Robert Griffin III believes a potential “Super Bowl run” could be in the cards for his former team in the Washington Commanders.
The Commanders pulled off a convincing 21-6 win over the New York Giants in their 2025 NFL season opener, stifling veteran quarterback Russell Wilson and holding him to under a 50% completion rate.
While Griffin wants to see improvement when it comes to involving Terry McLaurin more — he caught just two passes for 27 yards — he’s encouraged by their opening to the season.
“I was really encouraged by their secondary,” Griffin told Games Hub in an exclusive interview. “Mike Sainristil, Marshon Lattimore, I thought those guys really showed up. Russell couldn’t complete more than 50% of his passes and got sacked twice. I thought the connection between the defensive line and the secondary was top notch.
“If they play like that, I think Washington fans will be really, really excited about a potential Super Bowl run.”
Offensive Rookie of the Year Jayden Daniels continued his strong play from his rookie season, showing off a little bit in both the passing game and the run game. Daniels completed a touchdown pass with 7.8 yards per pass attempt to go along with 68 rushing yards in the game.
Although Daniels took three sacks early in the game, he didn’t commit a single turnover.
“They looked really strong against the New York Giants,” says Griffin. “I know the offense gave up three sacks early in the game, but really turned it around going up against Brian Burns, Dexter Lawrence, Kayvon Thibodeaux and Abdul Carter. To have that dynamic of a front and play the way that they did up front, I thought it was a very, very positive sign. I thought Jayden Daniels played really, really well. Played within the system, used his legs when he needed to.”
RGIII: Deebo Showed He’s Still A Threat
Deebo Samuel also had a nice debut as a member of the Commanders, catching seven passes for 77 yards to go along with 19 rushing yards and a touchdown. Samuel had a team-high 10 targets in the win.
“I thought they did a really nice job of getting Deebo Samuel involved early and often,” Griffin said. “Getting him the ball in multiple ways to showcase and allow defenses to know that he can still be that dynamic threat as a pass catcher out wide, in the slot, and in the backfield – also as a runner.”
Griffin was happy to see Samuel dispel the allegations that he was out of shape and slowing down.
“Deebo was getting a bad rap,” Griffin said. “People were saying he was overweight. People were saying that he wasn’t fast anymore. I think him getting into the end zone kind of showed him and them that he can still be that type of player.”
McLaurin was playing in his first game since signing a three-year contract extension worth up to $96 million. However, he only had four targets in the game. Griffin stresses that the two-time Pro Bowler needs to be more involved in the game plan.
“What I didn’t love offensively was the fact that they didn’t get ‘Scary Terry’ involved,” Griffin said. “I don’t think you pay a guy that much money to not throw him the football. He should always come out of every game with seven-to-10 targets. I look forward to seeing Kliff Kingsbury utilize him at least five plays in the first 15 plays to just get him the ball and get him involved. He’s your best player. He’s your best receiver. You can make the argument that Jayden Daniels is the best player, but ‘Scary Terry’ has to be involved if the team wants to go anywhere.”
Griffin expects the Commanders to be able to match up better with the Philadelphia Eagles this time around. The Eagles are the defending Super Bowl champs and won the NFC East last season.
While Washington did defeat Philadelphia, they did so when Jalen Hurts was injured. They were trounced by the Eagles in the NFC Championship Game, 55-23.
“It’s why you brought in a guy like Laremy Tunsil on the offensive line,” Griffin said. “Bringing that level of dominance and demeanor is what you need when you face off against the Philadelphia Eagles. I think Jayden has already proven that no moment is too big for him.”
The former Commanders quarterback once again doubles down that if Washington is to reach their full potential, they have to get their best receiver involved, McLaurin.
“If you’re going to beat the Philadelphia Eagles, Terry has to be a factor in the game to make that happen,” says Griffin. “I’m sure they see the same things. Kliff Kingsbury is an offensive-minded guy. I’m sure he’s going through it saying, ‘We got Deebo involved, but I got to find a way to keep them both engaged and involved in the game plan throughout if we’re going to score as many points as we want and be able to win against the big-time teams.'”
RGIII Talks About His Favorite Video Games
Griffin is well-remembered for his Baylor Bears tenure where he won the Heisman Trophy at the conclusion of the 2011 season. That earned him the cover of being on the NCAA Football video games series in NCAA Football ’13.
He says that he’s still a “big video game guy” to this day but mentions that he doesn’t just play the college football game and Madden — he also plays RPG-type of games.
“I love the RPG-type of games, the Dragon Age Origins, the Mass Effects, I love those games,” says Griffin “I do play Call of Duty, I’m a pretty avid Call of Duty player, also Fortnite. When it comes to the football games, I love them both. Those games are fun.”
Griffin says his favorite part of the NCAA Football video game series is playing dynasty mode. He says he still uses his alma mater, Baylor, even though it’s not easy to win in the early year, but he finds a way to go undefeated for 37 years.
“I love just getting the dynasty mode and winning 37 straight national championships, because I’m a great recruiter, and I know how to master the game in that way,” says Griffin. “It’s good football food for my brain. When it comes to actually playing the game, they’ve gotten much better at making the game a little bit more realistic from how you read the defense when you throw the ball, and if you’re late on that, it’s an interception.
“If you’re playing Heisman mode for EA or All-Madden mode on Madden, and that’s exactly what I do — I play on the hardest mode,” Griffin continues to say. “I’ve actually been impressed by that. If you go through a progression and you throw a slant late over the middle, it’s getting picked off. I can appreciate that as a quarterback.”
