The Morning After: Seahawks Eliminate Redskins

RGIII's 4th quarter injury took him out of the
game for good. (Sporting News/AP photo)

We all needed a night to let it sink in.  After the Washington Redskins jumped out to a quick 14-0 start, Robert Griffin III tweaked his injured knee in the second quarter.  He would try to play the rest of the game to no avail, unable to score as the Seattle Seahawks crept back before halftime.  The defense was able to hold on to a 14-13 lead until the fourth quarter, when the Seahawks finally pulled away, followed closely by RGIII being taken out of the game for good after re-injuring his knee again.  The final score was 24-14.

That's what you can get from the newspapers.  Reactions last night were a mix of disappointment from the game and RGIII's injury and gratitude for this unexpectedly successful season.  In true Day 2 fashion, today will be about one thing: blame.

Blame will be fairly equally distributed:

• RGIII's injury
• Mike Shanahan for not taking him out of the game sooner
• RGIII for not taking himself out of the game
• Blown calls against the Seahawks
• Kirk Cousins for not scoring 10 points in the final 6 minutes
• Redskins receivers for missed catches throughout the second half

That's what the next day is for: deconstruction.  With a loss, that unfortunately means blame.  Amidst the negativity surrounding today (whether deserved or not) there are two important things to keep in mind.

1. The Redskins did much better this season than anyone anticipated
2. Both RGIII and Alfred Morris are rookies, meaning they are key pieces the Redskins will be able to build around for years to come.

This was never supposed to be the Redskins' year.  RGIII's insane talent tricked everyone out of that mindset.  When Shanahan said that he was going to take the rest of this season to see what his players were made of going into Week 10, everyone jumped down his throat saying that he had given up.  To the contrary, he found out exactly what his players were made of.  And now there is an entire offseason to continue to build the team.

In Redskins World, this is brightest time for the franchise in years.