There is an old adage in football that teams who run the ball more end up being more successful in the long run, and the record usually proves it. However, anyone who knows football can put two and two together and realize that teams who are leading in games usually run more to drain the clock and hold onto their lead… One leads to the other, and vice versa.
With all of that being said, Washington needs to focus heavily on running the ball against the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday night, and not just when they are ahead. The stats over the second half of the year show that when the WFT focuses on keeping their rushing game involved in the gameplan, they tend to have a lot more success.
Since Week 7, Washington is 4-0 when the running game accounts for at least 50% of its total yardage. It’s 1-4 in that span when it does not.
No matter who plays quarterback this week, it’ll be important for Washington to stay balanced on offense.
— Zach Selby (@ZachDSelby) January 2, 2021
Washington has been able to mount a lead in most of those games that they’ve won, but a key here is not only building a lead against the Eagles but refraining from abandoning the run game should they fall behind at any point as well. Last week against the Carolina Panthers, Washington fell behind by three possessions in the first half, and they were forced to put RB Antonio Gibson on ice, who had looked good in the first two quarters. The rest was history.
In order to make sure that doesn’t happen on Sunday, either a lead needs to be built, or the game needs to be kept close enough to justify the ground game’s involvement in the game plan. With the Eagles as banged up as we expect them to be, that hopefully won’t be a problem.
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