Robert Griffin III gave the Redskins fans, and more importantly coaches, reason to be hopeful after a strong performance in Sunday’s 27-24 victory over the Eagles. Griffin was far from perfect, but he was much improved from the gun-shy, indecisive quarterback we saw against Tampa Bay and San Francisco who got himself benched for back up Colt McCoy.

From his very first throw of the game, we saw a more confident and decisive Griffin in the pocket.

Griffin’s first pass was a simple timing route, a quick five-yard out to DeSean Jackson.

Griffin starts to throw at the top of his drop, before Jackson has fully made his break towards the sideline.

It was a simple throw. But getting his footwork right and timing his release with the break of the wide receiver is something Griffin has struggled with all season. He’s always been a quarterback that waits the extra second to see the receiver run open, instead of anticipating him breaking open.

So while that five-yard out route was a basic play, it helped Griffin get into a rhythm early that he had failed to find all season. That early rhythm was huge in helping Griffin play from within the pocket. Too often this season, Griffin has either stayed with his first read too long and missed another open receiver or had an open receiver but waited the extra second before pulling the trigger. That has led to Griffin taking a lot more sacks than he should have. But against the Eagles, he was much quicker in his decision making.

Here, Griffin has wide receiver Andre Roberts running a 10-yard dig route. But Roberts isn’t the first read in the progression of the play.

Griffin looks to his left as he takes his drop.

Not liking what he sees, Griffin quickly moves back to his right and spots Roberts about to make his cut towards the middle of the field.

Griffin doesn’t hesitate, pulling the trigger and finding Roberts over the middle for a first down. Griffin did a good job getting the ball out at the right time, taking a hit a fraction of a second after he released the ball. The Griffin that played against Tampa Bay probably holds on to that ball and takes an unnecessary sack. But here, he gets rid of it and picks up a first down.

The other big criticism I’ve had of Griffin this season has been allowing his running instinct to take over, often scrambling from the pocket much earlier than he needed too. But against Philadelphia, he was much improved in this aspect. Jay Gruden and the Redskins want Griffin to use his running ability, but only when all other options have been exhausted or if the play breaks down. That’s exactly what Griffin did against the Eagles.

This was a play-action pass involving Pierre Garcon running a deep skinny post, while tight end Niles Paul runs a corner route.

As Griffin reaches the top of his drop, he has a rusher charging him down off the edge. A few weeks ago, Griffin might panic and try to retreat backwards and ultimately take a sack. But here, Griffin stays poised and steps up in the pocket to elude the rusher.

After avoiding the rush and stepping up in the pocket, Griffin takes a second to check his two receiving options. Garcon has a corner on his inside hip with a safety over the top, while Paul gets jammed by the linebacker. With all of his options exhausted, Griffin then decides to take off running.

Most importantly, Griffin does a good job sliding to avoid taking a big hit. He picks up seven yards on this play.

These were all promising plays from Griffin in which he showed some improvement from earlier in the season. But perhaps his most impressive throw, in my eyes, was an incomplete pass.

This time, Griffin and the Redskins found themselves in a third-and-20 situation. Washington has been terrible in third and long this season, with Griffin partially responsible for that. But on this play, Washington has Roberts, lined up closest to the formation on the three-receiver side, run a deep corner route.

Griffin’s anticipation has been almost non-existent this year. But on this play, Griffin hits the top of his drop, takes his hitch step and then pulls the trigger. He anticipates Roberts breaking outside and knows if the ball is placed correctly and delivered on time, he can throw Roberts open.

Griffin delivers a perfect throw, flicking it out effortlessly 20 yards down the field to where only his receiver can make a play on the ball. Unfortunately, Roberts couldn’t make the most of the throw, getting both hands on the ball but dropping it.

While it’s important not to overreact to one throw, it does demonstrate what Griffin is capable of. He proved against the Eagles that he is capable of doing the things Gruden asks of him; making quick decisions, getting the ball out on time, scrambling only when he’s exhausted all other options. Those are the fundamentals that are key to running the Gruden offense successfully. He has to work hard to keep improving those aspects of his game to prove he can be the franchise quarterback Washington so desperately needs him to be.

But when he gets those aspects of his game right, as he did against Philadelphia, he can get into a rhythm and Gruden can begin to dial up the big plays to make use of Griffin’s biggest strength, his deep passing.

This was the first deep shot to Jackson. The Eagles play an aggressive coverage, with just a single deep safety. Jackson lines up at the top of the picture, running a go route.

From the snap, Griffin fakes the quick throw to his left, getting the deep safety to move more towards the middle of the field.

Griffin then comes back across the middle, pausing to look to tight end Niles Paul running open across the middle. Griffin could have taken this pass to Paul, but knows he has Jackson running deep down the sideline. He stays on Paul long enough to get the safety to bite on it, leaving Jackson one-on-one.

Griffin catches the deep safety out of position and pulls the trigger to Jackson.

Griffin throws a perfect pass, dropping it over the shoulder and hitting Jackson in stride for a 51-yard reception.

Griffin went back to Jackson late in the third quarter.

Once again, the Eagles play with just a single high safety.

Griffin doesn’t fake to his left, but instead keeps his eyes down the middle of the field, freezing the safety there.

When Griffin does look outside to Jackson and make his move to throw, the deep safety is outside the far hashmarks. He has no chance of making up the ground, leaving Jackson to just run past the cornerback.

I’m a little picky with Griffin’s throw here, because the pass tails off towards the sidelines. Jackson has a yard on his defender. If Griffin throws it out in front, Jackson can run under it and take it in for a touchdown. But Griffin’s throw leads Jackson to the sideline.

Jackson is the best in the NFL at what he does. He tracks the deep pass perfectly, making the catch. But the pass is too far outside and Jackson’s momentum takes him out of bounds. Obviously a 55-yard catch is a big play and the Redskins were happy with it. But a better throw gets Washington a 70-yard touchdown. The Redskins scored a few plays later, so it ended up being irrelevant. But I’d still like to see Griffin make the adjustment next time.

One of the few criticisms I had of Griffin in this game came on his third deep shot to Jackson.

Washington has both Jackson and Garcon run go routes with the Eagles sticking to their single deep safety.

Griffin looks to his left and even pump-fakes in that direction. Like the first deep shot we saw, Griffin is trying to get the deep safety to bite and give Jackson more room to work with. But this time, the safety is cheating to Jackson’s side.

The pump-fake doesn’t work, but Griffin makes the decision to throw to Jackson anyway, when Garcon had a step on his corner and the safety was playing Jackson’s side.

Griffin underthrows the pass and the safety is able to make up the ground and intercept the ball.

That was one of the only throws I took an issue with. Overall, Griffin put in a strong performance in what was a crucial game for his future with the Redskins. He displayed a much better command of the offense and had a better understanding of the style of quarterback that Gruden wants. The interception shows he wasn’t perfect. Griffin has to now use this as his foundation to build from. He has to continue to work hard in the film room and continue to improve. But the big positive for the Washington Redskins organization and fan base is that Griffin showed he is capable, once again, of being the franchise quarterback.

Mark Bullock is The Insider’s Outsider, sharing his Redskins impressions without the benefit of access to the team. For more, click here or here.