Washington Redskins defeated the Indianapolis Colts 30 – 17 Saturday and of course the main story lines were centered around Andrew Luck and Robert Griffin III. The quarterbacks have been linked since coming out of high school when Jim Harbuagh recruited both players to Stanford University. Luck chose to accept and Griffin decided to display his skill-set at a school not known for football – Baylor University. Griffin went on to become the 77th Heisman trophy award winner with Luck as the runner up. Then went on to go 1 – 2 in the 2012 NFL draft, with Luck going #1 overall to the Colts and Griffin #2 – bringing hope to the Washington Redskins’ fan-base.
Whether they like it or not, both Quarterbacks will forever be compared. Saturday’s match – up quite possibly could have been the most hyped and highly anticipated pre-season football game in the history of the NFL. Most young QBs can’t handle that pressure – but Luck and Griffin embraced it, putting on a show and looking like two seasoned veterans. They’re both mentally tough and put the team ahead of themselves. The game isn’t too big for them and their skill-sets aren’t too shabby either.
In all, Griffin ended the game going 11/17, 74 yards, 1 TD and a 93.8 QB rating. Luck went – 14/23, 151 yards, 1 TD and a 94.7 QB rating.
Both Quarterbacks looked poised and showed great pocket presence. They avoided pressure while keeping their eyes down field and both made quality throws outside the pocket.
Redskins’ coach, Mike Shanahan had nothing but positive things to say about Luck – “He did a great job as well. He stepped up in the pocket and made a hell of a lot of plays. We felt that we got a good feel for what they were trying to do. I was impressed with the way that he handled himself.”
Colts’ coach, Chuck Pagano shared his thoughts on Griffin after the game saying, “I am sure he’ll look at the tape; he missed some throws that he’d love to have back. He extended some plays, ran for a first down, got out on us a couple other times. He converted on third down. Third down is another area we have to do a much better job. We have to look at some things as far as that. He’s going to be a quality player for a long time.”
These are two teams and two players that will be compared throughout each player’s career, but if pre-season is any indication – the league is in good hands with Luck and Griffin.
“It come with the territory, Griffin said when asked about the “RGIII vs Luck” duel. “It’s something that you can embrace. It’s not something that you can just push away or push aside. It’s going to be there your entire careers. I didn’t play too much into it. But we
definitely wanted to come out and get a win. And the guys did a good job of going out there and supporting
their guys and getting the win for Pierre [Garçon] and myself for various reasons.”
It’s sort of funny watching Griffin and Luck talk about the fact they will be forever compared. They both try to brush it off and act like they don’t care, but as Griffin said – the team wanted to get a win for himself and former Colt’ Pierre Garçon.
When Luck was asked what he and Griffin communicated after the game – Luck nonchalantly said “Nothing earth shattering, just well wishes. We wished each other well in his New Orleans game and our season opener. Regular pleasantries, I guess.”
While it may be “regular pleasantries” for the two star QBs it’s much more than that for the media and fans. The league is Luck(y) to have Andrew and RGIII.