ARLINGTON, Texas — Trent Williams was hunched over in his locker stall inside AT&T Stadium, lacing up glittering green sneakers that complemented his suit’s emerald hue. Nearly all of his Washington Redskins teammates had departed the room, pulling their wheeled luggage toward the buses parked around the bend on the lower concourse, but Williams, the team’s offensive captain, took his time savoring the moment.
The Redskins had defeated the Dallas Cowboys, 20-17, on the road in overtime, marking the first time they had won two consecutive games since late in the 2012 season, equaling their win total from a year ago and snapping a streak of eight consecutive losses against NFC East opponents.
Furthermore, they had done so with Colt McCoy, who began the season as the third-string quarterback, making his first start in nearly three years, and they had toppled a team that, with six victories in its first seven games, was considered the surprise of the league.
“As you’ve seen tonight, you can’t win a game before you play it,” Williams said, roughly 45 minutes after the game had ended. “I know everybody counted us out of this one. I understand. Believe me, I understand. But we’ve definitely got to take it one game at a time, man, and keep stringing together some wins.”
Just over two weeks ago, the Redskins were in a tailspin, opening their season with losses in five of their first six games. They were continuously undone by the same mistakes — turnovers, penalties, failed execution — and the steady attrition of marquee players because of injury, commonplace in the NFL, tested the depth that the team thought it had addressed during the offseason.
The Redskins’ resolve was tested on Oct. 19, when they addressed some of those issues and scratched their way out of a one-point halftime deficit to defeat Tennessee. Then on Monday, they sufficiently shored up other concerns in an impressive victory over the Cowboys, giving them a tangible understanding that they are improving.
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“We wanted to come out against Tennessee and get a win, and then obviously come out and compete against Dallas on ’Monday Night Football’ and prove that we aren’t dead, you know?” coach Jay Gruden said Tuesday. “We still have a pulse, our heart is still beating, and we have a lot to play for still. And that’s what that game meant for us, man. It showed the hard work that we put in. The resilience that we’re showing is paying off, and we’ve just got to keep it going.”
Among the biggest concerns for Washington on Monday night was how it would approach the running game. The Redskins needed to boost their sagging attack while somehow finding a way to contain the damage done by the Cowboys’ DeMarco Murray, who had entered the game with more than 100 rushing yards in each of his team’s first seven games.
Murray finished with 141 yards on 19 carries, including a 51-yard gain in the third quarter, but the Redskins kept him out of the end zone for only the second time this season and did not allow a rushing touchdown for the third consecutive game.
On the other side, the Redskins’ running game did its part to steady the offense, with Alfred Morris rushing for a touchdown for the first time since a Week 4 loss to the New York Giants and the team racking up 123 total rushing yards — more than it had in its previous five games.
Morris, in particular, gained 62 of his 73 rushing yards on 13 carries in the second half — including a 29-yard gain that tied his season-long on the second offensive play of the third quarter.
“It’s something we’ve been trying to get going all year, the run game, because it definitely opens up our offense,” Morris said afterward. “I think it really opened up in the second quarter and after halftime. We really got at it in the run game, and I was able to find some creases and get going.”
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Establishing the running game also helped the Redskins on third down, which has statistically been one of their toughest situations this season. They entered the game having converted on just 31.7 percent of their opportunities and were short on their first four tries on Monday, but they moved the chains on six of their next 10 chances, all of which extended scoring drives in the second half.
And defensively, the Redskins kept Dallas off balance with a variety of stunts and blitzes, hitting quarterback Tony Romo nine times, including five sacks. The pass rush has been one of Washington’s biggest defensive deficiencies this season, but the pressure confused Romo’s protection and flustered a quarterback who, historically, has handled such situations well.
“Coming in, we weren’t going to blitz a lot at first,” said inside linebacker Perry Riley, who had an 11-yard sack in the first quarter. “We were just going to see how it worked. Once it started working good, [defensive coordinator Jim Haslett] had the green light on, and as a defense, that’s what you want to do — blitz. You find anyone on this defense, and they’re going to tell you they love the blitz. He kept calling it, and it kept working.”
For the Redskins, the task now will be to continue to improve, understanding that the season, however bleak it appeared two weeks ago, is not yet over. On the horizon are games against Minnesota and, following a bye week, Tampa Bay — two teams with a significant number of their own issues.
Then, who knows?
“For us to look past the Vikings, at 3-5, would kind of be pretty stupid,” Gruden said. “We dug ourselves into this hole. We were 1-5, and we’ve got to pretty much win — and win often — to have a chance. One game at a time is our motto. I know it’s cliché, but that’s the only way we can go about things.”
• Zac Boyer can be reached at zboyer@washingtontimes.com.
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