In its first preseason game against Atlanta, Washington struggled to get the running game going. Jones, Chris Thompson and rookie seventh-round pick Keith Marshall combined for zero yards on eight carries. The team showed signs of improvement Friday night against a strong Jets defensive line, but clearly still has work to do in order to get where it wants to be.

This is the first running play of the game. It’s a power run play, with Long, at left guard, pulling from his position to the right of the line and tight end Niles Paul following behind him. Long trips as he pulls from his spot, which not only delays him from getting to his block, but slows down Paul as well. Fortunately, Long and Paul manage to do just enough to force their defenders wide enough for Jones to avoid.

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Lichtensteiger, at center, does a good job turning away from the play side of the run and stopping a defensive tackle from penetrating the gap vacated by Long. Scherff and Moses display their power, collapsing the defensive line inside and opening a lane for Jones to burst through. Tight end Vernon Davis does a fantastic job working up to the second level and taking on a linebacker, fighting to keep him away from Jones. Jones reads the run well, despite the missed blocks from Long and Paul. He makes a good cut to burst quickly through the hole and pick up six yards on the carry.

It was a positive start, despite Long tripping. On his next run, Jones picked up another first down.

Here, Washington runs a gap-blocking play. The interior offensive line gets clogged up with bodies, but importantly the linemen manage to contain defenders inside without giving up any penetration. Davis, lined up to the right of the offensive line, takes on the defensive end, running him wide and opening up a path to the edge. Jones does well to read the play and bounce his run to the edge and pick up the first down.

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However, I think there were potentially more yards available for Jones on this play. He attempts to run around Jets cornerback Darrelle Revis and bounce his run all the way outside. But Revis is listed at 5 feet 11, 198 pounds. Jones is 6-2, 232. Personally, I would like to see Jones drop his pad level and attack Revis, using his size advantage to try and power through him, instead of trying to run around him.

Washington did have a few run plays that went for little-to-no gain. Last season, they were too common and often the result of two or three mistakes. But on Friday night, it appeared to be mostly one or two mistakes that stopped the runs from being successful. While ideally there would be no mistakes, cutting down on the number of mistakes made is a necessary step.

Washington calls for a power run from the shotgun on this play. Like on the first run, Long pulls from his left guard spot and blocks the play-side defensive tackle. By taking that block, Long allows Scherff and Moses to work up to the second level. Scherff works to the linebacker on the back side of the run, while Moses works to the safety in the box. However, they both leave the middle linebacker free to attack the line of scrimmage and make the tackle on Chris Thompson for no gain.

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Washington only had six blockers against New York’s seven defenders in the box, so the Jets should have had a free defender. Still, the middle linebacker should have been blocked. My guess is that Moses should have taken the linebacker and left the safety for Thompson to try and beat. But perhaps Scherff should have taken the middle linebacker and left the linebacker on the back side of the run to try and work through traffic to make up ground.

Either way, there were positives to take from the play. Every defender that was accounted for was blocked well. Davis, in particular, made an impressive block on the defensive end. Washington struggled to get much run blocking from its tight ends last year, so if Davis can continue in this manner, he should see plenty of playing time.

Here’s another play that was only one block away from being a positive run.

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On this play, Washington call for an outside zone run. Off the snap, Scherff gets beaten inside. But he doesn’t panic, instead quickly adjusting himself to pin the defender inside, knowing Thompson is running to the edge. Paul, lined up as a fullback on this occasion, dives at the hip of the defensive end. He does just enough to pin the defender inside and allow Thompson to work to the edge. Moses and Lichtensteiger work up to the second level to take on linebackers. Lichtensteiger maintains his block in the middle of the field while Moses drives his defender outside towards the sideline. Thompson cuts inside Moses’s block and is met by the back-side defensive end, who makes the tackle.

While the play wasn’t blocked exactly how it was drawn up, it was blocked effectively for the most part. The reason this run failed was because left tackle Ty Nsekhe had to work around a cut block from Long and couldn’t catch up with the defensive end pursuing the run from the back side.

After a few series, the offensive line appeared to iron out some of the remaining mistakes and began to create running lanes for the backs. One problem Washington had with the running game last season was penetration by defensive tackles. Some quicker defensive tackles liked to do what I call ‘back door,’ meaning they would work against the direction of the run and attack a gap behind the blocker they lined up across from. If done quickly enough, it can surprise blockers and create early penetration into the backfield.

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Here we have another outside zone play to the right. On this play, Long shifted inside to center while Shawn Lauvao filled in at left guard. The back-side defensive tackle lines up over Lauvao, but uses the back-door move to work into the gap behind him. Nsekhe, at left tackle, doesn’t miss a beat, giving up depth in to the backfield initially to allow him to reach the defensive tackle and make the block.

The downside to a defensive tackle using such a move is that it allows the guard a free run to the second level. Lauvao quickly makes his way to the linebacker on the second level and engages in the block.

On the front side of the run, Long initially works outside to the other defensive tackle, but Scherff does an excellent job securing the defender and then driving him outside towards the sideline. That allows Long to join Lauvao in working to the second level and blocking a linebacker. Jones reads the play well, cutting back into the obvious rushing lane. Long and Lauvao couldn’t maintain their blocks long enough for Jones to work freely into the secondary, but Jones manages to use his momentum to attack the linebackers and fall forward for a five yard gain.

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That run in particular is a promising sign for Washington. While it clearly has a lot of work still left to do, the running game is improving as the regular season gets closer. Jay Gruden and his coaching staff would be wise to settle on a starting combination at left guard and center this week ahead of the third preseason game so the they can begin to build cohesion as a unit. A settled starting group can begin to learn the tendencies of one another and help improve the consistency of a unit that struggled in run blocking last season.

Mark Bullock is The Insider’s Outsider, sharing his Redskins impressions without the benefit of access to the team. For more, click here.