The Redskins proved once again that their running game can be a strength for the team if clicking, as they racked up 213 rushing yards in their 47-14 victory over the Saints.
It was a recurring question that seemingly didn't have one solution that could be pinpointed.
The Washington Redskins started the 2015 season with one of the strongest running games in the NFL, as Alfred Morris, Matt Jones and Chris Thompson all contributed to an attack that was gaining yardage in massive chunks.
But after running for 127 yards in their Week 4 victory over the Philadelphia Eagles at FedExField, the Redskins did not surpass even 52 yards for four straight games.
They certainly reversed that trend on Sunday against the New Orleans Saints, though, as they totaled 213 rushing yards on 31 carries in their 47-14 victory.
It was the first time they eclipsed the 200-yard mark on the ground since doing so against the San Diego Chargers on Nov. 3, 2013.
"It was excellent. It was good, and you notice that we didn't have a lot of negative runs," Redskins head coach Jay Gruden said. "We were stuck at 2nd-and-7, 2nd-and-6, 2nd-and-5 – as opposed to second-and-10, so we were able to stick with it, and we were able to stick with our play-actions and we got our whole playbook basically.
It was an especially rewarding game for four-year veteran Alfred Morris, who had just 51 yards on 29 carries in the previous four games leading up to Sunday.
Against the Saints, he tallied 91 yards on 13 carries.
"I just always try to make the most of every opportunity I get and I was able to get a little more opportunities," Morris said. "And we did a good job, O-line did a great job of opening up holes and we was able to exploit them, they got us to the second, third level and we made the most of it."
Jones, meanwhile, gained 56 yards on 11 carries while Thompson added to the total with 54 yards on just two carries.
Fullback Darrel Young also added 11 yards on the ground for Washington.
"We came out with a plan to make our ground attack successful and we did that not only on the ground, but in the air as well with the running backs," Morris said. "Matt was able to catch a couple screens, and we was able to catch some check downs and help the quarterback out [and] keep the chains moving. ... I felt like we controlled the chains today, we controlled the clock, and we was able to score big today and it's the type of game we should play every week. We show glimpses of it, but today we actually put together a complete game."
Jones said the offensive line played a huge role in the team gaining "six or seven yards" instead of "two or three yards here or there."
"We did a lot of execution," Jones said. "Our gameplan, it was great to run a ball against these guys. We really didn't switch up anything to be honest with you. We just had to execute better our game plan. Like I said, our O-Line was dominant today. We won that game because of up front O-Line and D-Line, give the D-Line some credit, but O-Line they was on point today."
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