Did Mike Shanahan Make a Mistake in Leaving RGIII in the Game Too Long?

The Washington Redskins got off to an early 14-0 lead, but fell apart and let Seattle score 24 straight points to advance in the playoffs. It was mainly because Robert Griffin III had an injured leg that made him feel uncomfortable in the pocket and in his running.

So, should have Redskins head coach Mike Shanahan benched RGIII for Kirk Cousins?

After all, Cousins led a game winning drive earlier in Week 14 when Griffin first injured his knee.

The battle between whether Griffin should start all started when Redskins team doctor, James Andrews said he never cleared Griffin and that his knee injury appeared much worse than it ended up being.

Shanahan said that Andrews told him that Griffin could back in a game against Baltimore on December 9. After Griffin suffered the injury, he went back into the game for four plays in a lot of pain.

Andrews had said that Griffin passed all of his tests, but he was still recovering from the knee injury.

Yesterday, Griffin re-injured his knee again on a play when he took off running in the red zone, and got up and limped back to the huddle and stay in the game in the first half. In the fourth quarter, Griffin would be done after fumbling and crumbing to the ground.

This situation makes you wonder where the blame is? Is it on Shanahan for putting Griffin on the field when he wasn't fully healthy and why don't more coaches listen to the doctors when they warn the players may be at more risk at playing?

The obvious response is that Griffin did pass all his of tests, and he is the reason the Redskins have found their success. So, why not put him out there? After all the doctor isn't the coach, and Shanahan felt like Griffin gave the Redskins the best chance to win.

However, Griffin is only a rookie, and it could spur long term damage.

I believe that the NFL needs to step in and evaluate players that are injured tougher, and with more risks. The doctors know more about if the players should play or not than the coaches.