Redskins Reality Checks Week 7: Upright rejects Cowboys comeback bid

Redskins Post-Game Reality Checks for are here after a significant but nerve-wracking win against the Cowboys in Week 7.

For many Redskins’ fans, there is precious little more satisfying than a win over Dallas. But given the context, this one was even better than usual.

First place in the NFC East was on the line. Both teams had alternated wins and losses all season. Both teams were coming off impressive wins. The Eagles had lost earlier in the day. The Redskins hadn’t beaten the Cowboys since Dak Prescott and Zeke Elliott had arrived in Dallas. And while there are plenty of nits to pick with this win, all of that context makes it a win worth celebrating.

But after a couple days of celebrating, it’s time to check back in on our Reality Checks from last week to see where the team truly stands.

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1. Reality Is, this looked like a bad matchup for the Offensive Line.

Given the lack of production and consistency along the offensive line so far this season, this felt like the kind of game set up for the Cowboys’ vaunted pass rush to have a field day. But I felt like the rivalry would bring out the best in this unit and predicted that with Lauvao back, the unit would slightly improve over previous weeks.

Reality Check:  I was wrong. The unit didn’t slightly improve, they improved significantly. I would say they had their best overall game of the season. Smith generally had plenty of time to operate in the pocket; Adrian Peterson had plenty of holes to run through, and the unit was only flagged for two penalties. Brandon Scherff stood out as particularly strong in this one, making several key blocks and handling Dallas’ stunts and twists effectively. This was an encouraging day for the offensive line against, statistically, the toughest front 7 they have faced all year.

2. Reality Is, the Cowboys really have two offensive weapons: Elliott and Beasley.

Coming into this game, the biggest threats for the Cowboys, offensively, were clearly Cole Beasley and Ezekiel Elliott. They came in averaging over 26 touches for 175 yards per game. As anemic as Dallas’ offense had been much of the season, they had produced consistently at impressive rates. The key to stopping the Cowboys, I concluded, was limiting those two. I expected the Redskins to do better than average against them, but still predicted a solid day for each.

Reality Check: Beasley did almost exactly as I projected with 7 catches for 56 yards with only two of those catches having a significant impact. Moreau did a nice job on him most of the day. Elliott, however, was completely shut down. Ending up with only 42 yards on 17 touches, he had no impact on the game for Dallas. This is the greatest indication yet that the Washington rushing defense is for real. If they can duplicate that effort this coming week against Saquon Barkley in New York, it will be time to dub them one of the best rush defenses in football. In the meantime, color me cautiously optimistic.