Do RGIII, Shanahan deserve criticism?

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Lashedric Dailey
    
     Watching the close divisional playoff games, more and more I find myself thinking about last weekend’s Washington and Seattle game. The Washington redskins are under a lot of heat for the actions of Robert Griffin and Mike Shanahan.  My take on it: Can you really blame either of them?

     When you look at form a player’s point of view, what athlete ever wants to sit out of a game? Plus, this wasn’t just any ordinary game. This was a NFL playoff game, which the Redskins haven’t been to since 2007.

     Robert Griffin said it best. He was the team’s best option to win and he played until he couldn’t continue. Maybe he made the wrong choice by disobeying Dr. Andrews’s orders, but when a team trades up in the draft for a player like RGIII you expect this.

     And yes, Kirk Cousins is a good back up but he limits Washington’s offense. There are a lot of people attacking Mike Shanahan asking why he would let Griffen continue on a unstable knee.

     I for one don’t fault him at all. If a player tells you that he’s fine, why would play the backup instead of the starter? In postseason or even regular season, your job as a head coach is to put the best product on the field, which is what Shanahan did.

     This is the same coach that put Terrell Davis in the game during the Super Bowl when he was having migraines and couldn’t see. Nobody faulted Shanahan for one reason; they won.

     The statement that RGIII won’t ever be the same again is foolish to me with the advances in orthoscopic knee surgery. A player can come and be just as dominate, if not better. Look at Adrian Peterson. It’s been proven that players can come back and succeed.

     The bottom line is that players and coaches have to make tough decisions all the time and they will forever be scrutinized for them no matter the outcome.