PHILADELPHIA — Robert Griffin III showed he can win games without using his legs. One more victory puts the Washington Redskins in the playoffs.
Griffin threw two touchdown passes in his first game back from a knee injury, Kai Forbath set the NFL record for consecutive field goals to begin a career, and the Redskins held on to beat the Philadelphia Eagles 27-20 on Sunday for their sixth consecutive victory.
Counted out by their own coach six weeks ago, the Redskins (9-6) are on the brink of their first division title in 13 years. Washington can clinch the NFC East with a victory over Dallas at home next Sunday.
The Redskins haven’t won a division title since 1999 and last reached the playoffs in 2007. They could still back into the postseason with a loss.
“We’re already onto the next one,” Griffin said. “You don’t celebrate wins at this point of the season.”
Nick Foles drove the Eagles to the Redskins 5 before his intentional grounding penalty ended the game.
Trying to play spoiler, the Eagles (4-11) fell short in what could’ve been Andy Reid’s last game coaching the team at home. Reid is unlikely to return to Philadelphia for his 15th season next year. The Eagles, who are missing the playoffs for the second consecutive year after coming in with huge expectations, finishat the New York Giants.
“I have nothing to tell you on that,” Reid said. “I’m the coach right now.”
A sprained right knee forced Griffin to miss last week’s victory at Cleveland. The rookie had a season-low four yards rushing but made several big throws to lead Washington.
“Anytime you wear a brace, it’s going to restrict your motion,” Griffin said. “It didn’t slow me down by any means. I felt like myself out there. That’s why they call me quarterback. It’s not abbreviated with running quarterback. I have to throw the ball and assist guys by handing off.”
Griffin completed 16 of 24 passes for 198 yards. He did throw the first interception made by the Eagles in nine games. They hadn’t picked off one since Week 6 against Detroit before Colt Anderson intercepted Griffin’s tipped pass in the fourth quarter.
That set up a 17-yard touchdown run by Dion Lewis that cut Washington’s lead to 27-20 midway through the fourth.
The Eagles held on defense, forced a punt and started their last drive at their 15. They were at the Washington 17 when Foles bounced a pass to Jeremy Maclin, who was open in the right corner of the end zone on third down. Foles then hit LeSean McCoy for a 12-yard gain on fourth-and-2 to the 5 with 11 seconds left. After an incompletion where Evan Moore dropped a pass near the goal line, Foles was called for grounding, and the last second was automatically run off the clock.
“In that situation, the clock is the most important thing,” Foles said. “I didn’t feel like anyone was open and was just trying to make a play. I just have to make sure the ball gets to line of scrimmage. That’s on me.”
Griffin was injured late in the fourth quarter of an overtime victory against Baltimore two weeks ago. Fellow rookie Kirk Cousins stepped in and led the Redskins to the tying and winning scores in that game and then a victory at Cleveland.
The Redskins and Eagles were both 3-6 when they met last month. Before that game, Washington Coach Mike Shanahan suggested the playoffs were out of reach and it was time to play out the string.
It may have motivated his players. The Redskins haven’t lost since, beating the Cowboys, Giants and Ravens in the process.
“They know what it means,” Shanahan said. “They’ve been working toward this opportunity to win the division. Any time you win the division, everybody knows you have a home game in the playoffs. We talked about that from Day 1. They knew what we had to do to get there. We haven’t accomplished anything yet.”
Sports, Pages 16 on 12/24/2012