SOME ROOKIE: Quarterback Robert Griffin III escapes Mathias Kiwanuka on a play in the second half of last night’s 17-16 Redskins victory at FedEx Field. Griffin ran for 72 yards on five attempts, leaving him with 714 rushing yards on the season. (N.Y. Post: Charles Wenzelberg)
LANDOVER, Md. — The Kid had FedEx Field rocking like it was RFK Stadium in the glory days last night.
It had been five long, frustrating years since Washington last played a truly meaningful December home game, but Robert Griffin III made it worth the wait in a 17-16 victory over the Giants that had the capacity crowd of 80,246 singing “Hail to the Redskins” at the top of their lungs on the way out.
The Giants had seen this before from the sensational rookie quarterback, who torched them for nearly 400 all-purpose yards out of the option attack in a close October loss at the Meadowlands, but that didn’t mean Big Blue had any better solution for Griffin the second time around.
“We weren’t going to let this one slip away,” Griffin said as he did his postgame press conference from the podium while still in full uniform, including cleats, arm sleeve and glove. “We took the approach that this was the only game we had, and that if we lost, our season was done.”
Although Griffin didn’t have the same gaudy numbers in the primetime rematch, he was just as effective — and the end result was certainly better — as the 6-6 Redskins got back to .500 and continued a surprising run of mastery over their NFC East rivals.
This wasn’t all Griffin’s doing (rookie back Alfred Morris and veteran wideout Pierre Garcon also came up big), but the reigning Heisman Trophy winner from Baylor was certainly the catalyst, completing 13-of-21 passes for 163 yards, a passing touchdown and 73 rushing yards.
Even when Griffin messed up, it worked out. In one of the more remarkable plays in any NFL game this year, Griffin’s first-quarter fumble at the Giants 13-yard line ended up in the arms of receiver Josh Morgan, who took it the rest of the way to the end zone.
“It was a pitch,” Griffin said, grinning. “It was totally by design. I knew Josh was going to be there ready for that touchdown, so that’s what we did. I’m sticking with that story.”
No wonder Redskins fans were chanting “RG3!” throughout the fourth quarter and as Griffin and the Redskins sprinted jubilantly off the field following their third consecutive victory.
“The fans love him so much that they were chanting ‘RG3!’ really loud while we were on offense,” Redskins center Will Montgomery said with a laugh in a jubilant postgame locker room. “That’s great, but they’re going to work on that.”
Griffin’s poise was most on display on the Redskins’ final drive, which he turned into a game-clincher. Washington took over with 3:51 left clinging to a one-point lead and the Giants still holding two timeouts. Griffin responded by leading the Redskins to two first downs that salted away the team’s third victory in the past two seasons over Big Blue.
“I just told them on the sideline, ‘Let’s go finish this game,’ ” said Griffin, who had an eight-yard scramble and a 17-yard completion to key the drive. “We just needed to have that, to give us the confidence that we can end the game with four or five minutes left. And we did it.”