The Washington Redskins got their first win of the season and it was the run game that was the true highlight of Week 2. Against the St. Louis Rams, Alfred Morris and Matt Jones stole the show as Kirk Cousins remained mistake free throughout the matchup. The run game is a rare sight for Redskins' fans as Jones and Morris might be the one-two punch the team needs while Cousins clearly favors the position more than when Robert Griffin III was under center.
While Morris stole the show in Week 1 with 121 yards, Jones was the star in Week 2, putting up 123 yards and two touchdowns to lead the offense in the win. The rushing attack is a new sight for Washington who has not had this type of production on the ground in years. The team currently leads the NFL in rushing with 175.1 yards per game and that is not expected to change any time soon. With Cousins being more of a traditional pocket-passing quarterback, the run game will be critical and Morris and Jones are up for the task.
''It does open up a lot of things for us, and I think it'll continue to open up things in the future, if we can continue to stick to it. ... We have to stick to it,'' head coach Jay Gruden said, via Yahoo Sports. ''It does a couple things. Obviously, it runs clock. Our linemen love it. And it takes a little bit of pressure off the quarterback, which is very, very important. It's been a good recipe for us, so far.''
The rise of Morris and Jones has helped Cousins decrease his mistakes. The quarterback has gained the reputation of being a turnover machine. However, in Week 2 that was not the case. Cousins finished the day going 23 of 27 for 191 yards and one touchdown. That was enough to get the job done. Without DeSean Jackson on the field, the passing game has had to find new targets. Pierre Garcon remains their best down-field threat as he was targeted seven times in Week 2, but Jordan Reed is making a name for himself as the tight end had 82 yards off six catches.
This success is helping Cousins build his resume to earn the starting job for the Redskins or elsewhere in 2016. The quarterback is likely aware that one mistake will lead the team to replacing him with Robert Griffin III. Reports surfaced from Jason Cole at Bleacher Report that the both Cousins and Griffin were not speaking to each other and lacked camaraderie following the benching for the former first-round draft pick. Griffin took to social media to deny the issue stating, "When the hate don't work they start telling lies...I guess celebrating that your team won with your teammates is isolating yourself#HTTR."
No one would blame Griffin for being unhappy about riding the bench, but it appears all is fine within the team. Washington will have some questions to answer come the offseason when Griffin's $16 million player option kicks in and Cousins' rookie contract expires. For now, they will enjoy the win and head into Week 3.