In another sign that Robert Griffin III is not the same player he was as a rookie before blowing out his knee, the Giants said after Sunday night’s win in Washington that stopping running back Alfred Morris -- not Griffin -- was the focal point of their defense.
“We thought going into the game the cowbell was Alfred Morris,” Giants middle linebacker Jon Beason told the Star-Ledger. “You look at when he has a big game vs. when he doesn’t have a big game, even when RG3 has a big game, they don’t do too well. He’s the guy that makes them go.”
That approach worked: Griffin had a season-high 88 rushing yards and also had decent passing numbers (24-for-32 for 207 yards with a touchdown and no interceptions), but Morris was limited to just 11 carries for 26 yards, and New York’s defense shut down Washington’s offense for most of the game.
“Fortunately for us [Sunday night], we were able to take Alfred out of the game,” Giants defensive end Justin Tuck said. “RG hurt us in the first half running the football, but that was design by us to make sure we took Alfred out of the game. We didn’t think RG was going to be as good as he was in the first half. Second half we came in and did some adjustments, and were able to stop that a little bit.”
And stopping Morris is the key to stopping Washington’s offense.