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| Kirk Cousins waves to the crowd after the win! |
After an explosive first half of offense from both teams the Redskins and Ravens went into half-time with the score 21-14, Ravens. Joe Flacco tore up the secondary for three scores while RG3 had a touchdown pass and Alfred Morris had a touchdown run. A shoot-out in D.C. was in the making...except not. With no other explanation than sheer witchcraft, both defenses stepped up in the second half, turning an offensive showcase into a defensive standoff. The Redskins held the Ravens from scoring in the third quarter and mustered two turnovers, on which the Redskins scored two field goals, narrowing the lead to 20-21.
The fourth quarter came in and neither offense was able to accomplish anything until a long drive engineered by Joe Flacco and Ray Rice culminated in a Rice touchdown run. The ensuing extra point made it 28-20, requiring a two point conversion to tie. The Redskins had all three time-outs and with little under four minutes to play, a touchdown was required, there was no guarantee of a second possession.
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| Cue the T.O. crying saying "Thats my quarterback!" |
RG3 took 6 plays to get the Redskins 35 yards down the field to their own 40. But it came with a price, after going to the ground Griffin took a jarring hit to his leg, twisting one half with tremendous force and putting all the pressure on his knee. Griffin stayed down and limped off the field as Redskins fans held their breath. In came fellow rookie quarterback Kirk Cousins, who in his only other action threw a 77 yard touchdown but also two interceptions against Atlanta. He gunned the ball to Pierre Garcon but it fell incomplete, thankfully Garcon was interfered with, giving the Redskins a first down. RG3 trotted back onto the field to finish the game. He played four more downs and got the Redskins to the 16 yard line of Baltimore, at which point he fell on all fours and had to be helped off the field. Griffin would not return to the game.
On his last play Griffin caught a bad snap and hurled it out of bounds, resulting in an intentional grounding call, pushing Kirk Cousins back to the 26 yard line before his first play. With 45 seconds to go Cousins dropped back and gunned the ball to Leonard Hankerson, taking it to the 11 yard line with 36 seconds to go and no more time outs. The next play Cousins dropped back, pump faked, and rolled out to his right and lofted a pass to Pierre Garcon. There were no flags thrown, and the referee raised his hands in the air.
Touchdown.
The score was now 26-28. The game rested on a successful two point conversion attempt, essentially another touchdown from the two yard line. Cousins dropped back, and pulled it for a quarterback draw -a sheer genius play call by Kyle Shanahan- and he walked into the end-zone. With 29 seconds to go Baltimore got the football back with the score tied. They didn't try anything and headed into overtime.
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| He out-ran the whole defense...except the punter |
The Redskins lost the opening coin toss and Baltimore got the ball to start. If they scored a touchdown, they win. Miraculously the defense came through, forcing a three and out and a punt on fourth down. The punter nailed a boomer, driving rookie Richard Crawford back to his own twenty to accept the punt. He caught it, made a move, sped down the sideline, then cut it back across the middle. He was gone...until he ran out of gas, he tried to cutback against the punter but got tackled inside the Ravens 25 yard line. Since this was the second possession of the game a field goal would win it for the Redskins. They ran the ball, got an offside penalty and ran it one more time to set up Kai Forbath on the left hash. Third down and on comes the kicker. Forbath was perfect in his NFL career, and hadn't missed a field goal all year. This was a chip shot but everyone knows what pressure has done to Redskins kickers in the past. Unlike them, Forbath had ice running through his veins and drilled the kick down the middle to win the game.
Final score: 31-28 Redskins
The current playoff picture:
Earlier, I wrote about how this game was the one game the Redskins could afford to lose, and they haven't but at the same still still can't afford another loss. Seattle blew out Arizona, New York blew out New Orleans, and Minnesota edged out Chicago. This makes the two wild card teams both 8-5, the same record as the NFC leading Giants.
The Redskins are one game behind in the wild card race and a loss by Chicago against Green Bay puts the Redskins in the drivers seat for the wild card seat. Chicago plays a tough one against Green Bay and an injured Jay Cutler (who will still probably play) may not be enough to top a hot Packers team making a nice comeback against the Lions last week. Seattle can easily win out if they keep playing like they are and they have a tie breaker in common games played against the Redskins. Seattle would probably need to lose two out of the next three which isn't likely. Ultimately, Chicago needs to keep losing for the Redskins to claim the wild card.
The alternative is for the Redskins to win the NFC East, which is probably easier than getting the wild card. The Redskins are one game behind the Giants and have the best division record in the NFC East. If the Giants lose to either Atlanta or Baltimore (preferably both) then the Redskins will also be in the drivers seat for the NFC East crown.
What you want to see on Sunday:
Chicago losing to Green Bay
Seattle losing to Buffalo
New York losing to Atlanta
Redskins beating Cleveland
RG3 surviving for the rest of the season
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