Ground 'n Pound: How Washington Bullied Seattle

Best defense is a good offense, and Washington had quite the one-two combination on Monday night

When the Washington Football Team looks back on its win over the Seattle Seahawks in Week 12, there are going to be missed opportunities to learn from. 

But there are also going to be a lot of positives to build on. For starters, the performance out of the backfield Monday night.

"Lately, he's really been feeling good," said Washington Football Team head coach Ron Rivera about running back Antonio Gibson. "They got very stout at one point, especially (on) third and short .. .and we gotta be better on third and short, that's for sure."

If Gibson, who has been dealing with shin issues most of the season, is feeling better, it certainly translated on the field. Against Seattle he rushed 29 times for 111 yards, a heavy workload for any back. In fact, for Gibson it's a career-high for rushes and the second time in the past three weeks he's had 24 or more. 

Gibson wasn't the only running back putting in work for WFT Monday night. 

J.D. McKissic carried seven times for the second straight game, and likely would have had one or two more if he hadn't gotten injured in the fourth quarter as Washington was looking to seal the victory.  Known more as a pass-catching back, he also added five receptions while Gibson caught all seven of his targets.

In all, the Washington Football Team running backs combined to touch the football 49 times, four more times than the Seattle Seahawks offense total for offensive plays in the entire game.

This onslaught of running back production led to Washington's touchdowns, both scored by McKissic, and accounted for 54 percent of the offense's total yards.

Compared, the entire Seahawks offense gained just 65 yards more than Washington's two primary running back options.

The result? A low-scoring game where Washington Football Team controlled the clock to the tune of 41:40 compared to Seattle's 18:20. 

Coming off two weeks of career-best performances and facing the league's 30th- ranked pass defense, some might have expected to see more of quarterback Taylor Heinicke throwing to targets like wide receivers Terry McLaurin and DeAndre Carter or tight end Logan Thomas, even on his pitch count. 

Instead, Washington astutely attacked Seattle's weakness - run defense. 

Because of it, WFT has its third straight win, a spot in the NFC Playoff race and resurrected confidence it can match up against any opponent.