Here is what you need to know on this Tuesday, October 18, five days before the Washington Redskins travel to Detroit to play the Lions.

Timeline

—Today's schedule: No media availability

—Days until: Redskins @ Lions 5; Redskins vs. Bengals in London 12; Vikings @ Redskins 26

Final thoughts on Redskins vs. Eagles

—This is one game that is going to be hard to put in the past since the Redskins played so well in so many facets of the game. The running game was spectacular, the defense was solid, and there were some good plays passing. But life in the NFL moves on quickly and the Redskins are already focusing on the Lions. We might take another look back here over the next day or two but the team is moving on.

—How good was the running game? The Redskins had five running plays of 15 yards or longer. They now have 10 such plays through 16 games this season. All last year they had 13 runs of 15 yards or longer. Pounding it out three or four yards at a time can be fun, depending on the circumstances. But if you have backs who take a handoff and roll 57 (Matt Jones) or 46 (Robert Kelley) yards, then you have something. The Redskins are averaging 4.8 yards per rushing attempt, fourth in the NFL and more than a full yard than what the averaged last year (3.7).

—For two straight weeks, the Redskins have lost the turnover battle and still won the game. Their only takeaway in those two games came when the defense wasn’t even on the field, the C. J. Mosley fumble after he picked off Cousins against the Ravens. So, for all of the talk when the team was 2-2that the defense was reliant on takeaways, not considered to be a sustainable way of stopping the other team, now they have allowed 10 and six points in the last two weeks without any real benefit of takeaways.

—If Jay Gruden wants to find something from this game for his team to work on besides pooch kickoff coverage he can look at penalties. The Redskins were flagged nine times for 75 yards. The most damaging was the celebration penalty on Vernon Davis. He also had a holding penalty. The others were a mixed bag off illegal blocks, false starts, and the like. None besides the celebration were game-changing but still something the team needs to work to clean up.

—Is there a changing of the guard at strong safety? Against the Eagles, Duke Ihenacho, who started the game, had 17 snaps. Donte Whitner, who has been in town for about two weeks, played 40. It doesn’t seem like Ihenacho did anything wrong during his time in there and he played pretty well last week. But that’s a big disparity in snaps; this will be something to monitor in the coming weeks.

Tandler on Twitter

In their last four games the #Redskins have outscored the opposition in the second half by a score of 43-15. pic.twitter.com/N40JI6qf13 — Rich Tandler (@TandlerNBCS) October 17, 2016

In case you missed it