The rookie quarterback announces his arrival in the NFL by passing for 320 yards to lead the Redskins to a 40-32 win in New Orleans. After he threw his first touchdown pass he struck the pose that became a nationwide sensation.

The Redskins built a 21-point second-quarter lead but the Bucs came all the way back and took the lead on a fourth-quarter field goal. But RG3 put together a responding drive with his arm and with his feet to move the Redskins into position for a game-winning field goal. Billy Cundiff was good from 41 yards out with three seconds left to give the Redskins the win.

With three minutes left the Redskins were clinging to a five-point lead over the Vikings. They faced third and six from their own 24. Griffin took the snap, found running room up the middle, cut to the sideline and bolted 76 yards for the clinching TD.

RG3 was not at all intimidated going into the home of the Super Bowl champion Giants. He put on a dazzling show with his arm (258 yards passing) and with his feet (89 yards rushing). On many plays he used both, especially on a fourth and ten conversion where he scrambled and dodged would-be tacklers long enough to find Logan Paulsen for a gain of 19. That drive culminated in a go-head touchdown pass to Santana Moss with 1:38 left. But the defense couldn’t hold the lead and the Redskins lost.

With the Redskins needing to run the table after their bye to have a chance to make the playoffs, they got off to a roaring start. Griffin threw just one incompletion but his stat line—14 for 15 for 200 yards, fourth touchdowns with no interceptions—still was good enough for a passer rating of 158.3, the highest attainable. It all added up to a 35-6 Redskins win.

The Redskins turned a 3-0 deficit going into the second quarter into a huge halftime lead. First RG3 launched a TD bomb to Aldrick Robinson. Later, Alfred Morris bowled into the end zone from a few yards out. Next, Griffin hit Pierre Garçon over the middle and the receiver outran the Cowboys secondary to the end zone. Then, just seconds before halftime, Griffin threw a perfect pass to Santana Moss who managed to tap both feet in the end zone. The Redskins held on to their big cushion to take the win.

It looked bad when RG3 limped out of the game with the Redskins trailing by eight in the last two minutes. But Kirk Cousins came in to save the day. First he threw a TD pass to Pierre Garçon to pull the Redskins within two. Then he took a page out of Griffin’s playbook and ran a quarterback draw for the two-point conversion to tie it up. Richard Crawford’s 68-yard punt return set up Kai Forbath’s game-winning field goal in overtime.

Kirk Cousins was struggling in his first start in place of the injured RG3. But late in the first quarter Cousins threw to Leonard Hankerson despite the fact that there were three defenders close to the receiver. The pass was perfect. Hankerson made the catch, stumbled to the ground but was able to get up and complete the 54-yard touchdown play. That sparked a big day for Cousins, who threw for 329 yards and three touchdowns.

The Redskins made the mistake of letting the lowly Eagles hang around the whole game and it looked like they might pay for it. With the Redskins up by seven, Philly drove to the Washington five with eight seconds left. But Stephen Bowen flushed Eagles QB Nick Foles out of the pocket to his left and as the defender closed in Foles’ pass fell to the turf near nobody in particular. A flag flew, intentional grounding was called, and the final second was run off of the clock.

The winner-take-all finale with the Cowboys came down to Tony Romo desperately trying to rally his team with three minutes left. With the Redskins up by three, Romo reacted to an onrushing Perry Riley by trying to loop the ball out to running back DeMarco Murray. But Rob Jackson had snuck out into the flat and he made a leaping interception. Seven plays later Alfred Morris scored the NFC East-clinching TD.