Indianapolis, Ind. - Sunday's matchup between the Redskins and Colts was to be a head-to-head battle between the first- and second-overall picks at the 2012 NFL Draft.
Until Wednesday morning, it was scheduled as such.
Redskins head coach Jay Gruden said Tuesday that Robert Griffin (the second pick) would start for the team to face Andrew Luck (the first) and the Colts.
Though not without some stern criticisms of his recent performance since returning from a dislocated ankle, including an 106 yard passing effort in a 17-13 defeat to the 49ers.
"It's unheard of in this day and age with the receivers we have, and we have to figure out something," Gruden said after that game.
Griffin went 0-3 since coming back and was sacked 16 times. His last victory for the team came in Week 9 of the 2013 season and he has gone 4-14 in the previous two year.
Enter Colt McCoy, responsible for two of the team's three victories.
"My job is to do everything we can to win," Gruden said of the decision to start McCoy. "At this time, I just feel Colt gives us a better opportunity."
McCoy is the only passer on the Redskins roster to start, complete, and win an entire contest for the team (3-8), a 20-17 Monday night overtime victory at the Cowboys. He entered the second half of a 19-17 win over the Titans a week before in relief of Kirk Cousins and threw a 70 yard touchdown pass to Pierre Garcon on his first snap.
It may be safe to say 2012's first pick has found his way in the game to a better degree than that year's second pick.
Andrew Luck currently holds the best marks in football for passing yards (3,641) and passing per game (323.1 ypg). His 29 touchdowns are the 3rd-best in the game though has thrown the fifth-most interceptions (10).
Numbers that have Redskins defensive-coordinator Jim Haslett impressed.
"He's one of the best I've seen in the league," Haslett said of Luck this week. "He gets the ball out of his hands. Things don't bother him. He knows where to go with the ball."
Haslett shared how, even after defenses seem to contain the Colts' offense by getting to the quarterback and stalling drives, Luck would burn them shortly after with long pass plays.
"He'll take a hit, and it doesn't really affect him," Haslett added, whose pass defense is 8th league-wide (230.3 ypg).
That toughness, however, has recently gone against the Colts in the red zone, who average 19th in the game inside the 20 (.532 pct).
An average that may tumble further Sunday as the Colts (7-4) are expected to miss tight end Dwayne Allen (ankle) and tailback Ahmad Bradshaw (fractured leg). Trent Richardson and Daniel Herron will feature in the Indy backfield against Washington's 9th-ranked run-stop (100.7 ypg).
Allen and Bradshaw combined for 12 of the Colts' 25 red zone touchdowns this season, and without them last week hosting Jacksonville, they converted only 1-of-5 trips in the Jags' 20.
And all of Bradshaw's 8 touchdowns this season came in the red zone, 6 through the air, and the same number overall inside the opponents' 10.
"You want to score touchdowns in the red zone," Luck said of the team's effiency there. "We need to. We haven't done a good job the past few weeks."
Alfred Morris features in the Redskins' backfield and heads the league's 16th-best rushing offense (112 ypg). And Washington averages 24.2 rushing attempts per game, which may spell trouble for the Colts should that number hold up.
Indianapolis is 0-4 this season when allowing 25 carries from opposing backs, who in those contests averaged 148 yards in victory. In their first two games this year, both defeats to Denver and Philadelphia, the Colts allowed 32 and 38 rushes respectively, the latter for 169 yards.
"I've been playing this game since I was 5, I know how to be a runner," Morris said this week, who is averaging better than 5 yards per carry in the last two weeks after averaging 3.86 in his eight outings before then.
"Each week has been getting better and better."
Though perhaps not better enough to down the host Colts
Colts 38, Redskins 24
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