Atlanta Falcons gets fifth straight win as Washington Redskins Struggle – NFL Recap
Washington Redskins received a couple of blows on Sunday, October 07, 2012, as they lost their Week 5 game against Atlanta Falcons, 24-17, while their rookie quarterback Robert Griffin III (RG3), the second overall pick of this year’s draft, was sidelined
after suffering concussion at FedEx Field.
The victory took Falcons’ winning streak to five games as they remain undefeated this season, atop National Football Conference (NFC) South.
RG3 was injured during the second half and replaced by Kirk Cousins. He was first taken to the sidelines where the team’s medical staff monitored him. The quarterback was later taken to the locker room.
Redskins head coach Mike Shanahan confirmed that RG3 suffered a mild concussion and that the quarterback was unable to answer some questions asked by the medical staff.
This is a great blow to the Redskins’ hopes as it is not confirmed if the rookie quarterback will be able to take the field again next week or not. RG3 will undergo some medical examinations on Monday to ascertain the exact nature of the injury.
RG3 only completed 10 of his 15 passes for 91 yards before receiving the injury. His replacement Cousins completed five of his nine attempted passes for 111 yards and scored one touchdown while throwing two interceptions.
Cousins said of his two interceptions:
“Fred Davis was who I was trying to throw to on the first one, and I just tried to pull him away from his defender and I did it too much. I needed to come to the running back over the middle--that was the proper throw, and didn’t do it obviously.”
He added:
"The second one, I was just trying to do too much. I was trying to get it all back on one play."
On the other hand, Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan completed 34 of his 52 attempted passes for 345 yards. Ryan scored two touchdowns and sent one interception.
Redskins started the game well, but they just could not maintain the momentum and succumbed to the pressure after departure of RG3.
The first quarter did not see any scoring move, while Redskins managed to gain lead in the second quarter when Ryan Kerrigan ran for 28 yards on an interception return.
Falcons levelled the score near the end of the quarter when Ryan sent a one-yard pass to Tony Gonzalez.
The third quarter saw only one scoring move as Redskins got a field goal to take the lead again.
However, the final quarter belonged to Falcons, who scored two touchdowns and a field goal, while Redskins only got one touchdown in the quarter.
Redskins (2-3) are still at the bottom of NFC East. Their running back Alfred Morris said after the game:
“There’s always room for improvement. We had the weapons; we had what it takes to be something great. After this loss, we just have to get back to the drawing board.”
Redskins will now take on Minnesota Vikings in Week 6, while Falcons will face Oakland Raiders.
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