ASHBURN — When Alfred Morris or Matt Jones rush for over 100 yards, like they each did in the first two weeks of the season, it covers up any subtle deficiencies in the running game and everything looks like it’s going smoothly.
When the run game starts to fall apart, like it did when the Washington Redskins rushed for 51 yards on 24 carries in a 25-19 overtime loss to the Atlanta Falcons on Sunday, the problems become much more difficult to diagnose.
“The thing about the running game, everybody has to be in concert,” coach Jay Gruden said. “The linemen, the back side, the front side, the backs — we all have to be in concert together. You have to stay on your blocks; you have to get up to the next level. Sometimes you leave your blocks too soon to go up to the next level, somebody frees up. Sometimes a tight end gets beat at the point of attack. Sometimes a back makes a bad cut.”
After gaining 349 yards in the first two games of the season, the Redskins have run for 266 yards in the three games since.
It all started in New York, when the Redskins trailed the Giants by 12 points in the first quarter and were forced to abandon the run. They rushed 20 times for 88 yards. Washington returns this Sunday to MetLife Stadium, where they hope to get the running game back on track against the New York Jets.
The only problem is the Redskins face another stout run defense. The Jets are allowing an average of 94.8 yards per game, which ranks eighth.
Though the test gets tougher for a struggling unit this week, the Redskins are not going to abandon the rushing attack. It is what the offense is built on. When the rushing game falls apart, like it did in Week 3 against the Giants, Kirk Cousins attempted 49 passes, a formula that’s not going to produce winning results.
“We’re going to continue to work on it, that’s for sure,” Gruden said. “It’s going to be a major part of our success. If we don’t have that part of our offense going, you see what kind of troubles we have. We’re not very good, so we have to figure out a way to get it going — and I think we will.”
The run game was at its worst in Atlanta. The Redskins gained 32 rushing yards on 16 first-down attempts, averaging just two yards per carry.
It’s not as if the Falcons are pushovers in the trenches. Atlanta currently has the best-ranked rush defense, allowing 78.4 yards per game.
Against the Redskins, they constantly stacked the box with seven or eight defenders, which caused problems for the offensive line. The tight ends struggled as well, often getting beat to the point of attack by the Falcons’ linebackers.
The Redskins miss injured wide receiver DeSean Jackson in the passing game, but his absence impacts the rushing attack, too. Without a deep threat on the field, teams have been able to bring an extra safety forward, sometimes leaving the Redskins at a disadvantage with one less blocker than needed. It also hurt that tight end Jordan Reed was out of Sunday’s game as he recovers from a concussion.
Juxtapose that with what the Falcons and running back Devonta Freeman did on Sunday. Even though wide receiver Julio Jones was hobbled by a hamstring injury, the Redskins had to account for him. That helped opened up lanes for Freeman, who rushed for 153 yards.
“When you don’t have those guys to worry about, you can have another safety in there,” Gruden said. “They have one more than we can block. We didn’t have Jordan, who loosens things up for us. There’s a lot of issues. There’s still no excuses. We demand a lot from our running game.”
It also didn’t help that Redskins center Kory Lichtensteiger played through Sunday’s game with a broken thumb and an injured shoulder. That made for a tough matchup against the Falcons’ 345-pound nose tackle, Paul Soliai, who often slipped past the Redskins’ center.
“Kory is one of the toughest guys on the team,” Gruden said. “Had a pinched nerve and couldn’t use his left arm. You could see he couldn’t recover. That had a major impact in the running game this week.”
Of course, the final layer is the running backs themselves, and the Redskins are dedicated to using a heavy dose of both Alfred Morris and Matt Jones. Some may say that the Redskins need to stick with one back and establish a rhythm; Gruden said that it’s helpful to have two fresh backs.
“We feel Matt has shown enough where he’s able to take some reps from [Alfred],” Gruden said. “Not because Alfred is struggling, but just because we think a lot of Matt also. When you have two good players at the position, it’s hard to keep them all happy. You wanna keep them both fresh. You want to try to keep them active in the game but when [opponents] take away that part of your game, you know it’s hard to get them both the reps when you’re not running ball.”
Since rushing for 121 yards in the season opener, Morris has rushed for 155 yards on 49 carries. Jones has rushed for 69 yards on 29 carries since he rushed for 123 yards in Week 2. Although the run blocking has been average in the last three games, Gruden said the running backs can do a better job with their reads, too.
Through these last three weeks, opposing teams have come to expect the Redskins to run the ball. Now, the onus is on Washington to find a way to make it better, even when other teams know what is coming.
“Everybody can be better,” left tackle Trent Williams said. “It’s, when everybody knows the running game is your capital feature, that’s what they’re going to sell out to stop.
“We still have to run the ball. Come up with different schemes. One of the things we have to do is establish the run, no matter who we’re playing or what the game says.”
• Anthony Gulizia can be reached at agulizia@washingtontimes.com.
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