September 9, 2012 7:06 p.m.
Griffin, the Heisman Trophy winner and No. 2 overall draft pick, made good on all of the hype surrounding him, throwing for more yards than any rookie in a season opener except for Cam Newton, who rolled up 422 yards last year in a Week 1 loss at Arizona.
Griffin completed his first eight passes, including one to Pierre Garcon for an 88-yard touchdown, the Redskins’ longest pass play in 35 years. His passer rating was a gaudy 139.9, and he triumphed on a day when the Saints’ Drew Brees threw for 339 yards and three touchdowns.
“I’ve won a high school state championship and a bowl game in college,” said Griffin, who also threw a five-yard scoring pass to Aldrick Robinson in the second quarrter. “But to play in the NFL, the pinnacle of it all, and to win your first game against a Hall of Famer in Drew Brees, it’s at the top.
“After the game, [Brees] told me he was proud of me. That’s big for him to say after he just lost the game.”
It’s official
With the regular game officials still locked out, replacements worked the games with varying levels of effectiveness.
An official threw — then picked up — a flag at Green Bay when Packers returner Randall Cobb ran back a punt 75 yards for a touchdown. The call appeared to be for a block in the back by the Packers and would have nullified the touchdown. When the flag was picked up, San Francisco Coach Jim Harbaugh looked as if his head might pop.
In Tennessee, the Titans weren’t happy about three non-calls on what they thought should have been pass interference. Coach Mike Munchak said there will always be calls that aren’t made by officials, whether the regulars or replacements are on the field.
In Houston, referee Don King drew laughter when he called a penalty on “Texas,” but that could happen to anybody.
Shannon Eastin became the first woman to officiate a regular-season game, working as a line judge in the Rams–Lions game.
Outer limits
Hello, Canton. Clear a space for David Akers‘ shoe.
The San Francisco kicker booted a 63-yard field goal at Green Bay, the ball doinking the crossbar and just popping over, to tie the league record shared by Tom Dempsey, Jason Elam and Sebastian Janikowski.
The kick was a good omen for the 49ers, who won at Lambeau Field, 30-22, in what could be a preview of the NFC championship game.
Sunday, he showed what he couldn’t do.
He was incapable of pulling himself from a wild-card playoff game against Seattle — Redskins coaches couldn’t, either — and the results were stomach-turning. Washington lost, 24-14, and Griffin suffered an injury to his already weakened right knee, which with 6 minutes 19 seconds left bent in an unnatural way as he chased a low shotgun snap.
After several minutes on his back, Griffin was able to hobble off the field unassisted. He made a beeline for the locker room, the packed house at FedEx Field somberly chanting his name.
“I think I did put myself at more risk by being out there,” he said. “But every time you step out on the football field, you’re putting your life, your career, every single ligament in your body in jeopardy. So that’s just the approach I take being out there. My teammates needed me out there, so I was out there for them.”
On the play in question, the Seahawks recovered the ball at Washington’s five-yard line. They wound up kicking a 22-yard field goal for their 24th unanswered point after falling behind, 14-0, in the opening quarter.
Knocked back on their heels by consecutive Redskins touchdown drives, the Seahawks responded with a smothering defense and typically impressive play by rookie quarterback Russell Wilson, who burned the Redskins with his feet and his arm.
Wilson completed 15 of 26 passes for 187 yards and a touchdown, and added 67 yards in eight carries.
Seattle’s Marshawn Lynch rushed for a game-high 132 yards in 20 carries, including a 27-yard touchdown run that gave Seattle its first lead, the only one it would require.
“It’s a big comeback,” said Seahawks Coach Pete Carroll, whose team ended Washington’s seven-game winning streak. “The setting of this crowd, and as much momentum as they had, it’s a marvelous statement. It ain’t about how you start, but it’s about how you finish, and we’ve been saying that forever.”
Of the four teams that won games on wild-card weekend, Seattle was the only visiting team to walk away victorious.
Griffin was wearing a brace on the knee because of a ligament sprain he had suffered in December, one that sidelined him for 11/2 games. Further, he had tweaked the knee on a pass in the first quarter, and he wasn’t his typical speedy, graceful self after that.
While the Seahawks are moving on to play at Atlanta in a divisional game, the Redskins are heading into the unknown, with their star player limping and questions about the judgment of their coach — why did Mike Shanahan keep him in the game? — that won’t soon go away.
In a league that preaches that the health and safety of players is paramount, the injury to Griffin was a nationally televised example of how words and deeds are not always in lock step. Shanahan sounded conflicted as he spoke to reporters after the game, not knowing the severity of his quarterback’s injury.
“I talked to Robert throughout the whole game, trying to get a gut [feeling], trying to let him know that it was all right if he was injured, that there was nothing wrong with that,” the coach said. “But you’ve got to do what’s best for the football team. [He was] very strong, very adamant. Doesn’t mean you’re right in not taking him out, I’m just saying that his personality has that type of mind-set. . . . You appreciate that toughness.”
In an eye-opening revelation that surfaced before the game, Dr. James Andrews, a renowned surgeon, told USA Today that he had never cleared Griffin to return to the Dec. 9 game against Baltimore, when the quarterback was first injured. In the immediate aftermath of that injury, Shanahan told reporters that Andrews, who was on the sideline, had given his blessing to Griffin’s reentering.
Griffin limped off the field for one play that day, then returned for four before leaving again when it was clear he couldn’t continue.
After Sunday’s game, Shanahan clarified the situation from the game a month earlier.
“At that time, I looked over at Dr. Andrews and he said, ‘Yeah, he’s OK to go back in,'” Shanahan said. “Of course, I’m sitting there trying to evaluate [backup quarterback] Kirk Cousins and our plays, so if somebody says, ‘He’s OK.’ Well, what Dr. Andrews was talking about, and I talked to him today, he said, ‘Hey, Robert came around, he started showing us that he could run. He was sprinting around, and then he just took off. I figured he was OK. I hadn’t gone through a thorough examination until after the game.'”
To his Redskins teammates, Griffin’s stubborn inability to remove himself from the game until he absolutely couldn’t continue was a testament to his toughness and dedication, and an example of the widespread ethos in a sport in which there’s always someone over your shoulder who’s angling for your job.
Asked if players are willing to mortgage their futures to stay on the field now, Redskins tight end Logan Paulsen said: “It’s hard to keep that perspective, I guess. Because in that moment you’re like, ‘I don’t want to let anybody down. I don’t want to let the team down.’ It’s hard.
“I feel like in some ways coaches need to help a guy like that to say, ‘Hey, let’s live to fight another day.'”
using the number/letter grid:
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
A B C D E F G H I
J K L M N O P Q R
S T U V W X Y Z
Where:
A = 1 J = 1 S = 1
B = 2 K = 2 T = 2
C = 3 L = 3 U = 3
D = 4 M = 4 V = 4
E = 5 N = 5 W = 5
F = 6 O = 6 X = 6
G = 7 P = 7 Y = 7
H = 8 Q = 8 Z = 8
I = 9 R = 9
RG3
973 19
his path of destiny = 19 = It’s his time to shine. Proud of his hard earned success. Front and center.
[When his number comes up, that’s when he gets to live/experience what he is here to live/experience. The path of destiny for RG3 is 19 and this is his 19 personal year. So this was HIS year!!!]
using the number/letter grid:
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
A B C D E F G H I
J K L M N O P Q R
S T U V W X Y Z
Where:
A = 1 J = 1 S = 1
B = 2 K = 2 T = 2
C = 3 L = 3 U = 3
D = 4 M = 4 V = 4
E = 5 N = 5 W = 5
F = 6 O = 6 X = 6
G = 7 P = 7 Y = 7
H = 8 Q = 8 Z = 8
I = 9 R = 9
Robert Lee Griffin III
RLG
937 19
his primary need (the sum of his initials) = 19 = It’s his time to shine. Proud of his hard earned success. Front and center.
[When his number comes up, that’s when he gets to live/experience what he is here to live/experience. His primary need is 19 and this is his 19 personal year. So this was HIS year!!!]
his salvation/undoing number = LG = 37 = Heartfelt. Heart-centered leader. Putting his heart into it. Playing his heart out. Deeply emotional. Emotional roller coaster.
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Each letter of the first name rules 9 years of life. Ages 0 to 27 are ruled by the sum of the first three letters of the name.
Robert Lee Griffin III
18 (R is the 18th letter of the alphabet) + 15 (o is the 15th letter of the alphabet) + 2 (b is the 2nd letter of the alphabet) = 35
So the number 35 rules his first twenty-seven years of life.
35 = Quarterback. Strength in adversity.
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Sex Numerology available at:
https://www.createspace.com/3802937
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discover some of your own numerology for FREE at:
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learn numerology from numerologist to the world, Ed Peterson:
https://www.createspace.com/3411561
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predictions for the year 2013 are at:
numerology behind the news 