Rex Grossman: Rating Washington Redskins QB's Week 1 Performance

Rex Grossman logged one of the best performances of his career on Sunday, notching a 110.5 passer rating during a convincing defeat of the New York Giants. 

But important as that number may be, there's much it doesn't tell, making it difficult to assess his performance.

Grossman's Week 1 game wasn't like any other starting quarterback's opener to the NFL season. This game didn't provide him with a fresh start. It wasn't a chance to prove himself.

The Giants defense was plagued by injury and was starting a mixture of unproven rookies and ailing veterans opposite Grossman. If the veteran quarterback succeeded, there's not much to be gained in the eyes of his critics.

But if he didn't succeed, his stock could plummet to rock bottom.  

We know how it ended, though. Rex went with the former outcome and played a smart and efficient game against a team that had beaten the Redskins nine out of the past 10 meetings. 

It wasn't the Giants the Redskins are used to seeing, but let's examine how Grossman fared overall.

No Additional Pressure from New York Giants Defense

There's always a good amount of pressure that comes with being a Washington Redskins quarterback, but the New York Giants certainly didn't add much.

Grossman was at his worst in the early stages of the game, when the Giants brought extra blitzers to confound a quarterback that has melted under extra heat. After the first two drives, Grossman was out of sync, and there wasn't much of a need to deviate from that defensive gameplan. 

But for whatever reason, they did. Four-man rushes became the norm, and while they still got to Grossman, they couldn't get to him enough. Two touchdown passes and 305 yards later, the Giants defense found themselves picked apart.

A Balanced Rushing Attack Helped the Passing Game

A 2.8 yards per carry average is not something that an offense will boast.

But much credit deserves to be given to Kyle Shanahan, who despite his pass-happy scheme, stuck to balanced play calling. Grossman threw the ball 34 times and handed it off 26, giving the team a balanced ratio.

Although the Giants' defense was stout on the ground, the Redskins remained committed to the run and did not become one-dimensional. As a result, Rex Grossman saw many crowded fronts and took advantage of plenty of one-on-one coverage. Just ask Anthony Armstrong. 

(Then ask him to invest in some Stick-Em if they still make it.)

For a quarterback that loves throwing the ball deep, the frequently heavy fronts that Grossman saw left him salivating. I expect the balanced playcalling and the commitment to the run to continue in Washington.

And if it does, Grossman will be able to manage games much more easily. 

Improved Red-Zone Play

The Redskins offense has often stalled while deep in enemy territory, and last year's Week 17 matchup agaisnt the Giants with Rex at the helm showed just that.

In 2011's opener, Grossman found receivers in one-on-one but tight coverage near the goal line. Despite that, he threaded the needle for two well-executed touchdown passes to Anthony Armstrong and Jabar Gaffney.

At the end of the day, Grossman and the Redskins scored three red-zone touchdowns in four visits, It's an element of scoring efficiency that the Redskins rarely saw last season, and the momentum that could be built from that goes a long way.

Give Rex lots of credit on this one. He earned it.

Depleted New York Giants Defense

While Rex Grossman's Week 1 performance was encouraging, it's tempered by the fact that the New York Giants defense practically limped into FedEx Field on Sunday.

Grossman made smart decisions and threw with accuracy, but did it against a team that was missing Justin Tuck, Osi Umenyiora, Terrell Thomas, Prince Amukamara and Jonathan Goff to name a few. 

Although that puts a damper on things, the fact he did well shouldn't be taken away from Grossman entirely. Good quarterbacks are supposed to beat teams at their weakest, and to fault him for that would be foolish. 

But next week, Grossman will again have an intriguing matchup against an Arizona Cardinals defense that allowed over 400 passing yards in Cam Newton's NFL debut. Grossman's focus will shift from a defense crippled by injury to one crippled by embarrassment.

It was a nice performance by Grossman, and the fans have every right to enjoy it. It's just not something to read too far into yet.

After next week, the mercury on the barometer should settle enough to see what the Redskins truly have at quarterback this season.