OFFENSE
Snaps- The Redskins' offense took a season-low 48 snaps in this game. Per Rich Tandler, the last time they had fewer snaps was in 1994 against the Eagles. Just 17 of the offense's 26 players took part on those 48 snaps. The nine that did not see the field for Sean McVay consisted of five inactives (Nate Sudfeld, Rashad Ross, Matt Jones, Spencer Long and Shawn Lauvao), two players that only saw time on special teams (Mack Brown and Vinston Painter) and two that did not play in any capacity (Colt McCoy and Korey Lichtensteiger). Of the 17 Redskins that saw time on offense, five of them played on ten or fewer snaps (Maurice Harris, Ryan Grant, Jordan Reed, Derek Carrier and Ty Nsekhe); the other 12 each received at least 17 snaps.
Doing More with Less- The Redskins became just the 13th team since the merger to average 7.2 yards per play or better and score 4 or more TDs on 46 or fewer offensive plays. The 2015 Lions are the only other team to have accomplished that feat in the last 13 seasons.
Drops- Washington receivers (includes all eligible pass catchers) did not drop a pass for the sixth time this season and for the fifth time in the team's last seven games. Their 12 drops on the year ranks second in the NFL behind only the Titans, who have dropped 11 balls. The Redskins have attempted 95 more passes than the Titans have this season (496 to 401).
Red Zone- The offense scored a touchdown on the team's only red-zone trip of the game. This marked the fifth time that the team has converted on over 50% of their red-zone opportunities this season. The Redskins are 4-1 in those games, with their only loss coming against the Lions in Week 7. They have gone 2-3 in the red area in their last two games.
Quarterbacks (3) | ||
Player (* - denotes starter) | Snaps | Snap % |
Kirk Cousins * | 48 | 100% |
Colt McCoy | 0 | 0% |
Nate Sudfeld | Inactive | N/A |
- Kirk Cousins Stats- On a season-low 21 attempts, Kirk Cousins completed 14 passes for 234 yards, 10 first downs and two touchdowns. He was also sacked twice and threw a pick-six. Cousins threw his only other interception for a touchdown in the team's win against the Eagles in Week 6. Despite the interception and the fact that he posted his second lowest yardage total of the season, Cousins was very efficient with the few attempts that he had in the game. His yards-per attempt-average (11.1), his adjusted-net-yards-per-attempt figure (9.65) and his first-down percentage (47.6%) were all his second best marks of the year. He also posted his third best passer rating (116.0) and Pro Football Focus grade (80.0) of the season and had the third highest QBR by any QB in Week 14 (78.6).
- 2016 Efficiency Rankings- Kirk Cousins ranks in the top six in the NFL in the following metrics this season: QBR (5th), raw QBR (5th), completions (3rd), completion percentage (4th), passing yards (3rd), passer rating (6th), yards per attempt (3rd), yards per completion (6th), adjusted net yards per attempt (3rd), sack percentage (4th), game-winning drives (4th). DYAR (5th) and DVOA (6th). I'd say that he has clearly proven himself to be a franchise quarterback.
- Cousins Records- With 4,045 yards on the year, Cousins became the first quarterback in franchise history to pass for over 4,000 yards in multiple seasons. He is on pace to finish 2016 with 4,979 passing yards, which would be the 11th most yards in a single season in NFL history (this also projects Drew Brees and Matt Ryan to out-gain him down the stretch). If his numbers hold steady, then Cousins would become just the third player to ever throw for over 4,900 yards with a completion percentage of 67% or above and a yards-per-attempt average of over 8.2. The only other two men to do this were Peyton Manning (2013) and Drew Brees (2011).
- Airing it All Out- Cousins continued to let the ball fly, as he set season highs in average depth of target (12.5), average air distance (28.53) and average air yards per throw (12.1). He had the second highest aDOT and the highest air yards averages of the week. Captain Kirk went 4 for 6 for 149 yards and two touchdowns on his throws that traveled at least 20 yards in the air.
Wide Receivers (6) | ||
Player (* - denotes starter) | Snaps | Snap % |
Pierre Garcon * | 42 | 88% |
DeSean Jackson * | 42 | 88% |
Jamison Crowder * | 41 | 85% |
Maurice Harris | 5 | 10% |
Ryan Grant | 2 | 4% |
Rashad Ross | Inactive | N/A |
- DeSean Jackson- Jackson caught 3 passes for 2 first downs on 4 targets and led the team with 102 yards. Most of those yards came on an 80-yard score in the third quarter. D-Jax reached a top speed of 21.48 mph on that play, the second fastest speed by a ball carrier in Week 14. He also drew a 26-yard pass interference penalty and was Cousins' target on the pick-six play.
- King of the Long Ball- As you probably already know, Jackson is no stranger when it comes to hitting home runs in the passing game both in his career and in recent weeks. He has now caught a pass of 50 or more yards in three straight games after failing to do so once in Weeks 1-11. Jackson trails only Randy Moss in 50-yard receptions since 1994 (43 to 36) and he has 13 more of these receptions than any other player since he entered the league in 2008 (Calvin Johnson had 23 of them). What about scoring plays, though? Check out some of the all-time rankings for Jackson: 8th in 40-yard touchdowns (31), fifth in 50-yard touchdowns (26 and 3 touchdowns behind second place), 2nd in 60-yard touchdowns (22 and 1 touchdown from tying Jerry Rice for the all-time record) and 2nd in 80-yard touchdown receptions (4 and 1 touchdown behind first tying Rice, Lance Alworth, Derrick Alexander and Bob Hayes for the all-time record). Jackson will likely either pass or only trail Jerry Rice in several of these categories by the time his career is over, a career that will probably end with somewhere around 180 games played. Rice's 303 games are the most games played ever by a non-specialist. DeSean Jackson may well be the best big-play threat in NFL history.
- Pierre Garcon- Garcon led the Redskins in targets (6), receptions (5) and receiving first downs (4) yet again. He also caught a touchdown and his 59 yards receiving were the second most on the team. One of his first-down receptions came on a fourth down during Washington's game-winning drive. Garcon received a PFF grade of 80.2, the second highest on the offense. The nine-year veteran has not dropped a pass all season and ranks first on the team in targets (89), receptions (60) and first downs (42). With one catch in Monday night's game against the Panthers, Garcon would become the 62nd player to record a reception in 100 straight games since at least 1950. He would be only the third player to accomplish this amazing feat while wearing a Redskins uniform (Art Monk and Boyd Dowler).
- Jamison Crowder- Crowder had a relatively quiet game against the Eagles. He did not catch a pass in the first half for the second week in a row and he only caught two passes on the day for 37 yards and one first down. This was the first time since Week 5 that Crowder hasn't either scored or gone over 85 yards receiving. He didn't put up a lot of big numbers on Sunday, but his 33-yard reception was instrumental on the offense's game-winning drive. Crowder is already one reception shy of his rookie total (59 to 60) and has 200 more yards (804 to 604) and 5 more touchdowns (7 to 2) than he did in 16 games last season.
- Ryan Grant & Maurice Harris- Ryan Grant tied a career low with two snaps played (twice in his rookie year), was not targeted for the third time this year and failed to catch a pass for the eighth time this season. Maurice Harris was also not targeted. It was the first time in the last six games that he was not targeted and the first time in the last five contests that he did not catch a pass. Harris 10.4% snap percentage was his lowest since his first NFL game back in Week 7.
- Josh Doctson- Now that Josh Doctson is officially done for the year, we can safely say that he will have the lowest rookie all-purpose yardage total of any Redskins' first round and top-37 overall wide receiver pick in team history (Joe Hernandez did not play in his first year as a pro and spent his second year in the CFL). Doctson's two games played this year were the fewest by a Redskins' rookie first-round pick since Tackle Andre Johnson failed to make a single appearance in 1996.
Tight Ends (3) | ||
Player (* - denotes starter) | Snaps | Snap % |
Vernon Davis * | 38 | 79% |
Jordan Reed | 10 | 21% |
Derek Carrier | 8 | 17% |
- Vernon Davis- Vernon Davis got his 11th start of the year (tied for 11th among tight ends), and played on the majority of the offensive snaps for the eighth time, but was held to one reception for a yard on two targets. With the single reception, Davis is still stuck just under 500 career catches (498). This was the second time in the last two weeks that he has caught one or fewer passes. After going for 16 receptions, 288 yards and 2 touchdowns on 18 targets in Weeks 6-10, Davis has cooled off in his last four games (16-11-116-0).
- Jordan Reed- A still-ailing Jordan Reed played on just 10 snaps against the Eagles. That is the second lowest snap total of his career. He only saw less playing time in Week 1 of 2014 (Houston), when he took just 7 snaps before suffering an injury that would sideline him for the next four weeks. Reed did not receive his first and only target of the game until the 6:53 mark in the second quarter. He made a ten-yard reception on the play for a first down. The Redskins would go on to score a touchdown four plays later. The single catch and target ties a career low for Reed, who has only been held to one target and one reception in 3 of his other 44 career games. Washington was winless in games in which Reed caught one pass until Sunday's contest (0-3). His ten yards receiving is the third worst output of his career.
- Derek Carrier- Derek Carrier has played on between 14% and 19% of the snaps in all five of his games this year (14%, 19%, 19%, 18% and 17% on Sunday). Those numbers really have not fluctuated at all, despite the fact that Jordan Reed has played injured or not played at all in each of the last three weeks. He was not targeted for the third time in his five appearances this season. The three targets, two receptions, one first down and zero touchdowns by the Redskins' tight end corps in this game were all season lows.
Running Backs (4) | ||
Player (* - denotes starter) | Snaps | Snap % |
Robert Kelley * | 31 | 65% |
Chris Thompson | 17 | 35% |
Mack Brown | ST Only | 0% |
Matt Jones | Inactive | N/A |
- Robert Kelley- Rob Kelley had another productive day for the Redskins. He ran the rock 16 times for 63 yards, 3 first downs and a touchdown. He gained positive yardage on over 80% of his carries, forced five missed tackles and earned 52 of his yards after contact (83% of his total). His 3.94 yards per carry average was his second worst since he took over the reins from Matt Jones in Week 8, but his 3.6 yards after contact was his best average as the team's starting running back. He ranks fifth in the league in yards after contact per attempt (3.03) and second in PFF's elusive rating metric (70.1) this season. R.-Kelley also tied career highs in targets (2) and receptions (2) and set new career marks in receiving yards (25) and first downs (2). He had only had 4 career receptions, for 4 yards and 2 first downs coming into this game.
- Chris Thompson- Thompson pretty much did it all for the Redskins. He rushed 3 times for 38 yards and a touchdown and set a career high in all-purpose yards, with 123 of them. The 123 yards for Thompson constituted 28% of the Redskins total all-purpose yards in the game. His game-winning 25-yard touchdown was the team's longest run for a score since Week 2 of last season when Matt Jones took a 39-yarder to the house against the Rams. It was also the longest game-winning touchdown rush with less than two minutes to play in a game in team history. The old record was a five-yard touchdown run by Larry Brown in 1972 against the Giants. Thompson did not catch a pass for just the second time this season and for the third time since 2014.
- Redskins Rushing- The offense rushed the ball 23 times for 107 yards, 5 first downs and 2 touchdowns. It was the sixth time in the last eight games that the team has gone for 100 or more yards on the ground and averaged over 4.5 yards per attempt (not all in the same games). They also ran the ball on 44% of the offensive plays for the first time in the last three weeks. They have won every game in which they've hit that mark. The rushing scores of 20-plus yards by Kelley and Thompson made them the first pair of Redskins teammates with touchdown runs of 20 or more yards in the same game since Ricky Ervin and Earnest Byner did it in Week 7 of the historic 1991 season.
Offensive Linemen (10) | ||
Player (* - denotes starter) | Snaps | Snap % |
Trent Williams * | 48 | 100% |
Arie Koundijo * | 48 | 100% |
John Sullivan * | 48 | 100% |
Brandon Scherff * | 48 | 100% |
Morgan Moses * | 48 | 100% |
Ty Nsekhe | 3 | 6% |
Vinston Painter | ST Only | 0% |
Korey Lichtensteiger | 0 | 0% |
Spencer Long | Inactive | N/A |
Shawn Lauvao | Inactive | N/A |
- Offensive Line (Group)- Cousins was pressured seven times and on just under 30% of his dropbacks by an Eagles defense that blitzed on nearly 40% of the Redskins' passing snaps. The line only allowed four hits, but did give up two sacks for the second straight week. The resulting 8.7% sack percentage is the second highest rate of the season behind only the 10% allowed to the Browns in Week 4 (3 sacks on 30 dropbacks).
- Offensive Line (Individual)- Both of the sacks allowed were given up by a combination of Brandon Scherff and John Sullivan. They both failed to stop Fletcher Cox on a double team on one sack by Cox, and Scherff and Sullivan got beat by Cox and Bennie Logan respectively on the other one. Morgan Moses' false start in the red zone was the offense's only penalty of the day; but luckily for him, Kirk Cousins threw a TD to Pierre Garcon on the next play. Arie Koundijo, who had allowed eight pressures on 80 snaps coming into the week (10%), had arguably the best game of his career on Sunday. This was his second start of 2016 and of his career.
- Trent Williams- Williams did not allow a single pressure in his first game back from suspension and made a key block on the game-winning touchdown run. He earned the best PFF grade on the Redskins' offense (80.9) and has the highest season-long grade among all offensive linemen in 2016. His backup, Ty Nsekhe, played three snaps as an extra lineman.
DEFENSE
Snaps- The defense was on the field for 78 snaps on Sunday, the second highest defensive snap count since Week 16 of last year and the highest total in a non-overtime game in that span (88 snaps versus Cincinnati). On the 78 snaps in question, the defense trotted out 20 of its 24 players. Anthony Lanier (shin) and Will Blackmon (concussion) were inactive and Terence Garvin and Kendall Fuller only played on special teams. One player from each defensive position group played on 13 or fewer snaps (Ioannidis, Cravens, Bates, Toler and Everett) while every other defender took at least 27 snaps in the game.
Quarterback Pressure- The defense recorded 10 hits, 4 sacks and 18 total pressures against Carson Wentz and the Eagles. The four sacks and ten hits were the most for Washington since their last matchup against Philadelphia in Week 6. The defense also had a sack percentage of over 4.7% for the first time in the last four weeks (8.0%).
Third-Down Defense- The Eagles converted on 9 of their 18 third-down attempts and on 2 of 3 fourth downs. Three of the nine third-down conversions came on plays where seven or more yards were needed for the first down (7, 9 and 10). This was only the second time this season that Washington has allowed a combined third and fourth-down conversion rate of over 50% and won (Week 4 versus the Browns). The Redskins were, however, jumped by those same Browns for the worst third-down rate allowed in the league (48.21% to 48.19%). Two of the three other teams that Joe Barry has coached as a defensive coordinator finished the season ranked 29th or worse in third-down conversion percentage allowed. The only exception took place last year, when the Redskins finished 12th in this metric.
Joe Barry- The bottom-feeding rankings for Barry don't stop there either. The Redskins' defense currently ranks 26th in yards, 22nd in points, 22nd in rushing yards, 28th in rushing yards per attempt, 24th in passing yards, 17th in net yards per attempt and 23rd in DVOA. In his previous three years as a D-coordinator, Barry's defenses only finished higher than 22nd in any of those statistical categories once (17th in points allowed last season). His average ranking across each statistic over the course of his four years running a defense is 26.9. I know that the Redskins have invested less resources on their defense than possibly any other team in the league, and I believe that was also the case with Barry's Lions teams, but at a certain point you have to take a hard look at the guy running the unit too.
Points- The Washington defense did not allow a second-half touchdown for the sixth time this year. Not surprisingly, the team won all six games. The defense also prevented a game-winning drive for the third time in four opportunities this season (failed against Detroit). So at least Barry seems to be doing something right in this regard.
Tight End Defense- Zach Ertz put on a show against a Redskins defense that couldn't cover a tight end if their lives depended on it. Ertz had the 5th most targets, the 7th most receptions and the 7th most yards by a tight end against the Redskins' defense since at least 1999. The Washington defense, which has now allowed three 100-yard games to the position since Week 8 (tied for most in the league with the Browns and the Bills) ranks dead last in targets (132), receptions (99) and yards (980) allowed against tight ends this season. That really speaks volumes about the lack of quality coverage people in both the team's linebacker corps and their secondary.
Rushing Defense- The Eagles rushed the ball 26 times for 95 yards and a 3.65 yards-per-attempt average. This was the fourth time in the last five games that the defense has held its opponent to under 100 yards rushing and below four yards per carry. In seven of the first eight games of the year they allowed the opposition to average over four yards per tote and gave up five 100-yard rushing games. The defense also did not allow a rushing score for just the fourth time this season.
Defensive Linemen (6) | ||
Player (* - denotes starter) | Snaps | Snap % |
Chris Baker * | 53 | 68% |
Ziggy Hood * | 41 | 53% |
Ricky Jean Francois * | 39 | 50% |
Cullen Jenkins | 27 | 35% |
Matt Ioannidis | 13 | 17% |
Anthony Lanier | Inactive | N/A |
- Chris Baker- Chris "Swaggy" Baker made two solo tackles and one assisted tackle. Unfortunately, both of his solos came on short yardage runs that ended up resulting in first downs for Philadelphia. His assist came when he split a sack of Carson Wentz with Preston Smith, a sack that arguably should've been fully credited to Baker. He also had two hurries and an 8.6% pressure rate (3 total pressures with the sack) .
- Ziggy Hood- After failing to record over two total tackles in his first 11 games this year, Hood has now recorded four or more in each of the last two contests (5 and 4). All four of his tackles were made short of the line to gain, with one of his solos resulting in a three-yard loss for Ryan Mathews and an assist with Josh Norman on the Eagle's botched field-goal play that lost six yards. Things did not go as well for him as a pass rusher. After recording his first pressure since Week 8 in the previous game (Arizona), he failed to hurry, hit or sack Carson Wentz in this one. So, that's no pressures in four of the last five now for Hood. After seeing at least 59% of the snaps in each of the first nine games, he didn't top 53% for the third time in the last four weeks.
- Ricky Jean Francois- Ricky Jean Francois, on the other hand, has now played on 45% or more of the snaps in four of the last five games, after not hitting that number in seven of the first eight weeks. In fact, his 39 snaps and 50% snap percentage this week were both season highs. Jean Francois made two solo tackles, with one of them going for a loss on a third-and-three play in the fourth quarter. He also recorded a hurry and helped Bashaud Breeland with a sack-fumble, although Breeland was credited with the full sack. Jean Francois started the game (5th start of the season) and earned the fourth highest PFF grade on the defense (80.4).
- Reserve DL- Matt Ioannidis recorded a career-high two solo and total tackles. The tackles came on back-to-back plays late in the game. He also was able to generate pressure on the quarterback for only the second time this year. The only other game in which he accomplished any of this was in Week 5 against the Ravens, the only contest that he received more playing time in (snap count and percentage). Ioannidis was, however, called for a holding infraction on a kickoff return at the end of the first half that hurt the offense's chances of driving for a quick field goal. Cullen Jenkins did not record a stat of any kind on 27 snaps.
Outside Linebackers (4) | ||
Player (* - denotes starter) | Snaps | Snap % |
Ryan Kerrigan * | 62 | 79% |
Trent Murphy | 50 | 64% |
Preston Smith * | 46 | 59% |
Houston Bates | 1 D/ 1 O |
1%/ 2% |
- Ryan Kerrigan- Ryan "Heartbreak Kid" Kerrigan was a pass rushing force for Washington yet again. He terrorized the Eagles with six total pressures, which included multiple hits and the game-winning sack-fumble. This was his eighth consecutive game with at least five pressures and his fourth straight with a sack (sacks in 8 of last 9 games). The sack was Kerrigan's 11th of the season, which ties him for third in the NFL with Khalil Mack; only Von Miller and Vic Beasley have more with 13.5. The forced fumble was his 19th since he entered the NFL in 2011, tying Peanut Tillman for the second most in the NFL in that time frame (Cliff Avril has 21). Don't forget that Kerrigan also has the most forced fumbles in franchise history. His 83.9 PFF grade was the second best on the team, trailing only his pass-rushing partner in crime, Trent Murphy.
- Trent Murphy- Murphy out-snapped Preston Smith for the third time this season and he repaid the coaches for those extra snaps with another big game. The third-year linebacker registered 2 QB hits and 4 hurries for a total of 6 pressures on 35 pass rushes. He also played a huge part on the game-winning play by recovering the fumble that Ryan Kerrigan forced on his sack of Carson Wentz. It was Murphy's first recovery of the year and the fourth of his career. His PFF grade of 86.3 was the highest among all players in the game. Murphy is on pace to record 10 sacks this season. That would be the fourth most sacks by a Redskin player in his third year in the league (Mann, Manley and Arrington).
- Preston Smith- Smith was credited with two QB hits and a half sack on 23 rushes in the game. He also teamed with Will Compton for a two-yard TFL. Smith did make a few plays in this game, but it's worth noting that he needed help on pretty much all of them. It also seems that he may have been responsible for a coverage bust that allowed Darren Sproles to score a touchdown at the end of the first half. Smith played on less than 59% of the defensive snaps for the first time since Week 15 of last year.
Inside Linebackers (5) | ||
Player (* - denotes starter) | Snaps | Snap % |
Mason Foster * | 76 | 97% |
Will Compton * | 40 | 51% |
Martrell Spaight | 38 | 49% |
Su'a Cravens | 2 | 3% |
Terence Garvin | ST Only | 0% |
- Mason Foster- Foster played on his highest number of snaps and his highest snap percentage since 2014, when he was on the Buccaneers. He tied a career high with 12 solo tackles and his 12 total tackles were the third most he's ever had (Week 1 of 2016 and Week 2 of 2012). He made five defensive stops and three tackles for a loss, including a sack. His sack and two other pressures came on just seven rushes in the game. Foster had a fine day as a tackler and a rusher, but he was less than stellar in coverage. According to my very unofficial count, Foster allowed all 7 of his targets to be caught for 57 yards, 3 first downs and three combined third and fourth-down conversions.
- Will Compton- Will Compton was having something of a bounce-back game before being forced to exit with an injury. He only allowed one catch for nine yards and a first down (my count), made four tackles and recorded a QB hit in the game. His assisted tackle and one of his solos both went for losses. The only other time that Compton played on less snaps since he took over as a starter in Week 10 of last season was in the final game of 2015, a meaningless road contest against the then struggling Cowboys.
- Su'a Cravens & Martrell Spaight- Cravens was injured early in the game and as a result he played on his lowest defensive (2 snaps) and total snap counts (2 on defense and 2 on special teams) of his career. With both Compton and Cravens down, Martrell Spaight was called on to step up and play a major role on defense for the first time in his career. He was on the field for a career-high 38 plays and 49% of the snaps, this coming after he had only been on the field for seven defensive snaps in his career. Spaight made a solo tackle and did not allow a completion on two targets.
Cornerbacks (5) | ||
Player (* - denotes starter) | Snaps | Snap % |
Bashaud Breeland * | 78 | 100% |
Josh Norman * | 78 | 100% |
Quinton Dunbar | 52 | 67% |
Greg Toler | 6 | 8% |
Kendall Fuller | ST Only | 0% |
- Josh Norman- Josh Norman continues to be the only defensive back on the team that is having a great or even an above-average year. Norman played on every snap yet again and only allowed one reception for 14 yards and a first down on three targets. Norman also broke up a two-point conversion pass directed at Jordan Matthews and did not commit a penalty for just the fifth time this year. Norman made two tackles in the game, including an assisted one on a botched Philadelphia field-goal attempt that resulted in a six-yard loss.
- Bashaud Breeland- Bashaud Breeland made seven solo tackles and forced a fumble on a sack of Carson Wentz. The forced fumble was Breeland's second of the season and in as many weeks. That brought his career total to seven in just three years in the league. Sean Taylor is the only other DB in team history with seven in his first three years. Only Ryan Kerrigan has forced more fumbles in his first three seasons in franchise history (10). Breeland ranks fifth all-time among all DBs in FFs in his first three years in the league. Unfortunately for Breeland, his primary duty is to cover receivers and he did not do a good job of that on Sunday. Even if you don't charge Breeland with the Sproles touchdown (he was the only one in the area), then he still allowed 7 receptions for 69 yards, 4 first downs and two third-down conversions on 7 targets (my count).
- Kendall Fuller- After weeks of poor play, the coaches finally decided to bench Kendall Fuller, who has allowed a 121.9 passer rating when targeted and 1.84 yards allowed per coverage snap (8th worst average in the league). This was the first time that he did not see a single defensive snap since Week 3. He also barely played on special teams (6 snaps).
- Quinton Dunbar- Fuller was primarily replaced by Quinton Dunbar, who saw his most action since Week 3 against the Giants. Unfortunately Dunbar wasn't much of an upgrade. By my count, he allowed 6 receptions for 59 yards, 2 first downs and 1 third-down conversion on 8 targets. He gave up another first down via a 44-yard pass interference penalty.
- Greg Toler- Dunbar was replaced by Greg Toler on the final drive of the game, but Philadelphia tried to pick on him too. They passed or ran in his direction on three straight plays on that drive. The three plays resulted in a 12-yard first down, a Ryan Mathews' drop that likely would've gone for a first down and an incompletion to Nelson Agholor. Toler had only played in two games and on nine total snaps since the Redskins' last meeting with the Eagles in Week 6.
Safeties (4) | ||
Player (* - denotes starter) | Snaps | Snap % |
Duke Ihenacho * | 78 | 100% |
Donte Whitner * | 67 | 86% |
Deshazor Everett | 11 | 14% |
Will Blackmon | Inactive | N/A |
- Donte Whitner- Whitner started in his 150th regular season game on Sunday. He saw his snap count and percentage rise from last week (52 to 67 and 68% to 86%), but he was still out-snapped by Duke Ihenacho for the second straight week. Whitner tied for second on the team with seven solo tackles and sat alone with the second most total tackles by a Redskin in this contest. Whitner has finished first or second on the team in solo tackles in six of the last eight games.
- Duke Ihenacho- Ihenacho also had seven solo tackles against Philadelphia, but that did not make up for another subpar performance from him. He missed three tackles and allowed all four targets thrown in his direction to be completed for 42 yards and multiple first downs. With Will Blackmon sidelined with a concussion, Ihenacho was forced to play on every snap for just the second time this season and for the fourth time in his career. His 78 snaps in the game are tied for the second most in his career (84 snaps in a Week 12 OT game in 2013) and the most in a regulation-length game.
- Deshazor Everett- Everett, who had not seen a single snap on defense all year, also played on the second highest number of snaps in his career. Everett had only seen more defensive action in last season's Week 17 tune-up game against the Cowboys. Everett held Ryan Mathews to a 1-yard gain on a first down, did not allow a single reception and made a huge interception in the end-zone while covering Zach Ertz. The interception was the first of his career and the fourth red-zone turnover of the year for Washington. The two red-zone takeaways by the team on Sunday matched their season total coming into the game. The 83.7 rating handed out to Everett by PFF was the third highest grade by a Redskin this week. The young safety was not perfect, though. He was flagged twice for 30 yards. He made huge hits on both plays that injured the opposing players. There is no question that Deshazor Everett has earned more defensive playing time after this performance.
SPECIAL TEAMS
Snaps- Thirty-four different players saw action on Ben Kotwica's unit over the course of 25 snaps. As usual, the group consisted of 20 defenders, 11 offensive players and 3 specialists (Hopkins, Sundberg and Way). Two players each from the offense (Mack Brown and Vinston Painter) and the defense (Terence Garvin and Kendall Fuller) played exclusively on special teams in the game.
Houston Bates led the group in snaps, just as he has in every other game this season. However, this was one of the few times that Deshazor Everett did not receive the second most teams PT. Perhaps, that was because of added responsibilities on defense. Playing a lot on both defense and special teams didn't seem to be a problem for Martrell Spaight though, who played the Robin to Bates' Batman on special teams this week.
Special Teamers (34) | Special Teamers (cont) | |||||
Player | Snaps | Snap % | Player | Snaps | Snap % | |
Houston Bates | 21 | 84% | Greg Toler | 7 | 28% | |
Martrell Spaight | 18 | 72% | Tress Way | 7 | 28% | |
Deshazor Everett | 16 | 64% | Kendall Fuller | 6 | 24% | |
Terence Garvin | 16 | 64% | Preston Smith | 6 | 24% | |
Mason Foster | 14 | 56% | Chris Thompson | 6 | 24% | |
Ryan Grant | 13 | 52% | Will Compton | 5 | 20% | |
Derek Carrier | 11 | 44% | Ricky Jean Francois | 5 | 20% | |
Quinton Dunbar | 10 | 40% | Cullen Jenkins | 5 | 20% | |
Duke Ihenacho | 10 | 40% | Ryan Kerrigan | 5 | 20% | |
Matt Ioannidis | 10 | 40% | Josh Norman | 5 | 20% | |
Ziggy Hood | 9 | 36% | Arie Koundijo | 4 | 16% | |
Dustin Hopkins | 9 | 36% | Morgan Moses | 4 | 16% | |
Bashaud Breeland | 8 | 32% | Vinston Painter | 4 | 16% | |
Maurice Harris | 8 | 32% | Brandon Scherff | 4 | 16% | |
Mack Brown | 7 | 28% | John Sullivan | 4 | 16% | |
Trent Murphy | 7 | 28% | Su'a Cravens | 2 | 8% | |
Nick Sundberg | 7 | 28% | Jamison Crowder | 2 | 8% |
- Tress Way- Way punted the ball three times for 141 yards and an average of 47 yards and a net average of 45.3 yards. His first punt went out of bounds at the Eagles' 20-yard line, the second one went for a touchdown that was called back by a penalty and his third and final punt was not able to be fielded by Darren Sproles at the 25 because of an interference infraction on Deshazor Everett. This was just the fourth time in Way's 45-game career that he has punted the ball three or more times without pinning the opposition inside of their own 20 once while also averaging below 50 yards per kick.
- Dustin Hopkins- After one of his better games of the year last week, Dustin Hopkins came crashing back to Earth on Sunday. Hopkins hit the left upright and missed a 38-yard field goal attempt late in the first quarter, his only attempt of the game. This was only his second miss of under 43 yards in his career, with his only other one coming on a 34-yarder in Week 8 against the Bengals. That miss helped to snap his streak of 15 consecutive games with a made field goal. Sixteen games would have moved him into a tie for second in franchise history with Mark Moseley. Hopkins, who made 15 of his first 16 field goals to start the year, has only connected on 13 of his last 19 attempts. He has now missed a field goal in five of his last seven games, including in each of the last three weeks. He has now dropped all the way down to 22nd in field goal accuracy (80%). A career high four of Hopkins' five kickoffs were returned in the game, tying a career worst 20% touchback rate.
- Kickoff Return Coverage- On the opening kickoff of the game, Duke Ihenacho tackled Wendell Smallwood at the 27-yard line to end his return of 27 yards. That was the only kick that Philadelphia returned that went for more than 16 yards and that was taken beyond the Eagles' own 25-yard line. Martrell Spaight collected his team-leading two special teams tackles on the next two kickoff returns when he held both Nelson Agholor and Paul Turner to returns of 11 yards. Houston Bates chipped in with his only tackle of the day when he took down Agholor on a return of 16 yards. Bates and Spaight lead all Redskins with six total special teams tackles in 2016.
- Punt Return Coverage- There were no official returns of Tress Way's three punts, because two of them went out of bounds and the other two were negated by penalties. One of those penalties was for Deshazor Everett's big hit on Darren Sproles (15 yards for interfering with Sproles' opportunity to field the return); the other penalty wiped out what would have been a 72-yard touchdown return for Darren Sproles (illegal block on Zach Ertz).
- Kickoff Returns- Chris Thompson saw career highs in both number of kickoff returns (4) and kick return yards (85). The four kickoff returns and 85 return yards were also season highs for the team as a whole. All four of Thompson's returns went for at least 22 yards (not including penalty yardage) and he got the ball out to at least the Washington 23-yard line on all three of his returns in which the team was not flagged.
- Punt Returns- Jamison Crowder returned a pair of punts for eight and five yards (13 yards total). He failed to get past the Redskins' 20-yard line on both returns. Crowder has totaled just 44 return yards in his last five games and 80 yards in his last eight. His high mark in the last three weeks was a 17-yard effort in Arizona. Seventeen yards was his lowest output in a game in which he had a return in the first five weeks of the year. Even if you exclude his 85-yard touchdown return, Crowder was still averaging over 18 yards per punt in Weeks 1-5, but since then his average has dropped to 6.7 yards per return. Crowder has dropped to third in punt return yards (274) and second in average (14.4) after holding the top spot in both categories for much of the season.
*All statistics are courtesy of CSN Mid Atlantic, ESPN, NFL.com, NFL Gamebooks, NFL Penalties, Pro Football Focus, Pro Football Reference, Real Redskins, Redskins.com, Sharp Football Stats, Team Rankings and The Washington Post*