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A win was the bandage the Redskins needed.
A 4th quarter collapse in Denver, Meriweather mouthing-off, the never-ending name change debate, Haynesworth vs. Cooley and Shanahan, and Chris Russell's report. All together it was an odd and disturbing week in the Redskins sports talk realm. As apocalyptic as things as things sounded, just imagine if Kirk Cousins came in the 4th quarter against Denver and threw a touchdown instead of throwing a 'pick-6.' The Captain Kirk bandwagon would have grown instantly. Robert Griffin III would still have started against San Diego after a week of even greater unrest. Instead, the offense headed into Week 9 with focus, and it paid dividends.
Against the Chargers, the Redskins offense found the middle ground between a balanced attack and an aggressive one. The run/pass (43/35) ratio was almost identical to their win against Chicago (42/34), yet Kyle Shanahan still came out firing on 1st down in the 4th quarter. I'm still not a fan of that approach but it worked. The offense took what was given to them and didn't force-feed Alfred the ball with the defense showing 8 in the box. It is reassuring that Kyle didn't give in to the criticism and stuck with the gameplan.
However, the game was won on "6-inch line." The defense was bent out of shape but it didn't break. A season changing, "we want this more" stand by a group that could have hung their head after deflating big plays on that drive. Watching the game with a group of Redskins fans, I'm sure you too had at least one suggest that they should let the Chargers score to keep 0:20+ on the clock for a Hail Mary. Our defense had another thing in mind. If this ship get righted, look no further back than this moment as the course changer.
The Offense had 75 snaps
| Number of Snaps | Name |
| 75 (100%) | Trent Williams, Kory Lichtensteiger, Will Montgomery, Chris Chester, Tyler Polumbus, Robert Griffin III |
| 59 (79%) | Pierre Garcon |
| 56 (75%) | Jordan Reed |
| 54 (72%) | Alfred Morris |
| 50 (67%) | Logan Paulsen |
| 34 (45%) | Leonard Hankerson |
| 26 (35%) | Santana Moss |
| 22 (29%) | Niles Paul |
| 21 (28%) | Roy Helu Jr. |
| 20 (27%) | Joshua Morgan |
| 19 (25%) | Darrel Young |
| 10 (13%) | Aldrick Robinson |
| 4 (5%) | Tom Compton |
What Stands Out
- Tom Compton?! The Redskins utilized Compton in their 'Jumbo' package. He was in on each of Darrel Young's three touchdown scores and one run by Alfred Morris near the goaline in overtime. No need to pickup DY on your fantasy teams just yet but this 'Jumbo' package - 'FB give' has a high rate of success in short yardage so keep an eye out for Compton moving forward.
- At 72% of the snaps, this was the highest percentage of snaps Alfred Morris has seen all year. Dating back to last year, the Redskins are 10-1 when Alfred Morris gets 20+ carries (see: Madieu Williams for that one loss against Victor Cruz and the Giants last year. Ugh.). As good as Roy Helu Jr. has played this year, Alfred Morris is still the workhorse and he needs to establish himself in order for the rest of the gameplan to fall into place.
- Niles Paul played in almost 30% of the snaps; that is a season high for him. Paul was behind the scenes for the majority of the game but I noticed him on some downfield blocks and some decoy routes. Every team needs a guy like him and Darrel Young that can do whatever they are asked whether given recognition or not.
| Number of Snaps | Name |
| 64 (100%) | Brandon Meriweather, DeAngelo Hall |
| 61 (95%) | Josh Wilson, London Fletcher, Ryan Kerrigan |
| 59 (92%) | Perry Riley |
| 55 (86%) | David Amerson |
| 54 (84%) | Brian Orakpo |
| 52 (81%) | EJ Biggers |
| 44 (69%) | Barry Cofield |
| 41 (64%) | Stephen Bowen |
| 23 (36%) | Jarvis Jenkins |
| 16 (25%) | Chris Baker |
| 11 (17%) | Rob Jackson |
| 9 (14%) | Brandon Jenkins |
| 8 (12%) | Reed Doughty, Bacarri Rambo |
| 7 (11%) | Nick Barnett |
| 6 (9%) | Kedric Golston |
- DeAngelo Hall is turning back the clock. Hall has now played in the most snaps of any Redskins defender this year. He has been in on every defensive snap in 6 out of their 8 games (missing only 1 snap in Denver). Not only has he been on the field the most, but his production is at an All-Pro level. Hall was even in on the goaline package where Haslett chose to call his number to defend Antonio Gates on the Chargers' 2nd down fade route. His energy is starting to permeate through the defense.
- Really a puzzling day at safety for Haslett. Doughty and Rambo each played in only 8 snaps. Doughty missed the Denver game with a concussion so his lack of playing time could be attributed to easing him back in. Rambo didn't play at all on defense until the last drive. Haslett inserted him as the deep safety allowing Meriweather to play closer to the line. EJ Biggers, seems to be the choice opposite Meriweather going forward, especially since he picked-off Phillip Rivers this week.
- Brandon Jenkins is back. Neither team was able to generate any semblance of a pass rush in this game. The Redskins collapsed the pocket frequently but couldn't finish the play to bring Rivers down. They finished the game with 1 sack (for no loss) while the Chargers finished with no sacks. I did notice B. Jenkins in on the action on few plays. On one play he misjudged the protection and stunted when he could have had Rivers for a sack if he stayed in his pass rush lane. Still, I like his potential over Darryl Tapp's.
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