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Skins Stats & Snaps: 49ers @ Redskins (DEF/ST)

A look at the stats and snap counts for every defensive and special teams player on the Redskins in the team's Week 6 matchup with the San Francisco 49ers

San Francisco 49ers v Washington Redskins Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images

Snaps- Greg Manusky sent out 19 of his 26 defenders over the course of a season-high 72 defensive snaps. The 7 that did not see time on defense included 4 inactives (Anthony Lanier, Josh Harvey-Clemons, Josh Norman and Deshazor Everett) and 3 players that only took snaps on special teams (Will Compton, Martrell Spaight and Chris Carter).

Ryan Anderson, Joshua Holsey and Stefan McClure combined for 24 defense snaps, while every other player that got action on defense took at least 24 snaps themselves.

Quarterback Pressure- The defense registered 3 sacks and a season-best 10 quarterback hits on Sunday. The Redskins have now recorded at least 3 sacks and 6 hits in each of their last three games.

Turnovers- After forcing multiple turnovers in each of their first three games, the Redskins have only one takeaway in their last two contests. That takeaway didn’t occur until the second to last play in Sunday’s game.

Third Down & Red Zone Defense- The 49ers only converted on 6 of their 17 third downs in the game. The 35% conversion rate allowed by the defense on the money down represents the second best showing in this area, outside of their amazing third-down shutout against the Raiders.

Things did not go as well in the red zone, where San Francisco scored touchdowns on both of their trips inside of the Washington 20-yard line.

Tight End Defense- San Francisco tight ends caught 5 of their 10 targets for 59 yards and just 2 first downs. This might have been the team’s best performance against enemy tight ends all year, but this was also probably the worst tight end corps they have faced this season.

The Redskins have still given up an NFL-worst 407 receiving yards to the position despite the fact that the next seven worst teams in this category have played six games to Washington’s five.

Wide Receiver Defense- Aldrick Robinson’s touchdown was just the second score that the Skins have allowed to an opposing wideout all season. They are tied for first in the NFL in that statistic (Jacksonville) and also sit in the top 5 in wide receiver targets, receptions and yards against.

Rushing Defense- After not allowing a single rushing touchdown in the first three games, Washington’s defense has surrendered 3 rushing scores combined in their last two contests. Two of those TDs came courtesy of 1-yard rushes by Carlos Hyde on Sunday.

The Redskins only gave up 85 yards on the ground and did not give up any yards on a quarter of the 49ers’ rushes (5 of 20), but they allowed San Francisco to average 4.3 yards per carry and post a 65% rushing success rate (13 of 20).

DEFENSIVE LINE

Ziggy Hood- Evander “Ziggy” Hood got his third start of the year and led all Burgundy and Gold D-linemen in snaps for the second straight game. In Week 4 against the Chiefs, he made his way on to the stat sheet for the first time with 2 tackles and a half sack.

It was a different story on Sunday, as he failed to record a single traditional stat for the fourth time this year. I know he is busy occupying blockers as the nose tackle, but tell me how he only manages 2 tackles on 153 snaps this season. This was also the second game in which he recorded 0 QB pressures.

Ziggy Hood’s 41.1 overall PFF grade on the season ranks 123rd out of 123 qualifying interior defensive linemen. Please stop giving him so many snaps, Jim Tomsula.

Matt Ioannidis- Matty I wreaked havoc on yet another opposing backfield on Sunday. He recorded a career-high 1.5 sacks and has now sacked an opposing QB in back-to-back games for the first time in his career. He has at least a half sack in four of the team’s five contests this season.

His solo sack turned a potential Robbie Gould 40-yard field goal into a 47-yarder. Gould then failed to convert on the kick, his first miss of the year. Both of Ioanndis’ sacks came on third down.

He also set new career highs in total pressures (6) and hits (4); he led the team in both categories against the 49ers.

Ioanndis’ 10 quarterback hits on the season ranks tied for 9th in the league. Aaron Donald is the only interior defensive lineman with a better pass rushing productivity score in the entire NFL.

Jonathan Allen- Jon Allen was forced to leave the game with a Lisfranc sprain, and as a result he played on a season-low 40.3% of the defensive snaps (29 snaps tied his season-low). He failed to record a tackle for the first time this season, but he did register two QB hits before exiting.

Allen, who was leading all rookie defensive tackles in pass rush productivity, will be sorely missed. Jay Gruden said he expects Allen to miss 3 to 4 weeks, but everything I’ve read about Lisfranc sprains indicates this is more of a 6 week injury, 6 to 8 weeks to be precise. If true, that would obviously be a major problem for the defense.

On the bright side, Allen’s absence will allow us to finally get a look at Anthony Lanier, who has been inactive in all five games.

Terrell McClain- McClain, like Ziggy Hood, has seen his first and second highest snap totals in Weeks 4 and 6, respectively. He also did not record any stats against the 49ers, just like Hood. He was at least able to generate some pressure on the QB.

Stacy McGee- McGee had one of his most productive showings of the year on Sunday. He made a season-high 2 solo and 4 total tackles and was able to get some pressure as pass rusher.

OUTSIDE LINEBACKERS

Ryan Kerrigan- This was the fourth game this year that Kerrigan has both led all Skins’ edge rushers in snaps and recorded a sack. The sack helped to stall San Francisco’s opening drive of the second half and hold them to a field goal.

Preston Smith- Preston Smith will not be denied! He sacked an opposing QB for the fifth consecutive game (6 of his last 7 games). This week’s sack was split with Matt Ioannidis on a 3rd-and-8 midway through the first quarter.

Smith didn’t stop there, though. He defended a pass, tackled Carlos Hyde for a 3-yard loss on a 2nd-and-5 and absolutely destroyed C.J. Beathard for a QB hit.

Through 5 games and over the course of 223 defensive snaps, Smith has already matched his 2016 sack total of 4.5, a number he posted over the course of 768 snaps and 16 games last year.

Smith became just the fourth Redskins player since 1982 (when sack data began to be recorded) to get at least half a sack in each of the first five games of a season. The others were Charles Mann (1989), Fred Stokes (1991) and Monte Coleman (2000).

Let me finish up by listing every other NFL player with at least a half sack in five games this season: Everson Griffen, DeMarcus Lawrence, Calais Campbell, Chandler Jones and Julius Peppers.

Junior Galette- Junior Galette’s 24 snaps against the 49ers represented his second highest snap total as a Redskin (26 snaps @ Kansas City). Unfortunately, he totally squared the opportunity.

Galette failed to tally a single stat of any kind in this game. He did not make a tackle for the first time since Week 1 and was unable to pressure the QB for the first time this season.

Over his last 2 games and 50 snaps he has totaled just 1 tackle and 1 pressure (a hit).

Ryan Anderson- After unexpectedly playing on nearly half of the snaps against the Raiders (24 snaps and 47%), Ryan Anderson played on fewer than 10 snaps for the second straight game. If you exclude his playing time against Oakland, he is only averaging 10 plays and a 15% defensive snap-share per game.

The second rounder from Alabama did not record a stat of any kind in this game and has only recorded 2 tackles (1 TFL) and 1 pressure (a hurry) on his 63 defensive and 33 special teams snaps this season. Until further notice, consider him an ineffective role player whose purpose is to give the other edge rushers a breather.

Chris Carter- Carter continued to operate in a virtually exclusive special teams role. He did not take a snap on defense for the third time this year and has only been on the field for 2 defensive plays.

INSIDE LINEBACKERS

Zach Brown- Brown played on 100% of the defensive snaps for the third time this year. He is tied for the team lead in defensive snaps played and has only missed 3 snaps all season.

His 6 solo and 8 total tackles were both tied for the most on the team. Brown has either led the team or tied the team high in total tackles in all five games. San Francisco lost yardage on two of those tackles, but Brown was only credited with 1 TFL, because he and Swearinger teamed for the other stop. Half of Brown’s tackles came on the 49ers’ final drive of the first half, including a takedown of George Kittle just short of the goal line.

As usual, Brown didn’t fare as well in coverage, but he was bailed out by a couple of 49ers’ drops in his coverage that would have gone for first downs. He did, however, make a heads up play in coverage when he purposefully ran into Pierre Garcon and drew an offensive pass interference penalty that pushed San Francisco out of game-winning field goal range.

Per ESPN, the 27.3% win probability change on that play was the third highest among all plays on Sunday (i.e. it was a really important play).

PFF has Zach Brown with the 4th highest grade in run defense among 82 qualifying inside backers. Again, the problem always comes back to coverage, where he is ranked 62nd.

Mason Foster- Foster also played on every snap, which would lead you to believe that he is almost fully recovered from his shoulder injury. He might be getting there, but his season-low 2 total tackles (1 solo and 1 assisted) seem to tell a different story. Neither tackle was especially helpful, either; both of them came on first-down passes on 3rd-and-8 (12 yards and 10 yards).

On the plus side, Foster registered QB hit when he leveled Brian Hoyer and caused what initially looked like a forced fumble that would be scooped up for a Redskins’ score. Unfortunately, the call was overturned.

Other ILB- Neither Will Compton nor Martrell Spaight saw any action on defense for the first time since Week 1. Compton had only played on 7 defensive snaps in Weeks 1-4, while Spaight had played on 89 snaps and made 17 tackles between Weeks 3 and 4. Josh Harvey-Clemons was inactive for the fourth time in five games.

CORNERBACKS

Quinton Dunbar- Dunbar started for the fourth time in his career, and shined as Josh Norman’s replacement for the second week in a row.

He posted a team high 6 solo and 8 total tackles, both of which were career highs. He made 5 of those 8 tackles short of the line to gain, with 4 of those counting as defensive stops. He also had 2 pass defenses in the game (tied for another career high); a third PD was negated by Garcon’s OPI.

He was targeted a whopping 14 times, but only gave up 8 receptions for 82 yards on those throws (5.9 yards per target).

He earned a game-high 88.0 Pro Football Focus grade. This was the second game in a row that he was PFF’s highest rated defender on the team. Dunbar’s 84.9 grade on the year ranks 2nd on the defense and 3rd on the entire team.

Bashaud Breeland- Breeland only played on just over half of the snaps and still made 6 solo tackles, which was tied for a team high. He also defended a pass to former Redskin Pierre Garcon on the 49ers’ first drive of the game.

He suffered an MCL injury midway through the third quarter when Joe Staley clipped him on a running play. His status is in doubt for next week against the Eagles.

Kendall Fuller- Fuller’s breakout sophomore campaign continued with another excellent outing. He allowed just 1 reception for 31 yards (vs. George Kittle) on 3 targets.

He also defended a third-down pass on Washington’s side of the field and recorded the game-clinching interception on the 49ers’ final drive of the game. The pick was the second of Fuller’s career and his second in the last three games.

Fuller’s 85.8 PFF rating in the game ranked 3rd on the Redskins’ defense.

The combined passer rating for quarterbacks when targeting Fuller this season is 40.5, which means that you’re almost better off throwing the ball away than you are targeting him (39.6 rating for 1 incompletion).

His 88.4 season-long PFF rating and his 6th place positional ranking on the site are both tops on the team.

Fabian Moreau- Injuries pressed Moreau into action against the 49ers. He played on a career-high 34 snaps and 47% of the plays. His snap count and snap percentage have increased in every week of the season. He made 3 tackles on the day (2 solo) and defended a pass.

But what he will probably be remembered for in this game was his coverage bust on Aldrick Robinson’s late touchdown. Moreau did not switch off and follow Robinson and with Montae Nicholson in the middle of the field, the former Redskin, Robinson, made the easy catch down the sideline.

Moreau was, however, able to find some redemption when he recovered an onside kick to start the next drive.

He left the game with hamstring tightness on San Francisco’s final drive.

Joshua Holsey- Holsey was active for the first time in his career and also took his first defensive snaps as an NFL player. All five of his snaps came on the final drive of the game. He did not record any stats and was not targeted on any of those plays.

Josh Norman- This was the first game that Norman missed as a member of the Redskins. The last time did not play in a game was in October of 2014 as a member of the Panthers.

He has only allowed 6 receptions, 89 yards and 0 touchdowns this season. Get well soon, Josh. The Redskins need you back.

SAFETIES

D.J. Swearinger- Swearinger played on all but one snap, and he only missed that play because he suffered a shoulder stinger. He is tied with Zach Brown for the team lead in defensive snaps this year (314).

Swearinger defended a pass for the first time since Week 1 (should’ve been an interception) and earned the second highest PFF grade on the defense (86.3).

With Montae Nicholson patrolling the deep part of the field, Swearinger has been given more opportunities to make plays in the box. Three of Swearinger’s tackles came within 1-yard of the line of scrimmage, with one of them going for a loss.

His one big misstep in the game was when he was flagged for unsportsmanlike conduct at the end of the first half. That penalty gave the 49ers a new set of downs inside the 5-yard line.

I appreciate that he had his teammates back, but his inability to control his emotions allowed the 49ers to score 4 additional points and that could’ve been the difference from a win and a loss.

Montae Nicholson- The athletic safety out of Michigan State made his third start in the last four games. He finished the contest with career highs in snaps played (63), snap percentage (88%), solo tackles (4) and total tackles (6). Nicholson also recorded the second pass defense of his career on a 2nd-and-10 Pierre Garcon target.

You can certainly see the potential in Montae Nicholson, but he is also far from a finished product. He was too far out of position to make a play on the late touchdown pass to Aldrick Robinson that let the Niners sneak back into the game. He was also flagged for unnecessary roughness in the first quarter.

Nicholson suffered a minor shoulder injury when he was trucked by Garcon at the end of the first half.

Stefan McClure- McClure came to spot Swearinger and Nicholson when they missed time with injuries, but he too was bit by the injury bug, despite playing on only 10 snaps.

Other Safeties- In Monday’s press conference, Jay Gruden said that Deshazor Everett is expected to resume practicing after missing Sunday’s game with a hamstring injury. DeAngelo Hall may also begin practicing either this week or next.

ALL DEFENSIVE SNAPS

SPECIAL TEAMS

Snaps- Of the team’s 46 active players, 36 of them saw time over the course of 30 special teams snaps. This group included 19 defenders, 14 offensive players and 3 specialists. Chase Roullier, Will Compton, Martrell Spaight and Chris Carter were the only Redskins with purely special teams roles.

Chris Carter led the team in specials snaps for what seems like the 100th consecutive week. Rookie DBs Josh Holsey, Stefan McClure and Fabian Moreau were right behind him. Veterans Will Compton and Niles Paul were also near the top of the list with 20 teams snaps each.

Kick Coverage- San Francisco’s only return in the game was a punt return that Trent Taylor took 39 yards and all the way out to midfield. Chris Carter and Mason Foster made the tackle on the return.

That was by far the longest punt return that the Redskins have allowed this season (previous high of 12 yards). Luckily, the 49ers would end up missing a field goal on that drive.

Dustin Hopkins- All six of Hopkins’ kickoffs in the game went for touchbacks and he remained perfect on field goals from 50 or fewer yards out (9 for 9), as he hit on kicks from 21 and 48 yards out.

He did, however, miss an extra point for the first time since Week 14 of last season. That miss nearly cost the Skins the game, but it might be fair to give Hopkins a pass on it, considering we found out that he suffered either a strained or torn muscle in his hip.

He will miss the next game, which will force the team to both sign a kicker and to release another player.

Tress Way- Taylor’s return turned Way’s 45.3 punting average into a 30.5-yard net average, the fourth lowest mark of his career.

Way also failed to pin the 49ers inside their own 20-yard line on the final drive of the game. He, instead, sailed the ball through the end zone for a touchback.

He did, at least, have one punt that was fair caught at the San Francisco 16.

Kickoff Returns- Washington did not return a single kickoff for the third consecutive game, as all three 49ers’ kickoffs were touchbacks.

Punt Returns- After not returning a single punt against Kansas City, Jamison Crowder took his only punt return of the game out to the Washington 16-yard line for a gain of just 6 yards. He called for a fair catch on the other four punts that he fielded, with three of them coming inside the 20-yard line.

Crowder’s 45 punt return yards and 5.0 yards per return average rank 32nd and 25th in the league, respectively. Through five games in 2016, Crowder ranked 2nd in the NFL PR yards (194) and 1st in average return yards (27.7-yards).

*All statistics are courtesy of CSN Mid Atlantic, ESPN, Football Outsiders, NFL.com, NFL Gamebooks, Pro Football Focus, Pro Football Reference, Redskins.com and Sharp Football Stats*

COMING SOON: Skins Stats & Snaps: 49ers @ Redskins (Offense)

Poll

Both Bashaud Breeland (UFA) and Quinton Dunbar (RFA) are scheduled to be free agents in the 2018 offseason. How should the Redskins address this situation?

This poll is closed

  • 5%
    Sign Breeland to a LTD and let Dunbar walk
    (7 votes)
  • 31%
    Sign Dunbar to a LTD and let Breeland walk
    (44 votes)
  • 30%
    Sign them both to long-term deals
    (43 votes)
  • 3%
    Let them both walk
    (5 votes)
  • 18%
    Sign Breeland to a LTD & tender Dunbar with a 1st or 2nd round tender
    (26 votes)
  • 9%
    Trade Breeland this month and lock up Dunbar long term
    (13 votes)
  • 0%
    Trade Dunbar this month and lock up Breeland long term
    (1 vote)
139 votes total Vote Now