Washington Redskins rookie signal caller Robert Griffin III certainly didn’t falter in his second game, passing for one score and running for two others. But even the former Heisman trophy winner’s efforts couldn’t hold off a hungry Rams team trying to even their season’s record in their home opener. The St. Louis Rams rallied from a 14-3 deficit to drop Washington 31-28 at St. Louis’ Edward Jones Dome on Sept. 16.
Washington, who was coming in riding high after their surprise 40-32 road victory over the New Orleans Saints last week, jumped to an early start after an inspiring first half from Griffin.
The rookie picked up where he left off in the season opener, guiding Washington to a 21-16 lead in the opening quarters. But the Rams fought back behind a 310-yard passing day from third-year quarterback Sam Bradford, who also threw for three touchdowns.
Bradford tossed for two scores after intermission after the Rams defense tightened up, limiting Washington to just one score over the final pair of quarters.
Washington had one final chance to even the score after cornerback DeAngelo Hall scooped up a fumble at the Washington 37-yard line.
But receiver Josh Morgan, a Washington, D.C. native, committed an unsportsmanlike penalty after catching a pass that pushed the ‘Skins out of position for a short field goal attempt. After Morgan caught a pass and was tackled, he threw the football at Rams cornerback Cortland Finnegan. Finnegan had pushed Morgan and he responded by throwing the ball. Unfortunately for the ‘Skins, the refs only didn’t see the push, only Morgan’s reaction and flagged him for a 15-yard penalty.
The penalty pushed an attempt at a winning farther from the goal post and kicker Billy Cundiff’s 62-yard attempt was way off the mark as the fans at the Edward Jones Dome exploded with 1:13 left.
