Revitalized Washington Redskins Still Lacking in Wide-Open NFC East Race

How do you judge progress? If you're the Washington Redskins, you look at a 3-4 record entering your bye week and say you've taken a step or two forward. Sure, a 3-4 record is still a losing one, but the 2015 Redskins have already equaled their entire win total from 2013 and are just one more W shy of doing the same with last season's mark.

More importantly, though, even at 3-4, the Burgundy and Gold remain well and truly alive in the wide-open NFC East divisional race. That's the good news. The bad news? These revitalized Redskins are still lacking enough to actually win their first division crown since 2012 and only the third since 1991.

It's a statement that sounds downbeat after Washington's thrilling comeback victory in Week 7. Indeed, the 31-30 triumph over the rebuilding Tampa Bay Buccaneers at FedEx Field lifted the spirits in several ways.

First, it showed how game hero Kirk Cousins is the right quarterback to lead the offense head coach Jay Gruden wants. Both men are helped immensely in that pursuit by the presence of Jordan Reed, the roving matchup nightmare B/R NFL Analyst Chris Simms dubs "one of the best pass-catching tight ends in football":

But it wasn't just Reed and Cousins getting it done. What was so impressive about beating the Bucs was the way the team responded to Gruden's "code red" challenge. With the season on the line, a franchise defined more by in-fighting in recent years fought together to save the campaign.

Those levels of resiliency and pride are always encouraging for any team, but especially from one attempting to shed years of consistent losing.

This newfound resolve is coupled with a foundation for a brighter future. It starts with a draft class B/R draft guru Matt Miller recently awarded an A-plus before the Bucs game:

Then there's Real Redskins blogger Rich Tandler anticipating general manager Scot McCloughan having "substantial salary-cap space" to work with in 2016. Some are even thinking culture change.

All told, there's ample reason to be hopeful about Washington's future.

Just don't expect that hope to be realized this season.

Even in a division that is there for the taking, these Redskins still don't have enough, although the standings indicate otherwise. Washington is second behind the 4-3 New York Giants, level with the Philadelphia Eagles, whom the Redskins have already beaten, and a game ahead of old enemy the Dallas Cowboys. That's the Cowboys sans quarterback Tony Romo and wide receiver Dez Bryant.

Washington's chances in the East may appear a lot rosier when you consider the remainder of the schedule. Fortunately, ESPN.com's John Keim already has.

He's looked at home games against the New Orleans Saints and Buffalo Bills, as well as a road trip to take on the Chicago Bears, as winnable for Gruden's men. Along with four more divisional encounters, including a home meeting with the Giants, the schedule seems very inviting, even after allowing for sticky road games against the New England Patriots and Carolina Panthers.

So, all good, right? Well, not exactly.

The schedule is more unforgiving than it appears for a few simple reasons. It's loaded with games set to expose the missing elements in Washington's team. Specifically, the lack of a sturdy run defense and a productive rushing attack. The Redskins will need both to make the most of these games.

That's bad news considering how generous a very soft run defense has been lately. Against the Bucs, Doug Martin became the third running back in a row to top 135 yards against the Redskins. Overall this season, Washington is allowing 128.4 yards per game on the ground, worthy of the 27th-ranked run D.

While injuries in the secondary have harmed this defense, no such excuses exist for the men in the trenches. Marquee free agents like nose tackle Terrance Knighton just haven't delivered. Neither has a holdover like Jason Hatcher.

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To compound failures among the personnel, the coaching from new coordinator Joe Barry has been subpar. In a terrific look at this team's problems stopping the run, Scout.com and Breaking Burgundy's Paul Conner identifies a misguided change in how the Redskins set the edge as a root cause of the problems:

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Trent Murphy and Ryan Kerrigan are both typically great at setting the edge in the run game. Why take that away? The idea of an ILB setting the edge vs. an edge setter seems like an example of getting 'too cute.' Half the time, the ILB isn't even making it there and when he does, he isn't setting an edge. Factor in that teams are starting to borrow concepts that are working against your defense and I don't see how you can stick with it. Hopefully during the bye week, the Redskins work out this kink and simplify the concept.

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Barry and his staff had better get things fixed during the bye week. If they can't, the second half of the season is going to feel awfully long. In fact, it's going to be a lot like Groundhog Day as running backs repeatedly gash an overwhelmed defensive front.

With the Patriots up next, most of the focus will be on quarterback Tom Brady and his versatile fleet of receivers, wideouts Julian Edelman and Danny Amendola, tight end Rob Gronkowski and running back Dion Lewis.

But given the way the Redskins have been yielding to the run, don't be even remotely surprised to see bruising back LeGarrette Blount take over on New England's signature power plays.

Sadly, Blount is far from the only runner to fear during the second half of Washington's season. No team in football is running the ball with as much variety as the Panthers. Jonathan Stewart, always a more talented back than former teammate DeAngelo Williams, now has the workhorse load to himself. But he isn't the only threat.

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Quarterback Cam Newton is still attacking defenses on smartly designed read-option plays drawn up by offensive coordinator Mike Shula. If he casts his eyes toward Charlotte, dethroned Redskins QB Robert Griffin III will see the exact type of offense he's supposed to run.

Speaking of running backs who are more talented, by the time Washington travels to Philadelphia for a rematch with the Eagles in Week 16, there's a chance Chip Kelly might finally get it. He may finally realize Ryan Mathews is faster and more imaginative than DeMarco Murray could ever hope to be.

If the light bulb does go on for Kelly and he starts feeding the pill to 2010 first-rounder Mathews more often, the Burgundy and Gold will be in trouble.

Before then, of course, old Redskins tormentor LeSean McCoy will get another crack at the team when those Bills come to town. Also, don't sleep on Matt Forte and the Bears. A potential trade chip for the men from the Windy City, as noted by Fox Sports, Forte is still having an exceptional season.

Even if he isn't around, rookie Jeremy Langford was a steal in the fourth round. He'll cause Washington a whole new set of problems.

Without a more technically sound and physically stout run defense, the Redskins won't give themselves a chance in enough of these games to affect the divisional race.

Their best bet would be to take the run away from opponents by re-establishing their own ground attack. The problem is that looks like a forlorn hope at this point.

After a blistering start to the season, Washington's running game has slowed to a timid crawl. The Redskins now rank 21st lugging the rock, managing less than 100 yards per game.

There have been failings at every level. Blocking has been weak, while explosive rookie Matt Jones has struggled at times with ball security, injuries and general inconsistency.

But no one player embodies the woes on the ground as much as incumbent ball-carrier Alfred Morris. He's appeared plodding every time he's gotten his hands on the ball in recent weeks. Maybe that explains why he hasn't had the ball so often.

Master Tesfatsion of the Washington Post noted how Week 7 was the "third time this season Morris didn't eclipse double-digit carries." This is something of a Catch-22 for Gruden.

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Morris is a back who needs 20-plus carries, even if 12 of those are just to get him warmed up. But it's hard to give that many touches to a player who is making so little from them. At the moment, Morris is merely "running his way to the bench," according to Thom Loverro of the Washington Times.

Whether it's more Jones and less Morris or the other way around, the Redskins need their running game back on track after the bye week. They'll need to keep quarterbacks like Brady, Newton and Drew Brees of the New Orleans Saints off the field.

They'll also need to protect Cousins, a talented yet erratic quarterback who is supposed to be a game manager. Instead, he's thrown 40 or more passes in four of his last five games. Repeat that formula in the second half of the season and Gruden's team will do well to top 4-12.

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The solutions are available for the Redskins. Smarter coaching and players playing up to their reputations can fix the run defense. As for the ground game, let's see some more (scratch that, way more) of fullback Darrel Young.

This is a team pointed in the right direction. There's talent on both sides of the ball. But that talent will count for naught without the core ingredients of a miserly run defense and a credible rushing attack.

At the moment, this is a group with a 7-9, 8-8 ceiling.

It's improvement, but even in an NFC East this bad, it won't be enough to steal a playoff berth. That will have to wait until 2016.

All statistics and player information via NFL.com.

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