For Washington, Strong Showing from RG3 as Important as Win in Week 17

There are few things quite as intense as the rivalry between the Washington Redskins and the Dallas Cowboys. The Redskins host the Cowboys to finish their disappointing season and are looking to go out on a high note.

However appealing an outright win over Dallas may be for Washington, they need a strong performance from quarterback Robert Griffin III just as much.

In eight games this season, Griffin has been largely ineffective and wholly inconsistent. He got injured in the second week of the season, which gave way to Kirk Cousins starting five games. Cousins threw nine interceptions in those five starts and lost his job to Colt McCoy.

McCoy provided a spark for the Redskins, but a neck injury led to Griffin getting yet another opportunity this season.

Save for his solid outing against Minnesota, Griffin looked out of sorts in November. From a numbers standpoint, he averaged 188 passing yards per game, 7.13 yards per attempt and 10.85 yards per completion.

For comparison, Cousins and McCoy averaged roughly 277 yards per game, 8.33 yards per attempt and 12.75 yards per completion.

In short, Griffin was completing passes, but he wasn't moving the offense the way he should.

Perhaps he was still adjusting to the offense, or recovering from the dislocated ankle he suffered in the second week of the season. Regardless, Griffin wasn't making plays and the offense was sputtering with him under center.

His performance, however, was often critiqued as separate and without relation to the offensive line or the play-calling.

Numbers may show that the offensive line is only responsible for half of the sacks this season, but that's still 23 sacks they are directly accountable for allowing, and Griffin has endured 30 total in just eight games.

Darron Cummings/Associated Press

There is no denying, Griffin has looked off at times this season. He failed to score a touchdown in the season opener, looked lost against Tampa Bay and was utterly abused against San Francisco.

Then he got some action against St. Louis when McCoy was knocked out of the game. He completed three of four passes for 33 yards and looked a little less like a fish out of water leading the offense.

Over the last two weeks, he has looked even better.

He didn't get the start against New York two weeks ago, but he played most of the game. He started the game a perfect 6-of-6 for 75 yards and a touchdown. He closed out the first half with a daring rushing touchdown that was overturned.

The Redskins should have come out in the second half guns blazing, but they didn't and ultimately lost the game, 24-13.

But Griffin looked better than he had at any other point in the season. Downside is that he took seven sacks in that game.

Fast forward to this past week, the victory over the Philadelphia Eagles. It wasn't pretty, and the defense tried its best to give the game away, but the offense looked less and less like a flaming heap of garbage.

Griffin was efficient, even with the interception. He hit two deep passes to DeSean Jackson, he led two scoring drives off of missed field-goal attempts by Eagles kicker Cody Parkey.

When the offense was balanced, Griffin was clicking with his receivers and making the right throws.

Over the last two weeks, Griffin has averaged 228 passing yards per game, 9.12 yards per attempt and 13 yards per completion.

Patrick Semansky/Associated Press

Again, for comparison, that's on par with his rookie season averages, though the touchdowns haven't been quite as abundant.

What the Redskins need out of this season-ending rivalry game is another positive performance from Griffin. He doesn't have to play like he did as a rookie in Week 12 when he threw four touchdowns in a 38-31 shootout against the Cowboys.

What we've seen him do over the last two weeks is get into a rhythm. He has hit his receivers and actually made some reads.

Against Dallas, he needs to take that next step forward. He needs to turn that rhythm, that chemistry with his receivers, into points.

It is sad to see so much pressure put on Griffin when the rest of the team has been equally as disappointing. The defense has given 26.3 points per game, the play-calling has favored the pass over the run when the opposite has always been more successful in Washington.

If Griffin can follow up a solid performance with a strong finish to the season, it shows he is capable of progressing as a player.

He may not be a perfectly polished pocket passer by the time the 2015 season starts, but he'll have a better grasp of his responsibilities in the offense.

Jay Gruden has been guaranteed his job to start next season. That same certainty hasn't been afforded RGIII. He needs to show up in Dallas to show he isn't washed up at the ripe old age of 24. That he is every bit the franchise player he was drafted to be.

Griffin needs to win his job for 2015 and beyond, and a good game against Dallas would go a long way toward that.

A win over the Cowboys is always sweet, but it would ever that much sweeter for Griffin to be the catalyst for that victory.