Written by DCist contributor Don Pitz

After the Washington Redskins’ Week 3 home loss to the Cincinatti Bengals, fans were left with some issues to try to drink away. Most of the informed discussion on sports talk radio and elsewhere has been hand-wringing concern over their star rookie quarterback, Robert Griffin III. Even he admitted that he’s been taking too many hits, having been sacked six times in the team’s loss to the Bengals. The offensive line must do a better job protecting their quarterback, but the blame also falls to the coaching staff calling option plays or designed runs that put him at risk of injury.

Another issue is their defense giving up 478 yards to the Bengals. Though RGIII has transformed their once-anemic offense to one that is now ranked fourth in total points and third in total yards, the Redskins’ defense has been giving up too many big plays, particularly in the secondary.

For the second week in a row, the team blew a last-minute drive with mistakes and penalties. Offensive Coordinator Kyle Shanahan was the one who drew a 15-yard penalty for going on the field and berating a replacement official over whether or not there would be a 10-second runoff for a false start penalty to end the game. Shanahan received a $25,000 fine for his actions. Just what did he say to the ref to draw that big of a fine? The world may never know. By comparison, this writer received that large of a fine for selling bootleg DVDs right outside the FBI building. So, whatever he did must have been about that bad.

The Redskins and their fans would have to bring these issues unresolved to Tampa Bay, to face off against the Buccaneers, or, as the drunk at the end of the bar with the slovenly shoulders kept calling them, “the Suck-aneers”. (It was clever the first 20 times.) The back story on the Bucs is that their new hard-nosed coach Greg Schiano has been catching beef from others around the league because he had his defense go after Eli Manning while he was taking a kneel-down in the Giants’ victory formation two weeks ago.

During the pre-game warmups, Redskins safety Brandon Meriweather and receiver Aldrick Robinson had a disastrous accidental collision, leaving them inactive before the game. A scary moment before kickoff portended bad news for the rest of the game.

Regardless, the Redskins did a much better job protecting Griffin this game—he was sacked only twice. Perhaps more importantly, they called fewer option plays and designed runs. He still ran the ball seven times for 43 yards and a touchdown, but most of those runs had him going out of bounds instead of taking a risky hit. He completed 26 of his 35 pass attempts for 323 yards, with no turnovers.

But this game came down to the success (or lack thereof) of another man: kicker Billy Cundiff. Cundiff went down the path of Scott Norwood and Ray Finkle when he shanked an easy field goal to lose the game for the Ravens in the AFC Championship game last season. So, of course, that’s the kind of guy the Redskins would want as their kicker.

While the Redskins went about building up a 21-6 lead at the half, they really could have put the game away had it not been for Cundiff—he missed three field goal attempts. The Bucs battled from behind to take a 22-21 lead with less then two minutes to play. Griffin was once again given the opportunity to lead his team to a last-chance victory. He showed a lot of poise yet again, calling some plays on his own because he lacked a functioning headset.

With 18 seconds to go in the game, they had driven to the Buccaneers 26-yard line. Then, they drew a false-start penalty. Redskins fans had to be dreading the deja vu of past mistakes. Griffin resolved that with a seven-yard pass to set up a 41-yard field goal attempt for Cundiff. This time, the laces were out. The kick sailed through the uprights. The Redskins won the game, 24-22.

It was a celebratory affair at The House on Georgia Avenue after the game. The ne’er-do-wells were, ummm—they were doing well. The Redskins fans there were happy to finally experience what it’s like to watch a franchise quarterback drive their team to a fourth-quarter victory. Nothing resolves issues like winning.