Snap Judgments: Week 1 vs. Eagles Snap Counts

If you're like me you've grown tired of hearing the word 'rusty'. Redskins nation witnessed one of the worst first halves in quite some time but I, for one, am not going to give in to overreaction. So in order to divert your attention away from the hoopla, I will be breaking down the snap count for each player on the Redskins from Week 1. Keep a look out for this post, which will go live the day after every game.

Let's face it, the Depth Chart just does not tell the whole story. Who is the Redskins true #2 Wide Receiver? How much are the Redskins relying on rookies Jordan Reed and David Amerson? Is there one guy or a committee filling in for Jarvis Jenkins and Rob Jackson while they serve time? Look no further than the Snap Count to answer all of these questions.

First, take a look at the numbers.

The Redskins Offense had 75 snaps.

What Stands Out

• Fingers crossed but this is likely the last time we will see the snap counts looking like this. Run package guys like Josh Morgan, Logan Paulsen, and Darrel Young saw limited time due to the fact that we were playing from behind for the majority of the game.
• Along the same lines, Roy Helu Jr. ended up taking more snaps in this game than Alfred Morris. It is safe to say this is because the game situation necessitated his being played but could there have been a "benching" of sorts for Alfred after his two fumbles ala Steven Ridley or David Wilson?
• The pass-heavy approach in the second half opened the door for Leonard Hankerson and rookie Jordan Reed. Not only did Hank get more snaps than Josh Morgan but a higher percentage of his snaps were on passing plays while Morgan was more frequently asked to block in the run game. Jordan Reed was in on 33% of the snaps and seemed to make big catches on crucial downs, converting a 3rd and 4th down on two different drives.
• I've watched and re-watched the game and still cannot confirm the play Kory Lichtensteiger missed. I'm almost convinced that the NFL media numbers got it wrong on that one but if anyone knows when he went out comment and let me know.

Now for the defense. The Redskins Defense had 80 snaps.

What Stands Out

• During the pre-season, if you told me EJ Biggers would be playing in 92% of the defensive snaps for a game, I would have called you crazy. Biggers played the majority of the game at Strong Safety which reminded us all of how vital the health of Brandon Meriweather is to this secondary.
• On a similar note, I was very surprised with the lack of Reed Doughty in this game. Doughty has his clear deficiencies but what he brings to the table is aggressiveness and wrap up tackling in the run game, two things the Redskins needed in boat-loads against LeSean McCoy and Michael Vick. For him to only see the field on 6 snaps in relative mop-up time was very telling about their distrust in him.
• Rookies Bacarri Rambo and David Amerson played big roles in their debut games staying in on 100% and 95% of the snaps respectively. Amerson proved to be one of the lone bright spots on the whole defense.
• Haslett obviously chose to overload numbers in the secondary rather than the defensive line in order to combat the Eagles spread and speed. Often the Redskins deployed two d-lineman in the middle with Orakpo/Tapp and Kerrigan with their hands on the ground on the outside. Even with just two d-lineman in, Kedric Golston was worked in heavily to the roataion totaling 40% of the total snaps.

Most probably we will look back on this game and see it as an outlier. A game that had a snap count breakdown that was significantly different than all the rest. Offensively the Redskins' MO is to run the football but that luxury was not available to them when they found themselves down by 26 points in the 3rd Quarter. The pass package saw the field more than they ever should. Headed to Lambeau in Week 2 it will be interesting to see if the read-option and its package of players sees the field much more.