Robert Griffin III got his NFL career off to a promising start on Sunday, working his magic to defeat the New Orleans Saints 40-32 on the road.
The Heisman trophy-winning quarterback was making his first career start and made a number of explosive plays to give the Redskins an opening week victory.
"I've won a high school state championship and a bowl game in college, but to play in the NFL, the pinnacle of it all, and win your first game against a Hall of Famer in Drew Brees, it's at the top," Griffin told the Associated Press. "After the game, (Brees) told me he was proud of me. That's big for him to say after he just lost the game."
New Orleans was playing its first regular season game since head coach Sean Payton was suspended for his part in the teams bounty scandal. He will miss the entire season.
But Sunday's game was all about Griffin.
Griffin passed for 320 yards and had two touchdowns. He also finished with 42 yards rushing and a passer rating of 139.9 compared to a 70.9 for Brees. He started the game by completing eight straight passes and hit Pierre Garcon for an 88-yard touchdown to put the Redskins up 10-7.
He had a perfect passer rating through the first half of the game.
"Robert did an unbelievable job to play the way that he did in his first game in the National Football League," said Redskins coach Mike Shanahan, marveling at "the poise that he played with and some of the throws that he made."
The high-scoring affair featured a large lead from Washington that was cut down slowly by the Saints. After a one-yard run by Washington's rookie Alfred Morris and a field goal by Billy Cundiff, the Redskins were up 30-14.
Morris scored two touchdowns on the day and also had 96 yards on 28 carries.
Things got close in the third quarter when Drew Brees hit Lance Moore for a 33-yard touchdown and Darren Sproles added a two-point conversion to cut the lead to 33-25.
Washington responded with a three-minute drive that ended with another Morris touchdown to go up 40-25. The Saints scored a late touchdown to bring it to 40-32, but couldn't get close on their last possession. Brees threw a Hail Mary pass that was intercepted by Washington's Reed Doughty.
Brees finished the game with 339 yards passing and 3 touchdowns a season after he set NFL records for passing yards and completion percentage.
The Saints offense couldn't run the ball at all, gaining only 32 yards on 10 attempts. Lance Moore had six catches for 120 yards while tight end Jimmy Graham had six for 85 yards.
"It's the NFL. You better bring it every week," Brees said. "We knew the type of team they were. We knew the type of defense they were. They just came in and played better than we did, made fewer mistakes than we did, made more plays than we did."
Saints defensive end Will Smith, who was one of the players suspended in the bounty scandal, started the game after the suspensions were overturned last week by a three-member panel. Jonathan Vilma, who was previously suspended for the entire season, did not play.
Washington also won their first game last season against the eventual Super Bowl champion New York Giants, but failed to make the playoffs.
The Redskins will next take on the St. Louis Rams on Sept. 9, while the Saints will play the division rival Carolina Panthers.
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