Santana Moss
courtesy of Keith Allison

There was a not so distant pass where if a team had the chance to tie or beat the Redskins with a last second play they would have done it. Likewise if the Redskins were given the same chance they would do nothing but fail. The 2012 season has been different in many ways for the Redskins. The first and most important is they have a franchise quarterback. The second and often overlooked aspect is they have a 25 carry a game running back. Those differences and others have been visible during the Redskins six game winning streak that continued this past Sunday against the Eagles, and every Redskins fan knows that if this had been years past that script would have been flipped.

The first and primary difference between the 2012 Redskins and any Redskins team of the recent past is RGIII. As limited as he was with the running in this game, he had a total of two carries for four yards, he was still able to move the ball through the air. Griffin for the day passed for 198 on 16 completions out of 24 attempts for two touchdowns and one interception. The interception may be partly Griffin’s fault as he did have a lot of velocity on the pass, but any time a ball touches a receiver’s hands they share in the blame.

As non-dynamic as Griffin was he still made a huge difference in this game. It was a chance for him to prove he isn’t just a running quarterback, and his third quarter touchdown pass to Santana Moss should more than do that. With Moss running towards the back corner of the end zone Griffin dropped a perfect high arching rainbow of a throw into his waiting arms. Santana Moss then made the play even better on his end by dragging his second foot in bounds as he was rapidly running out of room.

As it was noted before the game if the Redskins defense is judged by yards or points allowed then they are one of the worst in the league, but they are good at creating turnovers. The Redskins defense was able to cause Foles to fumble and throw an interception. Both of those interceptions were turned into points giving the Redskins 10 of their 27 points on the day. The fumble was even bigger than the interception as it came with the Eagles close to field goal range and possibly driving for more. So not only were the Redskins able to put points on the board for themselves they took points off the board for the Eagles meaning that fumble was a six to ten point swing.

Anyone that has watched this Redskins team compared to teams of the recent past can sense a difference. Not only is this team fun to watch, but they play an exciting brand of offensive football. The defense still needs a lot of work, but the most important thing is that the Redskins have their franchise quarterback and running back. They have pieces to build around, but that isn’t all. If the Redskins can win one more game and push their six game winning streak to a seven game one they win the division. Not one honest pre-season prediction had the Redskins in this position heading into the final week of the season, and if they get into the playoffs anything can happen, and oh by the way the Redskins week 17 opponent is Dallas. For RGIII and the Redskins you can’t script a rookie season any better.

David Huzzard

David Huzzard was born at Fairfax Hospital in 1981 and has spent his entire life in the Washington, D.C. area. He has been a fan of all the area sports teams either since he was born or since they arrived here. He is also very pleased that his hometown is a burger town.