OFFENSE
Snaps- The 60 offensive snaps was the team's lowest offensive snap total since their 22-point loss to the Steelers in Week 1. On those 60 snaps, 18 of the offense's 24 players saw the field. Four of the six that did not play were inactive (Nate Sudfeld, Rashad Ross, Matt Jones and Jordan Reed), one only saw work on special teams (Mack Brown) and one did not play in any capacity (Colt McCoy). Six of the eighteen that did play on the offensive side of the ball only participated on 17 or fewer snaps (Maurice Harris, Ryan Grant, Derek Carrier, Spencer Long, Arie Koundijo and Vinston Painter), while the other twelve played on at least 26 snaps.
Points- The Redskins are 5-0-1 when they score 26 or more points, but they are 1-5 when they fail to score 26. This is a problem considering that the Redskins average 25.3 points per game and that the NFL average is 22.9 points per game this season. Washington ranks tenth in points scored (303), fifth in points per drive (2.4) and tenth in points per play (.386).
Red Zone- This team would've scored even more points and won more games this year if they were more efficient in the red zone; however, this was not the main problem in Sunday's game. The Redskins scored touchdowns on one of their two red-zone trips, marking just the second time in the last five games that the team has had a 50% or better touchdown-scoring rate in the red area. The most disappointing thing about their effort in this department, was that they failed to score a touchdown on a drive where they ran two plays from the 1-yard line (see the infamous DeSean Jackson fade).
Turnovers- Washington's main problem in this game was the fact that they committed two turnovers for the fourth time this year. They are now 1-3 in those games in 2016. This was actually the first time that the team had turned the ball over in the last three weeks and their two turnovers in this game equaled their total from the previous four games. The Redskins have not lost in a game in which they won the TO battle this year (3-0-1).
Yards- For whatever the reason may be in any given week, it's truly a shame that the Redskins are wasting such a good offense this year. Check out these rankings and you'll see what I mean: 5th in first downs (274), 4th in first-down percentage (35%). 3rd in scoring-percentage per drive (46.6%) 2nd in total yards (5,023), 2nd in yards per play (6.4) and 1st in yards per drive (40.5). Again, what a damn shame this is.
Quarterbacks (3) | ||
Player (* - denotes starter) | Snaps | Snap % |
Kirk Cousins * | 60 | 100% |
Colt McCoy | 0 | 0% |
Nate Sudfeld | Inactive | N/A |
- Kirk Cousins Stats- Kirk Cousins struggled in the first half, going just 9 for 16 for 89 yards and 5 first downs. He bounced back in the second half and finished the day with 21 completions, 271 yards, 12 first downs and two touchdowns (1 passing and 1 rushing). The 271 yards was the highest passing total put up against Arizona this season, but when you look at his efficiency numbers it's plain to see that this was a down performance for Cousins. He had his fourth worst first-down percentage (32%), his third worst yards-per-attempt average (7.23), his third worst adjusted-net-yards-per-attempt mark (5.67), his second worst passer rating (77.6) and his second worst completion percentage (56.8%) of the year on Sunday. You could make a strong argument that this Cousins' his worst game of the year based on the fact that he only had a worst day in more than two of those five categories against the Ravens in Week 5 (worse Y/A, ANY/A and QB rating).
- Kirk Cousins Records- With 3,811 yards on the year, Cousins is now just 356 yards from breaking the single-season franchise record that he set last year for the most passing yards in a season by a Redskin. He is 60 completions and 45 attempts from breaking his team records in those categories as well. Cousins is also tied with Aaron Rodgers for the most games with a touchdown pass (27) since the start of last season. His interception on the last pass of the game snapped his streak of 187 consecutive passes without an interception. The streak was the second longest in team history behind only the 271 straight passes without a pick that Jason Campbell threw between 2007 and 2008.
- Pressure and Deep Passing- On 19 dropbacks under pressure, Cousins was sacked twice and completed 8 of his 17 attempts for 98 yards, a touchdown and an interception. When blitzed, his yards per attempt dropped by 6.1 yards and his passer rating dropped by almost 40. Due to all the pressure, Cousins had a difficult time throwing deep in this game. He only attempted three passes that traveled 20 or more yards in the air, which is quite a departure from his last several games.
Wide Receivers (6) | ||
Player (* - denotes starter) | Snaps | Snap % |
Jamison Crowder * | 50 | 83% |
Pierre Garcon * | 48 | 80% |
DeSean Jackson * | 45 | 75% |
Maurice Harris | 16 | 27% |
Ryan Grant | 6 | 10% |
Rashad Ross | Inactive | N/A |
- Jamison Crowder- For some reason Jamison Crowder was only targeted once in the first half; he dropped that pass. He was able to salvage his day with 3 receptions for 42 yards, two first downs and a touchdown on 8 targets. He has now caught a touchdown in four of his last five games and has gone for 85 yards and/or a TD in seven straight contests. He is tied for 12th in total touchdowns this year, with 8 of them. Crowder also moved into a tie for first in receptions (117) by a Redskins player in their first two years as a pro (Gary Clark spent his first two seasons in the USFL).
- DeSean Jackson- Jackson also failed to catch a pass and had a drop in the first half. He would go on to haul in his only reception of the game on the second play after halftime, a 59-yarder that set the Redskins up at the 5-yard line and led to a touchdown three plays later. On that play Jackson hit a top speed of 22.6 mph. That was the fastest top speed by a ball carrier in Week 13 and the third fastest recorded speed by any player with the ball in their hands this season. Jackson's reception was his 35th catch of 50 or more yards in his career. The only player with more such receptions since 1994, which is as far back as this data goes, is Randy Moss (43 career 50-yard receptions). Moss played 14 seasons in his career, while Jackson still has four games left to go in his ninth season. I don't know why, but I feel like Jackson, whose 6.36 targets per game average is the third lowest of his career, should probably be getting at least a couple of more looks a game.
- Pierre Garcon- Pierre Garcon led the Redskins in targets (9), receptions (7), receiving yards (78), first downs (4) and PFF rating (83.0). The seven receptions were a season high for Garcon. With this effort, he easily kept his streak of consecutive games with receptions alive (90 games). Garcon is PFF's highest graded Redskins wideout this season (82.1).
- Other Wide Receivers- For the first time since the Week 10 bye, Maurice Harris was upstaged by fellow reserve wideout Ryan Grant. Harris' only catch went for negative two yards and he fumbled one of his two kick returns. Grant, on the other hand, had his best game of the season. He converted both of his targets into first-down receptions and totaled 20 receiving yards in the game. Sadly, those were all season highs for Grant. He also caught an 8-yard pass on the Redskins' final drive that was negated by an Arizona penalty.
Tight Ends (3) | ||
Player (* - denotes starter) | Snaps | Snap % |
Vernon Davis * | 59 | 98% |
Derek Carrier | 11 | 18% |
Jordan Reed | Inactive | N/A |
- Vernon Davis- Vernon Davis put up a respectable line of 5 receptions for 47 yards and 2 first downs on 6 targets, but those numbers are deceiving because almost all of his production came at the very end of the game. To be exact, 80% of his receptions (4), 89% of his yards (42) and 100% of his first downs (2) came on the final two drives of the game. However, Arizona may well be the best team in the league when it comes to defending tight ends, so there is nothing to be ashamed of here for the 32-year old backup.
- Davis Records- Davis is three receptions away from becoming just the 12th tight end in NFL history with 500 career receptions. That would also land him in a very exclusive group of tight ends. He would be only the sixth tight end to rank in the top 12 in receptions, yards and touchdowns at the position. You might have heard of the other five: Tony Gonzalez, Jason Witten, Antonio Gates, Greg Olsen and Shannon Sharpe.
- Derek Carrier- After not being targeted in each of his first two weeks back from injury, Derek Carrier has now recorded a reception in two consecutive weeks. His lone grab in this one went for six yards. Carrier committed a costly illegal shift penalty on a play that should've resulted in a red-zone touchdown (Robert Kelley drop in the end zone). The Redskins were instead forced to settle for a field goal four plays later.
- Jordan Reed- Davis and Carrier are nice second and third options at the position, but Kirk Cousins and company should see a major boost when Jordan Reed returns. Since Reed was drafted in 2013, the Redskins have gone a pathetic 2-13 (.133) in games that he misses. Their only wins in those two contests came against teams that finished their seasons with four or fewer wins.
Running Backs (3) | ||
Player (* - denotes starter) | Snaps | Snap % |
Robert Kelley * | 34 | 57% |
Chris Thompson | 26 | 43% |
Mack Brown | ST Only | 0% |
Matt Jones | Inactive | N/A |
- Robert Kelley- Fat Rob only got the rock 14 times, but he made due by rushing for 63 yards (4.5 yard average) and three first downs. He also broke three tackles and averaged 2.6 yards after contact. Only one of his carries went for negative yardage (7%). He failed to haul in a TD reception on a catchable pass, but that play would have been negated by a penalty anyways.
- Chris Thompson- Thompson made the most of his limited opportunities (5) against the Cardinals. He put up over 20 yards a piece as a rusher (2), a receiver (21) and kick returner (26) on just two carries, two targets and one return, and two of this three offensive touches went for first-down gains of over 15 yards (5.6 yards per offensive touch). He also made a potentially touchdown-saving tackle on the Cardinals' fumble return.
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All Purpose Weapon- Thompson, who has truly been a Swiss Army Knife for Washington this year, is one of only six players in the league to go over 20 yards as a rusher, a receiver and a returner in the same game this season. He is the only one to do it in multiple games (2). Darren Sproles, Ameer Abdullah, Benny Cunningham, Dexter McCluster and Percy Harvin are the only other players to accomplish that feat in the last three years. He is on pace to become just the 13th Redskins player since the merger to record over 1,000 all-purpose yards in a season without starting in a single game.
- Redskins Rushing- Sean McVay and Jay Gruden only called runs on 31.6% of the offensive plays against the Cardinals. The team's two lowest rushing percentages since Week 2 have now come in the last two weeks. The 18 total runs (one of which was a QB kneel) were their lowest since Week 2. They chose to get away from the running game despite rushing for 87 yards, gaining a first down on nearly 28% of their rushes and averaging 4.8 yards per carry in the game. It started out this way early in the game, when they passed the ball on nine of their ten first-quarter plays, including on four straight snaps to start the game. They ended the first quarter with 16 passing yards and one first down on their nine passing plays and with 14 rushing yards and a first down on their single run. The Redskins 36.36% rushing percentage in the first quarter this season ranks 31st in the NFL, just 0.06% behind the Giants for the lowest first-quarter rushing rate in the league.
- Rushing to Judgment- Washington is 6-0 when they run on 44% or more of their plays this season; they are 0-5 when that percentage falls below 32%. You would think that the coaches would understand that even in today's NFL you need to run sometimes in order to win, and especially so on a team that ranked first in play-action yards per play coming into the week, but I guess they just still haven't wrapped their heads around it yet.
Offensive Linemen (8) | ||
Player (* - denotes starter) | Snaps | Snap % |
Shawn Lauvao * | 60 | 100% |
Morgan Moses * | 60 | 100% |
Brandon Scherff * | 60 | 100% |
Ty Nsekhe * | 59 | 98% |
John Sullivan | 43 | 72% |
Spencer Long * | 17 | 28% |
Arie Koundijo | 3 | 5% |
Vinston Painter | 1 | 2% |
- Offensive Line (Group)- Kirk Cousins was hit more than six times (8 hits) and was sacked more than once (2 sacks) for just the second time since Week 7 (Detroit). The 5.1% sack rate allowed by the Redskins in this game was their second worst percentage since Week 4 (Cleveland). The offensive line committed three of the team's four false start penalties in the game. The Redskins' 24 false start infractions for 115 yards are both the most in the league.
- Shawn Lauvao- Shawn Lauvao was the main culprit of the pressure on Cousins. Lauvao was routinely destroyed by Calais Campbell, who he gave up four hurries and a sack to (5 total pressures). The sack resulted in a Kirk Cousins fumble and an Arizona touchdown three plays later. Lauvao also committed two false starts and probably could've made a play to prevent the other sack on Cousins.
- Centers- That sack was credited to Spencer Long, who was knocked out of the game in the second quarter with a concussion. John Sullivan replaced Long; it was that the first time the veteran had entered a game as a backup in his eight-year career. Sullivan fared quite well in his first appearance on the Redskins offense, as he did not allow a single pressure on 31 pass-blocking plays and earned the second highest PFF grade on the offense (77.2).
- Tackles- The sack-fumble occurred on the only play of the game that Ty Nsekhe missed and that Vinston Painter played on; however, Painter was not at fault. Like Jordan Reed, the team will gladly welcome Trent Williams back next week after going 2-2 in his absence. Since 2010 when Williams entered the league, the Redskins are 5-10 (.333) in games that he does not play in.
DEFENSE
Snaps- The 76 defensive snaps were the most snaps run against the defense in a regulation-length game since Week 16 of last season (Eagles). Despite the very high snap total, Joe Barry only utilized 19 of his 26 players. Of the seven that did not see time on defense, three were inactive (A.J. Francis, Anthony Lanier and Dashaun Philips) and four got all of their playing time exclusively on special teams (Terence Garvin, Martrell Spaight, Greg Toler and Deshazor Everett). Only 4 of the 19 that did play took less than 31 snaps in the game (Cullen Jenkins, Matt Ioannidis, Houston Bates and Quinton Dunbar).
Quarterback Pressure- The Washington defense registered 11 hurries, 4 hits and 2 sacks on Carson Palmer on Sunday (17 total pressures). Those are pretty good numbers, but the resulting sack rate of 4.2% is the team's second lowest mark since Week 4 (Cleveland); their lowest percentage in that span came on Thanksgiving against Dallas (4.0%). They have now failed to top 5% in three consecutive weeks after going over 8.8% in their previous five games.
Points- The Redskins' defense allowed 31 points in Arizona. They have now given up over 25 points in six of their twelve games this season. They are 1-4-1 in those games. They are 0-3 in games in which they allow more than 27 points to be scored. That's not great for a team that is supposed to be capable of winning shootouts. The defense ranks tenth and sixth worst in opponents scoring percentage (40.4%) and points per drive (2.23).
Turnovers- Perhaps if the D could force a turnover every now and again, then life would be a little bit easier for them; but, alas, they have failed to create a takeaway for the second time in the last two weeks and for the fourth time this year. Washington is now 1-3 when they do not come away with a single turnover in a game. The Redskins' 13 takeaways in 2016 is tied for 20th in the NFL. They finished last season with 26 takeaways (double their current total) and ranked ninth in that statistic.
Third-Down Defense- The team allowed a season-high 10 third-down conversions (16 attempts) and 11 combined third and fourth-down conversions (17 attempts). The 62.5% third-down-conversion rate was their third worst of the year. This was only the tenth time since 1991 that the Redskins have allowed third downs to be converted at that high of a rate on ten or more attempts. It was also only the eighth time in the last 25 years that the team has allowed a conversion rate that high in the 146 games where the opposition faced 15 or more third downs (only four games were worse).
3rd and Forever- What's worse is that half of the Cardinal's conversions came with distances of 8 or more yards to go (8. 9, 11, 12 and 12). The Redskins have allowed their opponents to pick up first downs on 41.7% of third downs with eight or more yards to go this season. That is by far the highest rate allowed in the league, with the next worst team (Saints) coming in at 33.3%. The 48% overall third-down conversion rate allowed by the defense also ranks last in the NFL. That would be the worst third-down conversion rate allowed in recorded team history if it holds.
Rushing Defense- David Johnson was a one-man wrecking crew against a helpless Redskins defense. He rushed for 84 yards and 7 first downs on 18 carries, caught 9 balls for 91 yards and 4 first downs on 12 targets and scored both on the ground and through the air. Washington has allowed the fourth most scrimmage yards and the second most touchdowns to running backs in 2016. The only team that is worse in both categories is the San Francisco 49ers. The Redskins also still rank dead last in opponents rushing first-down percentage (27.9%) and rushing success rate allowed (55%).
Defensive Linemen (7) | ||
Player (* - denotes starter) | Snaps | Snap % |
Chris Baker * | 58 | 76% |
Ziggy Hood * | 39 | 51% |
Ricky Jean Francois | 33 | 43% |
Cullen Jenkins | 18 | 24% |
Matt Ioannidis | 8 | 11% |
A.J. Francis | Inactive | N/A |
Anthony Lanier | Inactive | N/A |
- Chris Baker- After a lackluster pass-rushing effort against the Cowboys' stout front, Chris Baker rebounded with a strong performance this week. He had 2 hits and 3 hurries on Palmer (5 pressures). He needed to show out well as a rusher to make up for the fact that he did not make a single tackle for the second time this season (Baltimore) and for the fourth time since 2013.
- Ziggy Hood- Ziggy Hood also made a comeback of sorts. He recorded a pressure and a quarterback hit for the first time since Week 8. Hood led all Redskins D-linemen with five solo and total tackles, and his tackles-per-opportunity rate of 14.7% ranked seventh among all defensive linemen in Week 13 going into Monday Night Football. He also had a pass defense for the first time since Week 6 and for only the second time this season.
- Reserve DL- After averaging a snap rate of just under 35% in the team's first eight games, Ricky Jean Francois' average snap percentage has jumped to 46% in the last four contests. That extra playing time seemed to pay off, as Jean Francois had one of his better games of the year on Sunday. Both of his solo tackles were defensive stops (including a TFL) and he also had a hurry and a pass defense. His 82.6 PFF grade was the highest by any Redskins defender in Week 13. Cullen Jenkins also had a tackle for a loss and recorded a pressure. Matt Ioannidis failed to record a stat on eight defensive snaps. It was the second time that he's gone O-fer in four appearances on defense this season.
Outside Linebackers (4) | ||
Player (* - denotes starter) | Snaps | Snap % |
Ryan Kerrigan * | 63 | 83% |
Preston Smith * | 58 | 76% |
Trent Murphy | 47 | 62% |
Houston Bates | 1 D/ 2 O | 3%/ 1% |
- Ryan Kerrigan- Ryan Kerrigan's hot streak continued as he recorded four hurries and a sack on 41 rushes. That makes seven straight games with five or more pressures and three straight with a sack. The sack was Kerrigan's tenth of the season, giving him double-digit sacks in a season for the second time in his career. Only four other Redskins before Kerrigan have been able to accomplish that: Dexter Manley (4), Charles Mann (4), Andre Carter (2) and Brian Orakpo (2). Kerrigan is now on pace to tie his career high of 13.5 sacks in a season.
- Trent Murphy- Hometown-boy Trent Murphy showed out in front of his friends and family by recording a QB hit, two hurries and a sack on 19 pass rushes against the Cardinals. The 10-yard sack on third down turned a potential 43-yard field goal attempt into a 53-yarder that Chandler Catanzaro would ultimately miss. Murphy is on pace to finish the season with 10.5 sacks, which is 4.5 more than he had in his entire career coming into the year.
- Preston Smith- Preston Smith was only able to muster a single pressure (a QB hit) against D.J. Humphries, who ranks 53rd out of 71 tackles in PFF pass-blocking rating. Smith has not recorded a sack in his last three games and has only managed two total pressures in that time frame. I'm so disappointed in his performance this year that I truly have to start to question why he should be starting over and out-snapping Trent Murphy on a weekly basis. At least Smith got on the stat sheet this week with the aforementioned hit and two tackles, after failing to do so against the Cowboys.
- Houston Bates- Houston Bates took a snap on defense for the first time since Week 8. Since the bye, he's actually spent considerably more time on offense as a goal-line fullback. He's now played in that role four times in the last three weeks.
Inside Linebackers (5) | ||
Player (* - denotes starter) | Snaps | Snap % |
Will Compton * | 74 | 97% |
Mason Foster * | 41 | 54% |
Su'a Cravens | 37 | 49% |
Terence Garvin | ST Only | 0% |
Martrell Spaight | ST Only | 0% |
- Will Compton- Compton played on all but two snaps. He's only missed more than two plays in two of the team's 12 games this year. Compton tied for the team lead in solo and total tackles (six each). He's consistently racked up good tackle numbers all year, but his overall play has definitely slipped. His 54.4 PFF grade this season ranks him 62nd out of 89 qualifying inside linebackers.
- Mason Foster- Mason Foster got the start over Su'a Cravens for the first time since Week 10 (Vikings) and out-snapped him for the second time in the last four games. Foster made two solo and two assisted tackles and managed to pressure Carson Palmer on half of his pass rushes.
- Su'a Cravens- Cravens played on just under half of the snaps and made four solo tackles; two of them limited Larry Fitzgerald and David Johnson to three-yard gains. However, his primary responsibility in the game was to contain David Johnson, and Cravens' three tackles on Johnson were obviously nowhere near enough.
Cornerbacks (6) | ||
Player (* - denotes starter) | Snaps | Snap % |
Josh Norman * | 76 | 100% |
Bashaud Breeland * | 65 | 86% |
Kendall Fuller * | 55 | 72% |
Quinton Dunbar | 17 | 22% |
Greg Toler | ST Only | 0% |
Dashaun Philips | Inactive | N/A |
- Josh Norman- Josh Norman played on every defensive snap once again and even spent some time in the slot covering the legendary Larry Fitzgerald. Norman was often used as a blitzer when he lined up in the slot and he had several pressures on the day, including one that would lead to a Ryan Kerrigan sack. One of his five solo tackles in the game came on a run blitz, when he made a big five-yard TFL on David Johnson that played a major part in an Arizona three-and-out. He made another important play when he saved the Redskins defense from allowing four additional points by breaking up a potential red-zone touchdown pass to Michael Floyd on a third down at the end of the first half. He was, however, primarily responsible for allowing a third-down conversion on each of the Cardinals last two touchdown drives. He missed a tackle on Jermaine Gresham on one of those plays and was flagged for holding Larry Fitzgerald on the other. Norman has been called for a league-high 15 total and 12 accepted penalties this season.
- Bashaud Breeland- Breeland was also forced to kick inside to the slot to help cover Larry Fitzgerald. He tied for the team lead with six total tackles and added a pass defense and a forced fumble. The PD was only his second since Week 7 and sixth of the year. The forced fumble was his first of the year, and it was only the second time this season and the first time since Week 1 that he had recorded an interception, a forced fumble or a fumble recovery. Breeland has simply not made as many plays as he did in each of his first two years.
- Kendall Fuller- The rookie out of Virginia Tech made his third straight start, but because he wasn't asked to man the slot-corner position as much in an effort to protect him from Larry Fitzgerald, he ceded some playing time to Quinton Dunbar. Fuller had three tackles in the game (2 solo and 1 assisted). He allowed Michael Floyd to score a touchdown in his zone late in the third quarter.
- Other Cornerbacks- Quinton Dunbar saw his most playing time of the year in a regulation game in which none of the top three starting corners were injured (Norman, Breeland, Fuller/Philips). Dunbar led the team and tied a career high with two pass defenses, but that had a lot to do with the fact that he was targeted on a whopping 40% of his coverage snaps. He was responsible for allowing the Cardinals' critical final touchdown of the day on a 42-yard bomb to J.J. Nelson. After seeing playing time on Joe Barry's unit in each of the first five games, Greg Toler did not play on defense for the fifth time in the last seven contests. Dashaun Philips was waived on Monday to make room for the recently reinstated Trent Williams.
Safeties (4) | ||
Player (* - denotes starter) | Snaps | Snap % |
Duke Ihenacho * | 63 | 83% |
Donte Whitner * | 52 | 68% |
Will Blackmon | 31 | 41% |
Deshazor Everett | ST Only | 0% |
- Donte Whitner- Whitner saw his lowest snap percentage since Week 5 (Ravens)- his first game with the team - and did not lead the safety corps in snaps for the first time since Week 7 (Lions). His two tackles (2 assists) were his lowest since Week 5, which was also the last time that he failed to record a single solo tackle. He averaged 5.7 solo and 7.2 total tackles between Weeks 6 and 12. The recently released David Bruton (45.2) is the only Redskins safety with a worse season-long PFF grade than Whitner (49.9).
- Duke Ihenacho- He got his fourth straight start and led all Redskins safeties in snaps for the second time this season. His 84% snap rate was his highest since the last time that he led the safety corps in snaps (Week 5 versus Baltimore). Ihenacho tied Will Compton for the lead in solo and total tackles, with six of them, and he trailed only Su'a Cravens and Ziggy Hood on the team in tackles-per-opportunity percentage (11.8%). Four of Ihenacho's tackles were stops and one went for a loss, but he did also miss two tackles in the game. He now has eight misses to his name this season.
- Will Blackmon- Blackmon played on his most snaps in the last three games despite leaving the game with a concussion and a stinger with just under 12 minutes left in the fourth quarter. His four solo tackles represented his highest total in that department since Week 4 (Browns).
- Deshazor Everett- It probably shouldn't surprise anyone to see the 27-yeard old Ihenacho supplant two 30-year-old plus veterans in Donte Whitner (31) and Will Blackmon (32). Perhaps, with Blackmon's injuries we will get a chance to see more of the young Deshazor Everett (24), who took all of his 38 career defensive snaps last season.
SPECIAL TEAMS
Snaps- Thirty-seven Redskins played on special teams over the course of 28 snaps against the Cardinals. The unit was comprised of 20 defenders, 14 offensive players and 3 specialists (Hopkins, Sundberg and Way). One player from the offensive side of the ball (Mack Brown) and three defenders (Terence Garvin, Martrell Spaight and Deshazor Everett) played exclusively on special teams.
The aforementioned three defenders (Garvin, Spaight and Everett) and Houston Bates led the Redskins in teams snaps yet again. That group was followed by Duke Ihenacho and Mason Foster, both of whom have seen extended special teams work in the last several weeks.
Special Teamers (37) | Special Teamers (cont) | |||||
Player | Snaps | Snap % | Player | Snaps | Snap % | |
Houston Bates | 23 | 82% | Maurice Harris | 6 | 21% | |
Deshazor Everett | 17 | 61% | Matt Ioannidis | 6 | 21% | |
Terence Garvin | 17 | 61% | Ricky Jean Francois | 6 | 21% | |
Martrell Spaight | 17 | 61% | Cullen Jenkins | 6 | 21% | |
Duke Ihenacho | 15 | 54% | Ryan Kerrigan | 6 | 21% | |
Mason Foster | 14 | 50% | Josh Norman | 6 | 21% | |
Su'a Cravens | 12 | 43% | Chris Thompson | 6 | 21% | |
Quinton Dunbar | 12 | 43% | Arie Koundijo | 5 | 18% | |
Ryan Grant | 12 | 43% | Shawn Lauvao | 5 | 18% | |
Derek Carrier | 11 | 39% | Ty Nsekhe | 5 | 18% | |
Ziggy Hood | 11 | 39% | Vinston Painter | 5 | 18% | |
Dustin Hopkins | 11 | 39% | John Sullivan | 5 | 18% | |
Mack Brown | 9 | 32% | Bashaud Breeland | 4 | 14% | |
Greg Toler | 9 | 32% | Brandon Scherff | 4 | 14% | |
Will Compton | 7 | 25% | Jamison Crowder | 3 | 11% | |
Trent Murphy | 7 | 25% | Kendall Fuller | 3 | 11% | |
Preston Smith | 7 | 25% | Spencer Long | 1 | 4% | |
Nick Sundberg | 7 | 25% | Morgan Moses | 1 | 4% | |
Tress Way | 7 | 25% |
- Dustin Hopkins- Hopkins had a much-needed bounce-back performance against the Cardinals, as he connected on field goals from 20, 47 and 53 yards out in addition to hitting on both of his extra points. The 53-yarder was the second longest of his career, and just one yard shy of his career long of 54 yards (at Atlanta in 2015). He is one more 50-yard field goal away from tying the team record of four such kicks in a season (Graham Gano in 2011 and Mark Moseley in 1977). Hopkins, who is now up to a career-high 28 makes on the year, is just six field goals shy of breaking Mark Moseley's franchise record of 33 field goals in a single season (1983). All six of his kickoffs in the game went for touchbacks, and he currently has the third highest touchback rate (74.6%) in the league.
- Tress Way- Tress Way only punted twice, with both of his kicks coming on back-to-back drives in the first quarter. His first punt went for 59 yards and was returned for a gain of 13 to the Arizona 41. The other one (30 yards) pinned the Cardinals inside their own 20-yard line. After averaging 4.8 and 4.4 punts in his first two seasons as the team's punter, Way is only kicking the ball away 2.58 times this year. The Redskins are tied (Falcons) with a league-low 31 punts this season (the league average is 54 going into Monday night). That statistic speaks to just how good the offense has been in 2016.
- Kick Coverage- Terence Garvin recorded Washington's only special teams tackle of the day, when he took down Patrick Peterson at the end of a 13-yard punt return. Garvin is tied with Deshazor Everett and Houston Bates for the team lead in total specials tackles this year, with five of them. He averaged 11 total teams tackles per year in his three seasons as a Pittsburgh Steeler.
- Kickoff Returns- Chris Thompson took his only return of the game 26 yards to the Washington 24. CT also made a big play on Maurice Harris' two kickoff returns, when he recovered Harris' fumble at the 19-yard line just before the first half ended. Arizona would have likely added another three points to their first half lead if Thompson had not been Johnny-on-the-spot. Harris gained six yards on that return, and added a 26-yarder of his own on the opening kickoff of the second half.
- Punt Returns- The Cardinals' only three punts came on three consecutive possessions between the first and second quarter. Jamison Crowder returned two of them for 10 and 7 yards to the Redskins' 25 and 31 respectively. The third punt went out of bounds at the Arizona 48. The Redskins made field goals on two of the three ensuing offensive drives.
*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*