With the Redskins trailing by a point and needing a field goal to win, Robert Griffin III remained calm and continued to make plays. Even though, the headset in his helmet failed.
The NFL Draft's second overall selection drove the Redskins down the field in the last minute Sunday, providing Billy Cundiff an opportunity to redeem himself for bad day kicking with a 42-yard field goal that helped Washington break a two-game slide with a 24-22 win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
"The whole drive was a little complicated," said Griffin, who completed 26 of 35 passes for 323 yards and no interceptions.
"In practice every week, we always practice me calling the plays in two-minute, acting as if the headset goes out. The funny thing was the headset did go out on that drive. That's why I was having to run back and forth to the sideline," Griffin added. "I had to call a couple of my own plays, and we moved the chains and got in field goal range. It was very neat how that practice situation, that practice scenario, actually played out in the game."
Cundiff missed three earlier tries, including a 31-yarder that would have given Washington (2-2) a two-score lead early in the fourth quarter. He also missed attempts of 41 and 57 yards in the first half but was on target after Griffin completed four passes and ran for a 15-yard gain to put the Redskins in a position to win.
"We all had a feeling he was going to make it even though the day wasn't so great for him," Griffin said. "He came up big when it mattered. ...We all have things that we have to get better at. For him, that was a good confidence kick, seeing that he didn't make the rest of them."
Tampa Bay (1-3) erased an 18-point deficit to take a 22-21 lead on Connor Barth's third field goal, a 47-yarder with 1:42 left.
However, Griffin wasn't done. He completed three consecutive passes to take the Redskins from their own 20 to the 41, then navigated through the Bucs defense on a timely run to the 26. Cundiff kicked the game-winning field goal with three seconds left.
"It is tough. You have to remember that this place isn't sold out, but whoever is there is essentially reminding me how bad I performed earlier in the game, to put it nicely," Cundiff said. "In order to really find out a lot about yourself, I really feel like you have to be tested."
