Once the Redskins drafted Robert Griffin, most of us thought they were done drafting quarterbacks then in the fourth round they drafted Kirk Cousins out of Michigan State, many Iowa fans remember Cousins performance at Kinnick in his Senior year. Cousins was seen as a backup plan or trade-able for future draft picks.

Robert Griffin flourished in his first season as the starting quarterback, bringing the read option with him from Baylor. He won Rookie Of The Year with his 20 touchdowns to just 5 interceptions.  He lead Washington to a NFC East division champions. In the playoffs, he played on the dreaded unstable turf at FedEx  Field against the  Seattle Seahawks and tore his ACL and LCL.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u8rnPjr6U1c    (graphic content advised) People started to question Robert’s relationship with head Coach Mike Shanahan.

Kirk Cousins was left to mop up duty and a few starts late before the playoffs due  to Robert’s injury versus Baltimore  earlier in the year.

Just days after the loss to Seattle, Robert Griffin had ligament surgery by the world renowned Dr. James Andrews.  He was expected to make a full recovery and be ready by the start of the regular season.

Kirk Cousins got most of the off-season training activities know as OTAs and preseason work. At the time he was more ready to lead the team to start the season then Robert because of his rhythm he had with the offense from OTAs.

Instead Robert started week one looking rather rusty because he didn’t get much practice time with the team recovering from surgery.  causing the offense to sputter. He was forced to more of a passing quarterback than than a dual threat(passing and running). He wore a knee brace all season and that may have affected his performance.

With three games left coach Shanahan shut him down for the remainder of the season, giving Cousins another chance to show his value.  Robert never has seemed to fully recover from surgery. The Redskins ended up with three wins and 13 losses which was in a large part defense and special teams issues, not always the sputtering offense.

Cousins lead the team to three close losses while Robert relationship with Shanahan continued on a rocky course headed for disaster.  Shanahan was fired after the season with one year left on his contract which wasn’t surprising news to Washington fans. The Redskins hired Jay Gruden, (Jon Gruden younger brother) and instantly the debate began over who would and should start.

In the preseason a month ago,  Cousins played lights out while Robert struggled a little.  Many people believe Cousins is the better quarterback right now and should have started again to start the season.

Week 1 the offense struggled mightily only putting up six points.

In week 2, Robert was driving the team down the field when on a scramble outside the pocket avoiding a defender, he

completed a pass to get the drive alive. He came down awkwardly on his plant foot and was in immediate pain.  He stayed down for a couple minutes then they put a brace on his leg and carted him to the locker room for X-rays.

Cousins entered the game and played exceptional yet again, leading the Redskins to a 41-10 win. He threw for 250 yards and 2 touchdowns.

The diagnosis for Robert was  6-8 weeks recovery time. With how Coustins played Sunday, I don’t see any hurry to rush Robert back before he’s ready. Unconfirmed reports say coach Gruden prefers Cousins over Robert.

Personally being a Redskins fan, I think Cousins is a better fir for the offense than Robert right now because Cousins is more durable and consistent. I do think Robert is the better player but since his surgery I don’t think he’ll be the same player as his rookie year. He reminds me of Bob Sanders a great player but just couldn’t stay healthy.

I haven’t lost confidence in Robert but at the same time I want what’s best for the team. It will be intriguing to see how this situation shakes out with Robert being the face of the franchise but being out performed right now.

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The NFL season is just over halfway done but several teams are struggling to find their mojo.  The Green Bay Packers are certainly not one of those teams as they look to become just the third team in NFL history to get through an entire season undefeated.  However, just about half the league is still searching for consistency, answers, and most importantly, wins.  The NFC West applies to just about all three.  While the San Francisco 49ers can clinch the division with a pair of wins, the Seahawks, Cardinals, and Rams are a combined 5-19, the worst trio record in any conference.  All three teams have issues at the QB position and defense.  With 8 games to go for all three teams, they need to figure out if they will play for pride or give themselves more favorable odds in the Andrew Luck Sweepstakes.

The AFC North and NFC North are emerging as the two toughest divisions in their respective conferences.  The NFC North should be considered the toughest division in the NFL right now.  No one looks like they can beat the Packers, although San Diego came close this past Sunday.  The Detroit Lions are an impressive 6-2 but they must show that they are a real threat and not the 2007 Lions who ran out of steam at this point in the year with the same record.  That 2007 Lions squad finished 8-8 after starting 6-2.  The Chicago Bears have surprised all the “experts” with their 5-3 start and have won 3 straight games.  They face a critical point on Sunday as they host Detroit.  If the playoffs started today, the Packers, Bears, and Lions would be there which shows the divisions depth and those teams are a combined 14-3 outside of their division (best in NFL).

The AFC North is likewise in a similar position in the AFC but the Steelers and Bengals still have to show some more if they truly want to be the best.  The Steelers are an impressive 6-2, but their wins are against teams that are a combined 16-32 and the Bengals (6-2) have beaten teams that are a combined 15-33.  The Ravens lead the division as well at 6-2 due to tiebreakers over Pittsburgh but they have two bad losses in Tennessee and Jacksonville.  Yet Baltimore still has a terrifying defense and they will go as far as Joe Flacco will take them.

The highly overrated NFC East is once again living up to their overhyped mantra that they are the deepest conference in football.  Only the New York Giants (6-2) have a winning record in the division which speaks ill for Dallas, Philadelphia, and Washington.  The Redskins started 3-0, but after a bad loss by Rex Grossman, John Beck took over at QB to satisfy the fans and media and is 0-4 this year.  In his NFL career, Beck has never started and won a game.  Coach Mike Shanahan’s decision at QB proves that he remains an overrated head coach as he is 108-96 with QBs not named John Elway with zero playoff wins.  The Dream Team Eagles have also failed to live up to expectations as they sit at 3-5 with critical losses to New York, Chicago, and Atlanta.  If the Eagles are to make the playoffs, they must go at least 7-1 due to tiebreaking losses to all three aforementioned teams.  A team that has so much talent after a Madden-like offseason has not worked out and will likely get Andy Reid fired at season’s end.  To New York’s credit, they are proving that they can run with anyone as they had a thrilling comeback against the New England Patriots.  Eli Manning is have a decent season and must prove himself that he belongs at the helm of the Giants’ offense.  After missing the postseason last year after finishing 10-6, winning key games against tough opponents will have to be the staple of Manning’s tenure.  The Giants face the Packers in a couple of weeks and that will be Manning’s biggest challenge of the season.

As the NFL unfolds over the next few weeks, more answers will be provided and the contenders will be separated from the pretenders.  Some division races are likely over like the NFC West and what appears to be the AFC South as Houston looks poised to make their first-ever postseason appearance.  Some playoff races will come down to the end of the season—especially in the AFC East and AFC West—but with so much more at stake for the rest of November, winning at all costs has never been greater.  How many times can teams afford to lose potential tiebreaker games and still have playoff aspirations?  For a lot of teams, especially those in the NFC South, winning now will stack wins in your favor and put so much pressure on the competition that they will likely crack.  Week 9 in the NFL is in the books and the rest of the season cannot come fast enough.

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