Williamson: 3 ways Redskins got back on track after slow start

Matt Williamson is a former scout for the Cleveland Browns, and spent the last 10 years at ESPN as a scout and co-host of "The Football Today Podcast."

The Redskins began the season 0-2 and looked like a team going nowhere. But looking back on those two early losses, there really isn’t a lot of shame in losing to Pittsburgh and Dallas. Although both games were in Washington, the Redskins played Dallas very close despite an inability to run the football or stop the run, an obvious disadvantage considering the Cowboys' strengths.

Since then, Washington is 4-0. The Redskins have scored the exact amount of points they have allowed in 2016. Though the slate of opponents (at Giants, Browns at home, at Ravens, and Eagles at home) isn’t nearly as difficult as Washington’s first two games, this is a team going in the right direction. While Dallas looks like the class of the NFC East, the Redskins could make a strong push for the playoffs if they can keep improving - but they sure do have a difficult schedule ahead.

Let’s examine three key areas that enabled the Redskins to get back on track.

Running the ball

Profiling the Redskins in the offseason, one huge area of concern was the quarterback position. While Kirk Cousins is playing better than early in the season, he is still very much the type of quarterback that needs to be managed and requires high-end talent around him, which is why the Redskins have used premium picks on guys like Brandon Scherff and Josh Doctson.

Cousins has cut down on the turnovers, which is a must considering the design of this roster, and is playing better now than to begin the season. Washington needs to have a strong running game, predominantly running outside zone as the foundation, and then allow Cousins to play within himself and take shots downfield to the Redskins’ outstanding weapons, often off play action.

Well, the running game is finally in place. Matt Jones beat up on the Eagles on Sunday, running for 135 yards. He now averages 4.9 yards per carry for the season and has topped 100 yards in two of his last three games. The Redskins are ably spelling Jones with another rugged power runner, Robert Kelley, while Chris Thompson remains a potent and highly useful receiving back as well.

But the real stars of the show here are Scherff and the massive Redskins offensive line led by Trent Williams, a truly elite left tackle who's playing as well as any offensive lineman in football. Morgan Moses, Washington’s third-round pick in 2014, has also really come into his own at right tackle, and the center position no longer looks like a liability. This is now a very formidable line and running game.

Improved run defense

Another area of concern from the offseason was Washington’s run defense. The Redskins held Philadelphia under 100 yards rushing and limited the Ravens to a little over 100. Cleveland rushed for 163 yards, but that was on 28 carries in Week 4. The Giants, who don’t run on anyone, rushed for 120 yards the week before.

So, let's not say that Washington's run defense is "fixed." However, watching the tape, it clearly isn't the sieve it once was, and with the Redskins running the ball so well on offense, this defense is no longer on the field for as long, which is paying off. Chris Baker is Washington’s best defensive lineman and is playing fine, while Mason Foster and Will Compton, two journeyman second-level defenders, have greatly exceeded expectations.

This run defense is far from perfect, and Washington should look to add a difference-maker to the defensive line this offseason, but the Redskins are getting away with it because the pass defense is so much better.

Getting to the passer

Ryan Kerrigan is an excellent football player and pass-rusher that no one ever seems to talk about. He and Trent Murphy have combined for 9.5 sacks so far this year. Kerrigan had 23 sacks over the 2014 and 2015 seasons. The bulked-up Murphy, for his part, has broken out this year, and the Redskins are using him in a wide variety of ways. Preston Smith has a chance to be the best of the three and, as we saw against the Eagles, is starting to really come into his own.

When Washington signed Josh Norman, the addition made perfect sense, as the Redskins were about as strict a zone-coverage team as you will find in the NFL. But with Norman playing very well, and solid safety play to go along with this improved pass-rush, the Redskins have begun to vary their coverages quite a bit more than a year ago, making them much more difficult to play against and prepare for. Washington's pass-rush and newfound ability to run the ball are the biggest reason for its four-game winning streak.