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Not so "Special" Team.
Coming off a bye week, the Redskins had to win this game. Not only was it a division road game, but the team needed to prove that it was building on the success they had in Oakland two weeks ago. Now after suffering a loss to the Cowboys, we have questions that just seem to have no answers. "Why not continue the no-huddle that had success in the first drive? What happened to the clock management at the end of the 1st half? Where was the sense of urgency on offense with 8 minutes left in the game and down two scores? WHAT IS WRONG WITH THE SPECIAL TEAMS?"
On May 6th, I put up a post projecting a possible drop-off in production with the special teams unit after the loss of Danny Smith and a few key contributors like Lorenzo Alexander. It appears that safe prediction is coming to fruition. In Week 2 of Snap Judgments I highlighted the deficiencies of the special teams unit. How about we check back in and see where the unit stands now after 5 games.
- They are 6-9 in FG attempts. 66.7% puts them at 29th in the league.
- Sav Rocca is still the lowest ranking punter in the NFL in avg. yards and net yards punting.
- The return and coverage units are the 3rd most penalized units in the NFL. The 1st and 2nd most penalized teams (St. Louis and Detroit) have both played one more game than the Redskins.
- Ranked 30th in Kickoff Return Average and 27th in Punt Return Average.
- Ranked 28th in Kickoff Return Average Against and 32nd in Punt Return Average Against.
- The Punt Coverage unit has now given up 1 return touchdown and 1 blocked-punt return touchdown.
With the losses of long snapper Nick Sundberg and special teams ace Bryan Kehl, it looks like things will only get worse for an already bad unit. Coaching and personnel changes are necessary. Didn't think we'd miss Danny Smith this badly.
Let's get to the snap count.
The Offense had 78 snaps.
| Number of Snaps | Name |
| 78 (100%) | Trent Williams, Kory Lichtensteiger, Will Montgomery, Chris Chester, Tyler Polumbus, Robert Griffin III |
| 72 (92%) | Pierre Garcon |
| 55 (71%) | Jordan Reed |
| 52 (67%) | Leonard Hankerson |
| 50 (64%) | Santana Moss |
| 43 (55%) | Roy Helu Jr. |
| 35 (45%) | Alfred Morris |
| 20 (26%) | Logan Paulsen |
| 19 (24%) | Darrel Young |
| 18 (23%) | Fred Davis |
| 17 (22%) | Joshua Morgan |
| 7 (9%) | Aldrick Robinson |
| 2 (3%) | Niles Paul |
What Stands Out
- Jordan Reed was the 2nd most utilized skill player. Only Pierre Garcon was in on more snaps. Factor in that he was coming off an injury and the team still elected to give him significant minutes. We could see much more of Jordan Reed in the weeks to come, and I'm sure no one is complaining about that.
- Roy Helu Jr. has now been in on more snaps in 3 out of the 5 games this year than Alfred Morris. Playing from behind has been the biggest reason for Helu's increased role.
- Davis, Morgan, and Robinson were basically phased out of the offense, having been targeted only once (Morgan) among the three of them.
The Defense had 54 snaps.
| Number of Snaps | Name |
| 54 (100%) | Josh Wilson, DeAngelo Hall, Brandon Meriweather, Perry Riley, London Fletcher |
| 53 (98%) | Ryan Kerrigan |
| 49 (91%) | Brian Orakpo |
| 45 (83%) | Stephen Bowen |
| 44 (81%) | Barry Cofield |
| 30 (56%) | Kedric Golston |
| 23 (43%) | Reed Doughty |
| 20 (37%) | EJ Biggers |
| 17 (31%) | David Amerson |
| 15 (28%) | Chris Baker |
| 12 (22%) | Rob Jackson |
| 9 (17%) | Jose Gumbs |
| 6 (11%) | Jarvis Jenkins |
| 1 (2%) | Darryl Tapp |
What Stands Out
- One of the storylines heading into Week 6 was how much Rob Jackson and Jarvis Jenkins would play coming off their suspensions. This week they were very limited in their playing time. Rob Jackson did make the most of his 12 snaps, being the recipient of a Romo interception once again. Jarvis, on the other hand, may not have been game ready as Kedric Golston played in 30 snaps while he played in only 6. Going forward, Jackson will most likely be thrust into a significant role in special teams coverage with Bryan Kehl out.
- EJ Biggers played a prominent role in the game having to replace David Amerson after he suffered a concussion. Biggers also rotated at saftey, almost snagging in a difficult interception while there. He's also responsible for running down Dwayne Harris on his 90 yard kickoff return, preventing him from scoring.
- Say what you will about DeAngelo Hall but he flat out answers the call when you need him too. He stepped up to the challenge of locking up Dez Bryant once again, limiting him to just 5 receptions for 36 yards. He's a month away from 30 yet he is only 1 snap behind the team leader (Perry Riley) in total snaps thus far. Kudos to D. Hall.
The most disappointing aspect of this loss (aside from the fact that it came against the Cowboys) was the fact that the defense had a phenomenal day against a Dallas team that amassed 500+ yards the week before. In fact Dwayne Harris himself was responsible for more total yards than the entire Cowboys offense. Could the defense be turning the corner after solid showings against Oakland and now Dallas? Regardless, the offense needed to show up and they didn't. The reunion tour is now on for Mike Shanahan. He faces his prodigies Jay Cutler and Brandon Marshall in Week 7 vs. Chicago and then he heads back to Denver in Week 8. If there was ever a time to shock the world, these next two weeks are it.
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