Do We Want RGIII Doing This?

It’s 4th-and-four with 3:19 seconds left in what Mike Shanahan has already told his team is a must-win game. The Skins are down by 15 points — technically two scores. If they don’t convert this play, the game is over. The season is over. RGIII drops back to pass. There’s nothing there. He tucks the ball and runs up the middle for the first down marker. He’s close to it as the defense closes in on him. Instead of sliding and risking coming up short, he jumps head-first for the line to gain. He’s hit hard, spins in the air and lands two yards beyond the marker. He’s given his team a chance to win the game. To save its season. –//– Of course, that was all for naught. And as rationally minded people (editor’s note: most of us), we know the Skins season was probably already over before this game, and well before that play (which you can see at the 2:45-mark here). But in RGIII’s mind — and in the mind of his teammates — it was not. It was a potentially dangerous play, but to him, the