It seems strange to say, but could this all be breaking right for … Washington? Granted, they’re still a team with major flaws, but they pulled off the most impressive win by an NFC East team so far this season by stomping the Rams on Sunday, 24-10. Their offensive line did a great job of holding off a dominant Rams pass rush, with Kirk Cousins taking just two sacks and four knockdowns on 29 dropbacks. And Cousins was brilliant, going 23-of-27 for 203 yards and a touchdown without DeSean Jackson in the lineup. There were plenty of checkdowns in that group, given that Cousins averaged 6.2 air yards per throw, but checkdowns are fine when they prevent sacks and generate efficient offensive play.
That same offensive line generated a running game that was led by rookie running back Matt Jones, who may be winning the job away from veteran Alfred Morris before our eyes. Both Morris and Jones traded big gains on Washington’s first scoring drive using the same tactics. Morris started things with a 35-yard run, as Washington came out in a three-tight-end set and overpowered St. Louis’s front seven before deep safety Rodney McLeod accelerated too quickly into the box and lost the angle on Morris, costing the team 20 yards.
Two plays later, this time with two tight ends, Jones took a 39-yarder to the house when McLeod again overpursued toward the line of scrimmage and was unable to recover, as Jones bounced his run outside and the Rams had nobody else deep enough to help out.
What’s even more promising is the work being done by the defense. Miami and St. Louis aren’t exactly the league’s most explosive offenses, but Washington’s defense has held them to a total of 20 points through two games, with the Dolphins throwing in a punt-return touchdown. It says something that Nick Foles looked far more comfortable against the Seahawks in Week 1 than he did against Washington, which held him to 150 passing yards on a 17-for-32 day. Joe Barry’s unit sacked Foles only once, but they knocked him down six times and pressured him on 32.4 percent of dropbacks despite rarely blitzing. Only the Cowboys blitzed less frequently in Week 2. Washington would have won even more handily if the Rams hadn’t recovered all three fumbles on the day.
It would be silly to say that Washington is the favorite or even close to being the favorite to win the East; the team was lethargic against the Dolphins in Week 1, and they’re inevitably a Cousins-disaster game or two away from looking longingly at Colt McCoy on the bench. But two weeks ago, it would have been comical to think that Washington even had a prayer of winning the East. Now, very subtly, you can see the curtain beginning to open.
 }})
