For the first five drives of Sunday's game against the Cowboys, the Redskins could not score. In fact, they could barely move the ball. It was only after they were gift-wrapped great field position that they could get into the end zone.
Also, it was the point they began to open up the offense. Focusing on the run and short passes to start the game, the Redskins could not move the ball. At the point Washington first got on the board, on a four-yard draw play by Rex Grossman, they had run 12 times for 29 yards.
On the 32-yard drive, Grossman hit wide receiver David Anderson down the left sideline for a perfectly-placed pass and diving catch, impossible to defend for Orlando Scandrick. Even on their scoring drive, it had taken five plays to gain nine yards on the ground, the scoring chunk coming when the Cowboys were caught off guard by Grossman keeping the ball.
For the game, Washington only gained 60 yards on 24 carries, a 2.5-yard average.
Against the Eagles, Seahawks and Bills, the Cowboys combined to allow 436 yards on the ground, giving up 5.1 yards per carry. The Cowboys defense may be catching some heat for their performance Sunday, but they were much improved in that aspect of the game, and area of concern for three weeks in a row.
It's worth noting that the Redskins are a bad running team, ranked 30th in the league in yards per game. However, the Seahawks are 27th, so this was a measure of progress.
"I thought our defense did a really good job just continuing to battle throughout the ball game," Jason Garrett said. "Early on in the game they really created a number of different stops. Then as the game wore on, Washington kept plugging away, they made some throws in the passing game, but I thought our guys just hung in there, kept battling and that's what you have to do."
