringing endorsement last week from GM Thomas Dimitroff.
The two coordinators, Dirk Koetter on offense and Mike Nolan on defense, would be wise to start looking elsewhere, but other than that, Dimitroff looks like he’s counting on Jones returning to health in 2014 and a productive draft to reverse the Falcons’ massive slide.
Dimitroff certainly has a credible record when it comes to the draft, but Atlanta’s problems now seem deeper than what a rejuvenated Jones and one good college class can fix.
NFL has reason$ to protect QBs
Word that the NFL Competition Committee is considering new rules to further protect quarterbacks from head and knee hits make most defensive players or traditionalists particularly unhappy. But the owners will be quick to remind you the NFL, more than ever, is a quarterback-driven league, and the dearth of backups makes marquee quarterbacks an endangered species.
The Eagles were fortunate to have Foles behind Michael Vick, and the Bears are fortunate to have Josh McCown as Jay Cutler’s backup, but they are exceptions rather than the rule. Cases in point: Aaron Rodgers and the Scott Tolzien Packers. Sam Bradford and the Kellen Clemens Rams.
It was a Steelers linebacker who groaned over 30 years ago: “Quarterbacks should wear dresses.”
Of the top 10 recent best-selling jerseys, seven were quarterbacks, headed by Colin Kaepernick, Peyton Manning, Russell Wilson and Griffin, in that order.
As for which quarterback would look best in a dress, we’ll defer to Gisele Bundchen.
So maybe Big Ben doesn’t study around the clock
Loved Ben Roethlisberger’s response to agenda-driven whispers the Steelers aren’t sold on his preparation once he leaves the facility.
“How do they know what I do at home?” Big Ben asked after out dueling Matthew Stafford. “Do they have cameras in my house?”
That’s Bill Belichick he’s thinking of.
Big Ben has two years remaining on the eight-year, $102 million contract he signed in 2008. Big Ben wants a big raise over the offseason to the $20 million neighborhood. If the Steelers aren’t willing to ante up, as committed as he says he is to Pittsburgh right now, that’s how much he likely will be committed to a trade if they don’t show him the money.
Save it for a Rainey day
It isn’t only Wilson representing short or small people. Add 5-foot-8, 205-pound Bobby Rainey to the list.
The running back, undrafted in 2012 out of Western Kentucky and picked up Oct. 21 on waivers from the Browns, caught one TD pass and ran for 163 yards and two TDs against the Falcons as the Bucs won their second in a row.
“That’s my motivation — to prove people wrong,’’ Rainey said. “I actually foresaw me playing in this league when I was little. No man can tell you what you can’t do. I know I can accomplish whatever I put my mind to. I’m small, so I don’t like to take a lot of hits. That’s how you stay in this league.’’
Jets’ next foe is Ravens mad
It isn’t always who you play, but when you play them, and this is the worst time for Geno Smith and the Jets to be playing the Ravens.
The defending champs are desperate after Sunday’s 23-20 overtime loss to the Bears that kept them one game behind the Jets (and Dolphins) in the race for the No. 6. playoff seed in the AFC. Joe Flacco and the Ravens begin a critical three-game homestand by welcoming Ed Reed back just when Ray Rice has finally gotten untracked.
“We have to win the next three at home. We have to,” safety James Ihedigbo said. “There’s no ifs, ands or buts about it.”
What’s worse, there’s a Dave and Buster’s in Hanover, Md., a mere 20 minutes from Baltimore. Don’t do it, Rex.