Running game still is a work in progress
ASHBURN – They see the holes downfield, and that gives them hope. They see, on certain plays, a guard doing his job and a tackle doing his. What they also see is a tight end getting shoved back in the hole, clogging the lane. And a run that could have gained 10 yards manages just 2.
Another time, they see a hole developing. But they also see a linebacker blitzing, causing the pulling guard to hesitate. That forces running back Clinton Portis to get too close to guard Artis Hicks. Once more the hole closes. Sometimes there’s no hole; other times there’s one player failing to block his man. It has been the same story since camp opened.
And that’s also what the Redskins saw in their season-opening 13-7 win over Dallas. Their running game gained 35 yards on their drive for a field goal in the fourth quarter. But aside from that final series, they gained 54 yards — and 17 of those came on a Donovan McNabb scramble.
“We’re still getting in sync with each other,” Redskins right tackle Jammal Brown said.
It’s only one game, but the running attack did not produce a lot during the preseason, either. They played excellent defenses in Baltimore, the New York Jets and, in the opener, the Cowboys. But it’s not just about who they’re facing.
“We’re still fairly new to this scheme,” Hicks said. “We’re trying to learn on the job. It’s going to come, but you can see flashes of it. We’re still confident in it.”
On Hicks’ play, he said the man he wanted to block blitzed up the middle, something he had not shown the previous time the play was called. What happened next indicates the learning curve — a pause by Hicks and some impatience by Portis resulted in a 1-yard run.
“All of a sudden I had to look for the next guy, and he was outside,” Hicks said. “I could have made it easier for Clinton by being more decisive. That’s why you have to keep working.”
But they enter the Texans game with hope if only because of the defensive scheme. Dallas, like Baltimore and the Jets, plays a 3-4. But the Redskins will see that defense only two more times this season, and this running scheme is better suited for beating a 4-3. The reason? Defensive linemen are easier to wear down as the zone scheme forces them to chase more and the cut blocks take a toll.
Also, more defensive linemen and one less linebacker mean slightly fewer athletes to handle.
“[A 3-4 team] has tremendous athletes on the outside,” Redskins center Casey Rabach said. “That’s the biggest difference.”
Regardless, they know it needs to start clicking. With an emphasis on play-action passes, a strong running game only helps the passing game.
“The more we work together and get guys moving together, the more that one weak link won’t happen,” Redskins offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan said. “And the 1-yard carry is now 6 or 8.”
