1 Can they start a winning streak? Considering they have the New York Jets and New England Patriots in consecutive weeks that could be difficult. But the Redskins have definitely started to play better and have returned to being a fairly average and competitive team. They still make mistakes — turnovers remain an issue — and that makes it difficult for them to sustain success. But Sunday showed that they have some life left in them. And, yes, winning still matters at this point. You can’t establish a culture of success by losing every game and hoping for a high pick. 2 Has the run game turned around? After weeks of nothing, the ground game took off against an excellent run defense. The game plan helped ignite the turnaround as Washington had Seattle’s linebackers first over-pursuing and then hesitating. But they had excellent games last season too only to follow that up with duds. The Jets are good vs. the run (eighth in yards per carry).
3 Can Roy Helu repeat his performance?
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Helu gained approximately 75 yards after contact Sunday. That tells you his big day was as much about what he could do and not necessarily the huge holes provided for him. There were some, but he made many on his own. One of the interesting aspects of the final five games will be determining what sort of back Helu can become.
4 Will the corners now start making more big plays? The chances really do come in bunches. Josh Wilson and DeAngelo Hall went weeks without legitimate interception opportunities and had three good ones Sunday, managing one. Wilson is playing better in part because he knows better what to anticipate from the offense and how it relates to the scheme. He made a good read and never budged off the line on his near interception Sunday.
5 Are there more young players they can insert? Recent replacements Perry Riley at linebacker and Helu figure into key roles in the future. Perhaps the only other young player not playing now who might be in that spot is rookie safety DeJon Gomes. But he shouldn’t play ahead of LaRon Landry. It would be nice to see him at free safety, adding necessary speed there. But in his one start he was much better near the line than deep.
– John Keim
