Snap Judgments: Week 14- Rams @ Redskins- DEFENSE

The four major North American sports leagues (NFL, MLB, NBA, NHL) consist of a combined 122 teams, and over the course of the last two years the Washington Redskins have been the worst of those 122 teams.  I say again, since 2013 the Washington Redskins have been the worst team in all professional North American sports.  Just take a look the table below, which lists the winning percentages for all 122 teams since the start of their 2013 seasons and see for yourself.  Please do keep in mind that this is an extremely large table and that there is an entire article full of snap data and analysis following it.

**All records in this table are up to date as of 12/7/2014 (i.e. Monday's results are not included).  The table is sorted first by winning % and then alphabetically by team abbreviation.**

Alright, so they don't technicality have the 122nd ranked winning percentage, and they are tied with three other NFL teams for the second worst mark; but do you really think that the Washington Redskins are in better shape than any of the five other teams that reside in the bottom 10th percentile of this list?  Are any of them still sinking like the Redskins instead of rising, even if the rise is only occurring ever so slightly?  I'm not even talking about as it pertains to the level of organizational dysfunctionality, an area in which Dan Snyder's team seems to reign supreme in perpetuity.

Each of the NFL teams either is or likely will be (Tampa Bay) more stable at the most important position in pro sports, quarterback, than the Redskins are currently or can reasonably hope to be in the near future.  The Milwaukee Bucks have some young talent and they are .500 in 2014; their 11 wins this season are just four shy of the 15 total that they had all of last year.  The 76ers do lie one one-thousandth of a percentage point lower than the Redskins, but even they have more a more focused and defined organizational identity than what we have here in Washington.  Sure, that identity is basically centered around cheating the system by continually tanking in order to acquire very young and talented players, but it's something and it might actually work eventually.  I just wish that the Redskins could get something positive out being so horrible the way that every other team does, but they can't even do that right.  They can't do it because they are in perpetual state of denial about where their organization stands in relation the rest of America's sports teams.  Well, Dan and Bruce, if you need any help with that, then scroll up a little bit and see where your team really stands.

62 Snaps were run against the Defense

31 Passing Snaps (50%)

31 Rushing Snaps (50%)

• The Redskins' defense was on the field for ten drives in Sunday's game against the Rams.  The 10th and final drive of the game consisted of a single kneel-down play.  St. Louis either scored or missed a field goal on five of their other nine drives (2 TDs, 1 FG and 2 missed FGs).  Tavon Austin did the Redskins' defense a favor by scoring on a 78-yard punt return touchdown late in the third quarter, one less drive for them to be humiliated on. 
  
• Washington defenders were flagged twice in the game.  Ryan Clark was called for a somewhat questionable personal foul (defenseless receiver) on the defense's first drive, and a would-be sack by Frank Kearse was negated by an obvious face-mask infraction on his part.

Downs

• The defense forced third downs on 12 of the Ram's 26 offensive series (46%).  This is no great accomplishment, but it's certainly an improvement over last week's rate of 31%.
• One thing that this game had in common with the Indianapolis game was that the defense did not allow many short yardage situations on second and third down.  The Rams were left with seven or more yards to go on 72% of their second-down and 75% of their third down plays.
• And just like last week, the Redskins let their early-down defensive efforts completely go to waste.  The Rams converted on 50% of their overall third-down attempts (6 for 12) and 44% of their third-and-long plays (4 for 9).  The Washington offense has been faced with 79 such third-and-long (7 or more yards to go) situations this season.  They have only converted on ten of them (12.7% conversion rate).  That means that the Rams matched 40% of the Redskins' third-and-long conversion output on the season in just this game alone; the Rams, who boast a passing offensive triumvirate of Shaun Hill, Kenny Britt and Jared Cook.
  

Defensive Snaps

• Will Compton got the start for the injured Keenan Robinson (knee).  Compton recorded season-high 62 defensive snaps.  He also led the team in defensive and total snaps taken against the Rams.
  
• Compton wasn't the only reserve to start in this one, as Philip Thomas filled in at strong safety for Brandon Merriweather (toe).  Thomas also saw a career-high in snaps.  It was his first NFL start.
• Chris Baker has been bothered by a SC joint sprain that he suffered in the Week 11 game against the Buccaneers, and as a result he had not played on more than 19 snaps in a game since.  His 41 snaps against the Rams represent his second highest total of the season, seemingly indicating that his recovery is nearly complete.  Baker recorded a sack and two hurries in the game.
• On the other end of the spectrum we have Jason Hatcher, whose snap numbers have steadily decreased over the last month.  His snap progression in those games is as follows: 44 snaps, 36 snaps, 38 snaps and finally a season-low 27 snaps against St. Louis.  Like Baker, he is dealing with an injury (knee) that is likely the culprit for his decreased playing time.  Should we really be surprised this is happening to a 32-year-old defensive lineman?  Nah.  At least they didn't pay him too much.....oh wait, nevermind.

Special Teams Snaps

• Typically more players get special teams snaps in a NFL game.  However, in this case offensive linemen were not needed to block, because the Redskins never attempted an extra point or a field goal.  Kai Forbath didn't see much action for the same reason.  His lone snap was on the second-half kickoff.
• For the second week in a row newcomer, Steve Beauharnais, led the special teams unit in snaps.
• Last week Beauharnais was promoted from the practice squad to the active roster and played immediately.  Before him it was Greg Ducre.  This week it was Kenny Oroko's turn, when the undrafted free agent corner out of Wake Forest made his NFL debut against Rams.  Okoro did not record a defensive snap, but was in on five special teams plays.
  

Records and Rankings

• Jay Gruden lost his 7th coach's challenge.  He is now 1-8 on the season.
• Tavon Austin's punt return touchdown was nothing new for Dan Snyder's Redskins.  In fact, they have allowed 14 punt return TDs since Snyder bought the team in 1999, worst in the NFL.  Washington is also tied for second worst for the most combined punt and kick return TDs allowed since 1999, with 21 of them.  The worst?  That would be none other than the St. Louis Rams. 
  
• Not only have the Redskins allowed far too many return touchdowns, they also have not scored many of their own.  Their 10 combined punt and kick return touchdowns is tied for 5th worst since 1999.  It should then be no surprise that the Redskins return TD differential of -11 is the second worst in the NFL, behind you guessed it, the St. Louis Rams.  This really speaks to the lack of depth that this team has maintained since Snyder took over.  Special teams units are mainly comprised of guys at the bottom of a team's roster, and not having quality depth means that the bottom of your roster will be extremely poor, ergo you special teams play will be poor.
• Ryan Kerrigan has been one of the only bright spots for the defense this year.  Kerrigan notched two more sacks against the Rams, bringing his season total to a career-high 11.5 QB sacks.  His 36 career sacks rank 6th all-time among all Redskins players.  Kerrigan's .59 sacks per game ranks 2nd in franchise history behind Dexter Manley (.73). 
  
• Kerrigan also recorded the 14th forced fumble of his career, which ranks second in franchise history according to PFR.  He now sits only three forced fumbles behind all-time franchise leader Charles Mann (17 FF).  Kerrigan is only 26 and has played in 102 fewer games (61 games) than Mann did (163 games).
  
• In Sunday's game, the Redskins allowed Rams' tight ends to catch 5 passes for 72 yards and 2 touchdowns.  H-back Cory Harkey also scored a 2-point conversion.  This is not the first time that I've brought up the Redskins' loose coverage of tight ends and it likely won't be the last, because once again they are one of the league's worst teams at defending the tight end position.

**Statistics derived from Advanced Football Analytics, ESPN, NFL GSIS, Pro Football Focus, Sports Reference and Rotoworld**