Adrian Peterson exited the locker room after Sunday’s 20-13 win over the New York Giants at MetLife Stadium, briefly singing a song that matched perfectly with how the Redskins running back’s day had gone.
Against New York, Peterson had 149 yards on 26 carries — and ripped off a 64-yard touchdown that ended up being the difference in a one-score game.
As he walked away, Peterson sang Queen’s “Another One Bites the Dust.”
Behind Peterson and a stingy defense, the Redskins have won three straight and at 5-2, are off to their best start since 2008.
It’s unfamiliar territory for Redskins fans — just watching this team can be jarring, especially if you’re used to past Jay Gruden teams.
It’s not always pretty.
Scoring is at an all-time high in the NFL, but the Redskins are perfectly content with slogging their way through games. So far this season, teams are averaging a record 24.2 points per game through eight weeks. If the mark holds, that would be almost three points better than last year.
But the Redskins? They’re averaging a 25th-ranked 20.9 points per game. And they’ve gone against the flow of the pass-happy NFL, throwing the ball just 53 percent of the time.
That makes sense. After all, Washington signed one of the most productive backs in league history in August, so of course, Peterson is the reason the Redskins are living on the ground game, right?
Not so fast.
“We were going to run the ball a lot this year regardless,” running back Kapri Bibbs said. “This year was going to be a running year for this team. We made sure to talk about that during OTAs.”
There were a couple of reasons, Bibbs said, for the change. First, Washington is built around a physical, athletic and intelligent offensive line — a line, Bibbs said, designed for running, especially behind athletes like Trent Williams and Brandon Scherff.
The Redskins’ offseason moves also necessitated a shift in philosophy. Quarterback Alex Smith, who arrived via trade, works best with a reliable running game. Originally, second-round pick Derrius Guice was going to be a big part of that running game, before the rookie tore his ACL in the preseason.
Running back Rob Kelley said the receivers have changed from the Kirk Cousins era, too.
“With this group of guys we have people who are willing to take a backseat for the betterment of the team — which is running the ball,” Kelley said. “That’s what we’re doing right now.”
The team’s reliance on the run is also due to necessity: Smith and the passing attack are still maddeningly inconsistent.
The Redskins have missed key opportunities to put games out of reach because of offensive lulls. On Sunday, they needed Peterson to break free late in the fourth quarter to seal a game Washington had been firmly in control of all afternoon.
Is the old-school formula sustainable for a season?
Gruden thinks so, but noted game plans can change week-to-week.
As for the passing game, Gruden said his team is “close.”
Smith has thrown for under 200 yards in three straight weeks, but got playmakers like Jordan Reed, Josh Doctson and Paul Richardson involved against the Giants.
“We’re going to get there,” Gruden said. “It’s just a matter of, it might be a missed throw here and there. It might be a poor route, maybe. It might be a protection issue. We’re just not quite in full sync right now, at this time. So I imagine we’re going to get better and better.”
For now, the Redskins plan to stick with what’s working: Peterson has 587 yards on 127 carries for four touchdowns.
“Those (linemen) are out there busting their [expleitive] on every single run block and strapping on knee braces and getting hurt and coming back in the game — you got some of the toughest guys in the league,” Bibbs said. “AP is no different. He’s doing the same exact thing, not letting anything bring him down, not letting anything hold him back.
“He runs fearless.”
• Matthew Paras can be reached at mparas@washingtontimes.com.
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