His energy certainly helped running back Chris Thompson, who had strong debut as well on Sunday, rushing for 65 yards and catching seven passes for 63 yards. As tight end Jordan Reed coined it, if the "thunder and lightning" provide this kind of dynamic throughout the season, the Redskins offense should be in good shape.

Most of that has to do with confusing the defense, which the Redskins can do more of with Alex Smith under center, himself a viable running threat. The read-option has become a bigger part of the scheme and a continually successful ground game will only enhance Smith's options down the field.

"Anytime you have a run game like that, a defense has got to defend it," Smith said. "It opens up a lot of opportunities for us on the edge, in the perimeter, whether it's play-action pass, just spacing the field. A lot of favorable matchups I felt like we had [was] because of the run game going so well. I mean you love to have balance, any good offense has balance and obviously with us running the ball the way we did – I think kind of setting that tone – certainly a lot of stuff in the pass game came off it."

(Jake Kring-Schreifels)

2. Put pressure on quarterback Andrew Luck

It hasn't been since 2014 that the Redskins faced quarterback Andrew Luck, though the team has changed quite a bit in the last four years. What's universal, despite Luck missing last year with shoulder injuries, is that the Colts' quarterback remains a physical challenge in the pocket.

In his first game this season, a loss to the Bengals, Luck dropped back 53 times and completed 39 passes for 319 yards, throwing an interception and taking two sacks. That's a lot of drop backs, and so the Redskins must be prepared to get the pass rush working effectively on Sunday. Against the Cardinals, linebacker Ryan Anderson collected his first career sack while Matt Ioannidis effectively sealed the game with a strip sack in the waning minutes. Overall, however, Bradford didn't face too much pressure, a product of the defense wanting to keep more eyes on running back David Johnson.