Skins Snaps & Stats: Giants @ Redskins

OFFENSE

Snaps- Sean McVay's unit took the field for just 55 snaps against the Giants.  That was the team's second lowest snap total this year and their third lowest since the start of the 2015 season.  Seventeen of the twenty-five players on the active roster saw action over the course of those 55 snaps.  The eight that did not see time on the offensive side of the ball consisted of four inactives (Nate Sudfeld, Matt Jones, Korey Lichtensteiger and Vinston Painter), two players that only got playing time on special teams (Mack Brown and John Sullivan) and two that did not take a snap of any kind (Colt McCoy and Arie Koundijo).

Kirk Cousins is the only player on the active roster that has taken either every offensive or defensive snap.  He was one of just four quarterbacks to play on 100% of his team's offensive snaps this year (Drew Brees, Eli Manning and Matthew Stafford).  Colt McCoy is the only player that has been active in every game, but that has yet to take a snap of any kind.  Nate Sudfeld is the only player to be inactive for all 16 regular season games.

Points- The Giants held the Redskins to a season-low ten points in a game that could've propelled Washington to back-to-back playoff appearances for the first time since 1991-1992 seasons.  The ten points is tied for the fewest scored by the team since they were shutout by the Rams just over two years ago.  This was also the first time that the Redskins had been shutout in any half of football since Week 1 of 2015 against the Dolphins.  Their 60 consecutive halves with a score was the longest active streak in the league.

Yards- The Washington offense was only able to put up 284 yards against a tough Giants' defense, and with that their streak of 19 300-yard showings came to an end.  The Redskins were only able to gain 322 yards of offense per game in Weeks 13-17, after putting up an insane 426 yards per game in their first 11 contests.  Those first 11 games helped propel the offense to new franchise records in both total offensive yards (6,454 yards) and yards per play (6.4).  Those records rank 16th and 29th among all NFL teams since at least 1950.  Another one of the reasons that the offense was so prolific was because it had a number of talented weapons to utilize.  In fact, eight players were able to top 500 yards from scrimmage for the Redskins this season.  That ties the 2011 Saints for the most 500-yard players on one team in NFL history.

Red Zone- The offense's biggest Achilles heel this year was red-zone efficiency, and that was no different on Sunday against the Giants when Washington failed to convert on yet another opportunity in the red area (1 for 2).  Their 45.9% conversion rate this season ranked 29th in the NFL.  It was the worst percentage and ranking for the Skins' offense since 2011 when their 41.18% success rate in the red zone also ranked 29th.  The only other time in recorded history (since 1999) that they fared worse in this category was in 2001 when they scored touchdowns on just under 41% of their red-zone trips.

A Better Team than 2015- Despite winning a half a game less this season than they did in 2015, this Redskins team may very well have been better than last year's squad.  This team faced a tougher schedule, beat two playoff teams when last year's iteration failed to beat one team with a winning record and was rated higher in both overall DVOA (9.2% to -0.3%) and SRS (2.0 to -0.90).

Quarterbacks (3)
Player (* - denotes starter)	Snaps	Snap %
Kirk Cousins *	55	100%
Colt McCoy	0	0%
Nate Sudfeld	Inactive	N/A

• Kirk Cousins Stats- Kirk Cousins had one of his worst games of the year, and he did it when it counted the most.  He threw for 22 completions, 287 yards, 14 first downs, 1 touchdown and a season-high-tying 2 interceptions on 35 attempts and was sacked a season-most 4 times.  The Redskins are now 0-2 all time when Cousins gets sacked more than three times and 0-12 when he throws multiple interceptions in a game.  Cousins also posted his worst QBR (23.2), raw QBR (19.9) and adjusted-net-yards-per-attempt (4.51) marks of the year on Sunday.  He had his lowest passer rating (74.3) since Week 1 against the Steelers (72.7).  After throwing for 20 TDs and 7 picks with a 6-4-1 record and a 101.4 passer rating in Weeks 1-13, Cousins had 5 passing scores and 5 picks to go with a 2-3 record and an 86.3 rating in his last five games.

• Advanced Charting Stats- Kirk Cousins has been great with the long ball this year, but in this game that wasn't the case.  He went 4 for 11 for 126 yards and 2 interceptions on passes that traveled 20 or more yards through the air.  He also struggled when under pressure against the Giants.  On 12 dropbacks under pressure, Cousins completed 3 of his 8 passes for 62 yards and threw two interceptions; he was sacked on the other 4 dropbacks.  This may have had something to do with the fact that he held the ball for an average of 3.17 seconds in this game, the highest average by a QB in Week 17.

• Kirk Cousins 2016 Rankings- Despite some of his recent struggles, Cousins had a very good season overall.  He finished in the top eight in passing yards (3rd), completion percentage (8th), passer rating (7th), sack percentage (5th), adjusted net yards per attempt (4th), PFF rating (8th), DYAR (3rd), DVOA (5th), raw QBR (6th) and QBR (5th).  He finished in the top eight in every one of those categories but passing yards and PFF grade last season, as well.
  

• Kirk Cousins Records- Cousins didn't always come through in the clutch, but he did break a ton of records this season.  He set new franchise marks in passing attempts (606), completions (406), passing yards (4,916) and passing first downs (225).   Every one of  those statistics represent team-level records.  His completion and yardage numbers ranks 23rd and 15th in NFL history.  The only players to have had a season that ranks above Cousins in both categories are Drew Brees, Matthew Stafford, Matt Ryan and Peyton Manning.  Cousins also became only the second Redskins player to pass for 25 or more touchdowns in multiple seasons (Sonny Jurgensen) and the fourth Washington quarterback to start 16 regular season games in back-to-back seasons (Campbell, Rypien and Theismann). 
  

Wide Receivers (5)
Player (* - denotes starter)	Snaps	Snap %
Jamison Crowder *	48	87%
Pierre Garcon *	45	82%
DeSean Jackson *	42	76%
Maurice Harris	12	22%
Ryan Grant	4	7%

• Pierre Garcon- Surprisingly, Pierre Garcon was the best receiver on the team this season.  He capped off his 2016 campaign by leading the team with 96 receiving yards and 3 first downs against the Giants.  Garcon also made the biggest play on the team's lone touchdown drive, when he took a screen for 21 yards to convert on a 3rd-and-17 inside of New York territory.  Garcon's two biggest mistakes of the game were a false start penalty and not making more of an effort to break up Kirk Cousins' game-sealing interception late in the fourth quarter.  He led the team in receptions (79), receiving yards (1,041) and first downs (52) for the third time in his five years in Washington.  And if that isn't enough to convince you that Pierre Garcon is a model of consistency in an NFL world that is extremely short on it, then consider that he has not missed a game since 2012 and that he has caught a pass in 102 straight games, the fifth longest active streak in the league.
  

• DeSean Jackson- D-Jax's streak of 100-yard games came to an end on Sunday, when he caught just 2 of his 5 targets for 34 yards and two first downs.  Neither of his receptions came on a scoring drive.  He didn't do much in this game, but his production was just enough to bump him to over 1,000 yards (1,005 yards to be exact) on the season for the fifth time in his career and for the second time as a member of the Redskins. 
  

• Receiver Records- This made Jackson and Garcon the sixth pair of Redskins teammates to ever go over 1,000 yards receiving in the same season and the first to do it since Michael Westbrook and Albert Connell in 1999.  Jackson and Garcon also became just the seventh and eighth Redskins to record multiple 1,000 yards seasons for the team in their careers.  The others are Gary Clark (5), Art Monk (5), Santana Moss (3), Henry Ellard (3), Ricky Sanders (2) and Bobby Mitchell (2).  Finally. Jackson finished the year in first in yards per reception (17.9).  He finished first in the same statistic in 2014, making him the first player in franchise history to league the league in yards per reception more than once.

• Jamison Crowder- Crowder caught 2 of his 3 targets for 16 yards and one first down (on a third-down on the Redskins' touchdown drive).  He dropped his other target.  Unfortunately, the lack of production is nothing new for the Redskins' resident slot man.  He has only caught 12 passes for 122 yards and 1 touchdown over his last five games, and as a result he has seen his averages from the first 11 games of the year drop dramatically across the board.  He recorded 2.3 less targets, 2.6 less receptions, 41 less receiving yards and 0.35 less touchdowns per game during that stretch.  Perhaps, if he would get more than one target in the first three quarters of the game like he did against New York, then he would start putting up big-time numbers again.
  

• Other Wide Receivers- Maurice Harris caught one of his two targets for 15 yards and a first down.  He slipped on his other target, which allowed Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie to pick off Kirk Cousins.  Harris out-snapped Ryan Grant in six of the last 7 games and by a count of 104 to 65 snaps during that period; however, Grant did catch one more pass for nine more yards during that stretch.  There's no question that Grant disappointed this year.  He played on offense in all 16 games and saw 270 snaps this year, but only caught 9 balls for 76 yards and 0 touchdowns.

Tight Ends (3)
Player (* - denotes starter)	Snaps	Snap %
Jordan Reed	34	62%
Vernon Davis *	21	38%
Derek Carrier	7	13%

• Jordan Reed- Reed caught 5 balls for 40 yards, 2 first downs and a touchdown (Washington's only one of the game) on 6 targets against the Giants.  He also was credited with a fumble on a lateral that he threw during the final play of the game.  This was easily Reed's best performance since he went off against the Cowboys on Thanksgiving Day in Week 12.  PFF agreed, as they gave him the highest grade (78.0) on the Redskins offense for the game.   It would've been nice if he had been targeted a bit more, though.  Cousins only looked his way once in the first quarter and twice in the second half (the touchdown and the lateral play on the last snap of the game).
  

• Reed's Redskins Records- Jordan's efforts on Sunday bumped him up a couple of spots in the Redskins' record books.  Check out where he now ranks among all Redskins tight ends and offensive players.  His 248 career receptions ranks third all time among Skins tight ends and 12th regardless of position.  He ranks third among tight ends in franchise history with 2,602 receiving yards, which is also good for 17th overall.  Reed's 20 career touchdowns slots him at fourth in franchise history among TEs and 14th overall.
  

• Vernon Davis- Vernon Davis, who had not topped 23 yards in his last three games, bounced back with 2 receptions for 49 yards and 2 first downs in Sunday's game.  Washington scored on both drives that Davis made a catch on, with his receptions gaining the first and third most yards of any plays on those drives.  His 2016 line of 59 targets, 44 receptions, 583 yards, 22 first downs and 2 touchdowns easily makes this his best season since his 2013 Pro Bowl year.  In fact, Davis caught as many touchdowns and had only 57 fewer receiving yards this year than he did in all of 2014 and 2015 combined.  He finished this year with gaudy career numbers that have him sitting in 10th, 11th and 8th all time in receptions, receiving yards and receiving touchdowns respectively at the tight end position.  
  

• Derek Carrier- Carrier was not targeted in the game and saw the field just seven times on offense.  In the eight games that he played in this season, he saw action on just 79 total offensive snaps and caught two passes for ten yards.
  

Running Backs (4)
Player (* - denotes starter)	Snaps	Snap %
Chris Thompson	31	56%
Robert Kelley *	24	44%
Mack Brown	ST Only	0%
Matt Jones	Inactive	N/A

• Robert Kelley- Kelley was simply unable to get anything going against a stout Giants' defensive front in this one.  He rushed for just 33 yards, picked up one first down and broke one tackle on 12 attempts.  Fat Rob also failed to add anything as a receiver for the ninth time this year.  Kelley finished the season with team highs in attempts (168), rushing yards (704) and rushing touchdowns (6), but much of that production came in his first three starts (67 attempts, 321 rushing yards, 4.8 average and 4 TDs).  In his last six games, Kelley only ran the ball 84 times for 280 yards, a 3.3-yard average and 2 scores.  Jay Gruden thinks he'll be the starting running back next year, but I'm not entirely sure that a guy who ended the season this way, has only rushed for over 100 yards once since high school, finished 20th in rushing average and 21st in success rate and is one of the least athletic backs in the NFL is the long-term answer.
  

• Chris Thompson- Chris Thompson had one of his poorer performances of the year on Sunday.  He ran for a paltry 5 yards on 3 carries for a 1.67-yard average, which was the second worst clip of his career (0.50 versus Dallas in Week 2).  He did, however, lead the team in both targets (8), receptions (6) and receiving first downs (3) to go with his 37 yards through the air, but nearly half of that production didn't come until there was under two minutes to go in the game.  Thompson also fumbled the ball, did not break a single tackle, did not return a kickoff and probably should've been credited with a dropped pass.  Where he may have struggled most is an area that he usually excels in: pass protection.  He gave up two sacks and a hurry on 9 pass-blocking snaps. 
  

• McVay's Swiss Army Knife- It was a disappointing end to a great year for the Redskins' third-down back, who became just the 14th player in team history to have 325 or more rushing and receiving yards and 5 or more touchdowns in a single season.  Thompson also led Washington in total return yards this year (kick return yardage + punt return yardage).
  

• Other Running Backs- If Robert Kelley truly was bothered by injury then it makes you wonder why Mack Brown did not receive a single offensive snap after rushing for 82 yards and a touchdown on 8 carries last week against the Bears.  Matt Jones was inactive for the ninth straight game.
  

• Redskins Rushing- Washington's worst two rushing performances of the year came in back-to-back home games at the end of the season.  The team's 38 yards and 2.5 yards-per-carry average only top the 29 yards and 2.2 average against the Panthers.  Their 15 rushes and 27.8% rushing percentage are their third and fourth lowest marks on the year.  Basically, if the Redskins ran the ball this year, they won; if they didn't, they lost.  They won every game in which they rushed on 42% or more of the offensive plays.

Offensive Linemen (10)
Player (* - denotes starter)	Snaps	Snap %
Trent Williams *	55	100%
Shawn Lauvao *	55	100%
Spencer Long *	55	100%
Brandon Scherff *	55	100%
Morgan Moses *	55	100%
Ty Nsekhe	7	13%
John Sullivan	ST Only	0%
Arie Koundijo	0	0%
Korey Lichtensteiger	Inactive	N/A
Vinston Painter	Inactive	N/A

• Offensive Line (Run Blocking)- As we just discussed, the offense was only able to average an anemic 2.53 yards per carry on the ground.  The only rushes that gained greater than four yards per clip came behind the guards, but there were only three such attempts in the game for a total of 14 yards (4.67 average).

• Offensive Line (Pass Blocking)- Cousins was sacked four times and on 10.3% of his dropbacks, both season worsts.  In fact, the Redskins only gave up more sacks in one game since the start of last season when Kirk Cousins took over at quarterback (5 sacks at Panthers in 2015) and allowed a worse sack percentage just twice in that period (14.3% at Panthers and 10.7% versus the Saints with both games coming in 2015).  The nine QB hits in this game is also the third highest total allowed by the Washington offense this year.  However, as far as the line goes, we do need to remember that Chris Thompson played a big role in giving up several of the team's sacks in this game.  The Redskins had a bad day in pass protection, but they can be proud of the fact that they finished year ranked fourth and third in sack percentage and adjusted sack rate.
  

• Trent Williams- Williams didn't have a great day against the Giants, but he wasn't terrible by any stretch, either.  He gave up a hit and 2 hurries on 39 pass-blocking snaps and earned the second highest PFF grade on the offense (77.2).  Williams finished his fifth consecutive Pro Bowl season as PFF's highest graded offensive linemen, third highest rated offensive player and seventh best graded player in the NFL regardless of position.  Only Tom Brady (99.3), Aaron Donald (95.6), Jerrell Freeman (93.6), Brandon Graham (93.4), Mike Evans (93.2) and Khalil Mack (93.9) were more highly regarded by the site than Trent Williams was (93.1).
  

• Offensive Line (Individual)- Brandon Scherff was primarily responsible for allowing at least one of the four sacks on Cousins in this game.  Scherff did, however, become just the third OL in team history to begin their careers by starting in 16 games in each of their first two NFL seasons.  The other two to do it were Chris Samuels and Jon Jansen.  Morgan Moses was the only other O-lineman mainly at fault for allowing a sack.  Spencer Long was the only lineman on the team that did not allow a pressure in the game.  Shawn Lauvao's 35.1 run-blocking grade was the worst among the offensive linemen that played for Washington in this game.  Lauvao (57.5) and Arie Koundijo (40.2) were the only players in this unit that started a game this season and earned an overall PFF grade of lower than 75.  Cutting the 29-year-old Lauvao would save the Redskins $4,000,000.00 against next year's salary cap.

DEFENSE

Snaps- Nineteen of Joe Barry's twenty-five players were used over the course of 72 defensive snaps against the Giants.  Of the six that did not play, three were inactive (Su'a Cravens, Quinton Dunbar and Josh Evans) and the other three only saw time on special teams (Martrell Spaight, Zach Vigil and Dashaun Philips).  Matt Ioannidis, Lynden Trail, Terence Garvin, Kendall Fuller and Deshazor Everett combined for 17 snaps while every other defender saw the field at least 23 times.

Quarterback Pressure- For the second week in a row the defense tied a season low by registering just one sack on the opposition.  The 3.5% sack percentage against Eli and company was tied for their third lowest mark in that category this year.  They also tied their second lowest QB hit total of the year (2) in the game.  The Redskins' defense finished the year in the top 12 in sacks (11th), sack percentage (10th) and adjusted sack rate (9th).  They have also recorded a sack in 24 straight games, which is now the second longest active streak in the NFL behind only the Bengals' run of 29 consecutive games with a sack.

Third-Down Defense- The Redskins were able to hold the Giants to just a 35% conversion rate on third down this past Sunday (6-17), which marks only the second time that they've been able to hold an opponent to a conversion rate of under 45% since Week 7.  However, that was not enough to get them out of the cellar in their season-long ranking on the money down.  Washington's defense finished the year ranked where they spent the majority of it, in dead last in third-down efficiency with a 46.6% conversion rate allowed.  That is the third worst rate allowed by any team in the last five years and the worst ever by a Redskins team in recorded history (since 1991).

Tight End Defense- Giants' tight end Will Tye caught 4 of his 5 targets for 47 yards on Sunday; and with that, Washington's defense ended the season with 154 targets, 114 receptions, 1,178 yards and 5 touchdowns allowed to tight ends.  That is the third most targets, the most receptions and the fifth most yards allowed to the position in recorded history (since 1999).  To put this in context for you, consider that there have only been 14 players to post numbers like that in a single season in NFL history.

Rushing Defense- The defense allowed the opposition to rush for over 100 yards for the 10th time (161 yards), to score a touchdown for the 11th time (1 TD) and to average over 4 yards per carry for the 12th time (4.03) this season.  They also allowed an opposing running back to post their season high in rushing yards for the fifth time.  The Redskins ranked 24th in rushing yards allowed (1,916), 25th in rushing DVOA defense (-1.7%), 26th in yards per carry (4.5), 27th in expected points, 27th in adjusted-line-yards allowed (4.23) and 31st in rushing first-down-percentage allowed (25.8%).

Other Rankings- The defense also ranked 25th in passing yards (4,130), 24th in yards per play (5.8), 24th in points per drive (2.12), 25th in DVOA, 28th in total yards (6,046), last in first downs (368) and last in yards per drive (35.7).  Bang-up job you did there, Joe.

Defensive Linemen (5)
Player (* - denotes starter)	Snaps	Snap %
Chris Baker *	52	72%
Ziggy Hood *	34	47%
Ricky Jean Francois	27	38%
Cullen Jenkins	23	32%
Matt Ioannidis	10	14%

• Chris Baker- Chris Baker led the defensive line in snaps for the 14th time this season.  The only two games in which Baker did not lead the unit in snaps, Ziggy Hood was in on one more play than he was.  This was not one of Swaggy's better games, though.  Baker only recorded two solo and three assisted tackles, and he failed to hit or sack the quarterback for the third consecutive game.  He also did not force a single pressure of any kind for only the second time this season and for the first time since Week 2 against the Cowboys vaunted offensive line.  Despite his down performance in this game, Baker led this group in virtually every major defensive statistic this season.
  

• Ziggy Hood- Hood has either finished first or second in D-line snaps on the Redskins in all 16 games, and he has started ever since Kedric Golston went down in Week 2.  He has filled in adequately for the team, but he also isn't what most organizations would consider to be "starting caliber."  That seemed to be the case again on Sunday, when Hood failed to record a single QB pressure for the seventh time in the last eight games.  He did chip in with one solo tackle and two assists, be he really only made his presence known when he deflected a third-and-two pass to force the Giants into a three-and-out on their first drive of the game.  Ziggy Hood finished the year with one sack and a 40.7 PFF grade, which ranked him 115th out of 123 qualifying defensive linemen this season.
  

• Reserve DL- Ricky Jean Francois did not draw the start in this game, after doing so in the team's last three contests; but he did make the third most solo and total tackles on the team.  He also had a pass defense that was negated by an accepted holding penalty on the Giants.  Unfortunately, he too was unable to get any pressure on Eli Manning.  The only Redskins DL that did was former Giant Cullen Jenkins.  The 35-year old, 13-year vet hurried Manning on one dropback and sacked him on another.  That was the team's only sack of the game and the first and only sack for Jenkins this season.  Matt Ioannidis finished his rookie season off with a one-solo-tackle and zero pressure effort on ten snaps against the Giants.  The fifth rounder made just eight total tackles this year and failed to record a single hit, sack, turnover or deflection on just over 100 defensive and 80 special teams snaps.
  

Outside Linebackers (4)
Player (* - denotes starter)	Snaps	Snap %
Trent Murphy	54	75%
Preston Smith *	50	69%
Ryan Kerrigan *	38	53%
Lynden Trail	3	4%

• Ryan Kerrigan-  Kerrigan broke his finger in the game, and as a result he was only able to play on 38 snaps, his second lowest total of the season.  He did not make a tackle for the second week in a row and for only the third time in his career, but he was able to register a hit and a hurry on Eli on 16 pass rushes.  He has struggled with injuries in the latter part of his 2016 campaign, but in typical Kerrigan fashion he toughed it out and still found his way onto the field every week.  His 96 straight starts to begin his career gives him the second-longest active streak by a linebacker in the NFL.  His start on Sunday made him the first Redskin to start in all 16 games in each of his first six seasons in the NFL since the league expanded the schedule to 16 games in 1978.
  

• Preston Smith- The second-year outside backer certainly didn't show up the way he did in Week 16, but he didn't totally disappear as he's been known to do in 2016, either.  He only came away with three assisted tackles to go along with a solo takedown on the Giants first drive of the game, but he did lead the linebacker corps in pressure rate (11.8%) and forced a holding penalty on Ereck Flowers that helped to stall a Giants' drive on Washington's side of the field.  Preston Smith finished his sophomore season in the NFL with 8 more tackles and two more hits than he had in his rookie year, but he also recorded 3.5 fewer sacks and less deflections, forced fumbles and fumble recoveries while playing on 259 more defensive snaps this year.

• Trent Murphy- Trent Murphy only had two assisted and two solo tackles, but he was credited with three stops (offensive failures or unsuccessful plays) in the running game on those tackles.  He also added a hit and a hurry as a rusher.  Unlike Smith, Murphy hit new career highs in nearly every defensive statistic, despite only getting three more snaps of playing time than he did in 2015.
  

• Lynden Trail- After Trail played on six snaps last week, he saw that number cut in half against the Giants.  However, he did combine with Mason Foster to make a big run stop against Paul Perkins on third-and-three deep in Redskins' territory.  The Giants failed to convert on their fourth-down attempt on the next play.
  

Inside Linebackers (6)
Player (* - denotes starter)	Snaps	Snap %
Mason Foster *	71	99%
Will Compton *	71	99%
Terence Garvin	1	1%
Martrell Spaight	ST Only	0%
Zach Vigil	ST Only	0%
Su'a Cravens	Inactive	N/A

• Mason Foster- Mason Foster had one of the best games by any player on either team and one of the better games of his entire career.  He led the contest with a career-high 15 solo and 17 total tackles, with seven of them resulting in offensive failures (stops or non-successful plays).  No Redskins player has recorded more solo tackles since at least 1994 (when tackle data started to be more accurately tracked), and only London Fletcher has made more total tackles in a game as a member of the Redskins in that time frame (three games).  Foster also only allowed 3 receptions for 18 yards and made a huge PD on a fourth-and-two play in the Washington red zone.  His 85.1 PFF grade was the highest rating given to a Redskins player in the game and the second highest grade among all inside linebackers in Week 17.  Mason Foster was the site's ninth highest graded inside linebacker this season (86.7) and he led the Redskins in both solo (89) and total tackles (124).
  

• Will Compton- Compton, on the other hand, put forth yet another poor showing.  Despite playing on all but one snap, just like Foster did, Compton was only able to come away with one solo and two assisted tackles in the game.  Two of his three tackles were made six yards or more away from the line of scrimmage.  Compton missed the team's only tackle of the game on a third-and-five from the Giants' own 25-yard line with 4:40 left to go in the contest.  Had he made the tackle then the Giants probably would've punted, instead of finishing off their drive with a game-winning score.  Compton also allowed multiple receptions.  PFF graded Compton (43.8) as the tenth worst inside linebacker out of 89 qualifiers this season.
  

• Other Inside Linebackers- After playing on 141 snaps between Weeks 14 and 16, Martrell Spaight was relegated back to a purely special teams role.  That makes it seem like the coaches were less than satisfied with his performance in those games.  Instead, it was Terence Garvin that made an appearance on one play.  Su'a Cravens missed his third straight game with an arm injury.  The rookie out of USC was inactive for five games this year and only saw the field on defense 295 times (120 special teams snaps).  Zach Vigil played his only defensive snap of the season for either the Redskins or the Dolphins last week against the Bears. 
  

Cornerbacks (6)
Player (* - denotes starter)	Snaps	Snap %
Josh Norman *	72	100%
Bashaud Breeland *	71	99
Greg Toler *	68	94%
Kendall Fuller	1	1%
Dashaun Philips	ST Only	0%
Quinton Dunbar	Inactive	N/A

• Josh Norman- For the 11th time this season Josh Norman played on every snap.  For the most part, Norman did not finish his first season on a high note.  He made five tackles, but about half of them came on receptions that he allowed to Odell Beckham and only one of them was counted as a defensive stop.  He defended a pass, but he probably should've intercepted it, despite having his face mask grabbed on the play.  I'd have to go back and look, but it's probably fair to assume that Norman has dropped more interceptions than he's caught this year.  He allowed 4 receptions for 43 yards and 4 first downs on 8 targets on Sunday.  All four of those receptions came courtesy of Odell Beckham with three of them coming on the Giants' only touchdown drive of the contest.  Norman's unnecessary roughness penalty inside the 10-yard line on that drive made the Giant's score all the more easier.  He was also flagged for unsportsmanlike conduct later in the game. 
  

• Mo Money Mo Penalty Problems- Josh Norman led the NFL in accepted penalties (14) and total penalties (19) and had the tenth most penalty yards (104).  His 19 total penalties this season are tied for the second most by an individual player since 2009 (Brandon Browner was flagged 24 times last year).  Norman is probably worth the money, but if he wants to truly prove that then he'll need to make more big plays and commit less dumb penalties going forward.
  

• Bashaud Breeland- After an extremely poor start to the year, Breeland really finished the season on a hot streak.  In this game, he played on all but one defensive snap and led the Redskins' cornerback corps in solo tackles (5) and tied Norman with five total tackles.  All of those tackles came within six yards of the line of scrimmage.  By my unofficial count, he only allowed 3 receptions for 5 yards and a first down (albeit on third down) on 3 targets.
  

• Greg Toler- Greg Toler, on the other hand, did not have a great game.  For the second week in a row, he saw season highs in snap count and percentage, but his most impactful plays helped the visiting team more than the Redskins.  According to my charting, Toler was only targeted three times, but he gave up 2 receptions for 56 yards and 2 first downs on those passes.  One of the biggest plays of the game occurred when Toler was burned down the sideline by Tavarres King for a 44-yard reception that would set the Giants up to take the lead with just over two minutes left in the game.  King had only caught one pass for six yards this season before the aforementioned play.  Toler also made three tackles against the Giants, but his only solo effort of the day came on a 12-yard first-down reception that he allowed.  No other Redskins defensive back has been picked on in coverage on a greater percentage of their passing snaps than Toler, who has been targeted on 17.6% of his coverage plays this season.
  

• Other Cornerbacks- Dashaun Philips' six snaps against the Bears represented his only defensive playing time since Week 3.  He operated as the Skins' primary slot corner in Weeks 1-3 and played at least 46 snaps in each of those games.  The man who originally took his job, Kendall Fuller, only saw one snap on Joe Barry's defense on Sunday.  Fuller, who was averaging 48 snaps per game between Weeks 4 and 13, only played on a total of 43 snaps over the last month of the season.  Breeland finished the year in the slot for the Washington defense.

Safeties (4)
Player (* - denotes starter)	Snaps	Snap %
Will Blackmon *	72	100%
Duke Ihenacho *	72	100%
Deshazor Everett	2	3%
Josh Evans	Inactive	N/A

• Duke Ihenacho- Ihenahco made his eighth straight start and played on every defensive snap for the third time this season.  He led all Washington defensive backs in solo (6), assisted (4) and total (10) tackles, with seven of them coming within five yards of the line of scrimmage.  By my count, he was only targeted once and allowed a three-yard reception on that play.  Ihenacho (62.7) and Donte Whitner (56.3), both ranked in the bottom-14 among 91 qualifying safeties in PFF grade this year.
  

• Will Blackmon- Will Blackmon got his first start since Week 8 (Cincinnati), and played on 100% of the snaps for the first time since he did it in three consecutive games between Weeks 4 and 6.  Blackmon made six total tackles in the game (2 solo and 4 assisted), with half of them coming 22 or more yards away from scrimmage.  He was not targeted in this game, but it's possible that he could've done a better job helping Greg Toler on the 44-yard Tavarres King reception that set up the Giants' game-winning field goal.  The ten-year vet will turn 33 in October. 
  

• Other Safeties- I find it pretty puzzling that Deshazor Everett only got two snaps in this game with Donte Whitner out, 27 snaps in the three weeks after he picked off Carson Wentz in the end zone and 38 snaps all season on a team that has arguably the worst group of safeties in the NFL.  I mean, could he really have been that much worse than what the Redskins were rolling out there every week?  It didn't seem like it on those 38 snaps.  Josh Evans was only active for two games this year and he did not record a defensive snap in either of them. 
  

SPECIAL TEAMS

Snaps- Washington's special teams unit sent out 35 players over the course of 28 snaps on Sunday.  The group was made up of 21 defenders, 11 offensive players and 3 specialists (Dustin Hopkins, Tress Way and Nick Sundberg).  Mack Brown, John Sullivan, Martrell Spaight, Zach Vigil and Dashaun Philips all played exclusively on special teams.

Deshazor Everett, Zach Vigil and Terence Garvin led the Redskins with 22 specials snaps.  These three also recorded the most snaps against Chicago, which was the first game that Houston Bates missed.  They were closely followed by Martrell Spaight, who played on 21 snaps.

Special Teamers (35)				Special Teamers (cont)
Player	Snaps	Snap %		Player	Snaps	Snap %
Deshazor Everett	22	79%		Mack Brown	7	25%
Zach Vigil	22	79%		Ricky Jean Francois	7	25%
Terence Garvin	22	79%		Dustin Hopkins	6	21%
Martrell Spaight	21	75%		Trent Murphy	6	21%
Dashaun Philips	18	64%		Ty Nsekhe	6	21%
Derek Carrier	16	57%		Maurice Harris	4	14%
Duke Ihenacho	13	46%		Chris Thompson	4	14%
Ryan Grant	12	43%		Will Compton	3	11%
Greg Toler	11	39%		Ziggy Hood	3	11%
Mason Foster	10	36%		Cullen Jenkins	3	11%
Matt Ioannidis	10	36%		Ryan Kerrigan	3	11%
Preston Smith	10	36%		Shawn Lauvao	3	11%
Nick Sundberg	10	36%		Spencer Long	3	11%
Tress Way	10	36%		Josh Norman	3	11%
Kendall Fuller	9	32%		Brandon Scherff	3	11%
Jamison Crowder	8	29%		John Sullivan	3	11%
Lynden Trail	8	29%		Will Blackmon	2	7%
Bashaud Breeland	7	25%

• Tress Way- Tress Way had season highs in number of punts (7) and punt yards (348), which are both the third highest totals of his career.  His average of 49.7 yards per punt was his second best mark of the season; however, only one of his punts pinned Eli Manning and the Giants' offense inside their own 20-yard line, and the 46 punt return yards by New York were the second most return yards that the Redskins allowed this year.  Way finished outside of the top-20 in punt average, net average and inside-the-20 rate this season.  His average and net average were career lows, but he did set a new career high in inside-the-20 rate.  The Redskins only punted fewer times than the Falcons did this year (39 to 38). 
  

• Dustin Hopkins- Hopkins connected on a 32-yarder and hit on his only extra point of the game, but missed from 57 yards out at the end of the first half.  He is now 5-11 (45%) in his career from 50-plus.  His make in this game was his 34th field goal of the year, which breaks Mark Moseley's all-time franchise record for the most field goals in a single season (Moseley made 33 field goals in 1983).  There's a catch to Hopkins success, and it is that he led the NFL with 42 field goal attempts this season and was tied for the second most misses (1 behind rookie Roberto Aguayo).  His 81% field-goal percentage and 92.3% extra-point accuracy ranked 21st and 20th in the league.  All three of Hopkins' kickoffs against the Giants went for touchbacks.  His 70.7% touchback rate ranked fourth in the NFL in 2016.       
  

• Kick Coverage- No kickoffs were returned against the Skins' special teams, but a season-most six punts were.  Dwayne Harris took those punts for 46 yards (7.1-yard average).  Deshazor Everett made solo tackles on 11 and 10-yard returns that made it out to the New York 22 and 20-yard lines.  Everett led the team this season with eight solo teams tackles.  Duke Ihenacho made the other solo stop for the Redskins on a 5-yard return that made it to the Giants' 32.  Terence Garvin assisted on two specials stops and Derek Carrier, Dashaun Philips and Martrell Spaight each chipped in with one assist.  Spaight led the team with 10 total specials tackles (7 solo and 3 assisted) on the year.
  

• Kickoff Returns- All four of Robbie Gould's kickoffs went for touchbacks, so the Redskins did not return a kickoff for just the third time this season (at Detroit and at Dallas). 
  

• Punt Returns- The Redskins returned a season-high five punt returns against New York.  Crowder handled every one of them and tied his career high of five returns in a game.  His 40 yards on those returns (8.0-yard average) were his most since Week 5, when he scored a TD on a return against the Ravens in an 89-yard effort.  He would've had an even better day as a returner if Dashaun Philips did not negate a 25-yard return on New York's first punt of the day. 
  

• Crowder's Rankings- Crowder's 328 return yards rank him third in the league in punt return yardage behind Tyreek Hill (592) and Tavon Austin (364).  His average of 12.1 yards per return gives him a fourth place finish in return average behind Hill (15.2), Marcus Sherels (13.9) and former Redskin Andre Roberts (12.3).  Crowder's average is the best by a Redskin since Eric Metcalf returned his punts at a 12.5-yard clip for the team.  Washington will also rank in the top-5 in punt return average in the league for first time since 1995.  Jamison Crowder led the Redskins in both total touchdowns (8) and all-purpose yards this season (1,173).
  

*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*