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Snaps- Jay Gruden and Matt Cavanaugh's offense was on the field for 63 snaps, 61 plays and 10 drives against the Eagles, during which time, 17 of the unit's 24 players made an appearance on the field.
The 7 offensive players that did not record a snap consisted of 4 inactives (Mack Brown, Jeremy Sprinkle, Tyler Catalina and T.J. Clemmings), 2 special teams only players (Samaje Perine and Chase Roullier) and 1 player who was active but that didn't get any PT on offense or special teams (Colt McCoy).
Josh Doctson, Brian Quick, Niles Paul and Ty Nsekhe combined for just 35 snaps, while every other player that saw time on offense took at least 27 snaps.
Yardage- The Redskins' 264 yards of total offense is the team's lowest yardage since Week 11 of 2015. It is the sixth lowest total under Jay Gruden.
Points- The offense and special teams were only responsible for 10 of the team's 17 points. That is tied for the third lowest scoring output by the offense since Jay Gruden took over as head coach in 2014.
3rd Down- Third downs were only supposed to be a problem on defense for this team, not on offense, where the team ranked 5th in the NFL last year with a 45.2% conversion rate. The Redskins converted on just 3 of their 11 third-down attempts against the Eagles (27%). That was the 7th worst conversion percentage in Week 1 and the team's third lowest mark in that category since the start of last season.
Their main issue on Sunday was that they average almost 8.1 yards to go on these plays.
Red Zone- Red zone efficiency, on the other hand, was a major issue for this team last year. Unfortunately, we saw more of the same in this game as the offense failed to score touchdowns on both of their trips to the red area. Kirk Cousins threw an interception on one of those drives and they were forced to settle for a field goal on the other one.
The Redskins were one of only five teams that failed to score a red zone touchdown in Week 1.
Rushing- Despite only trailing for just over 23 minutes of the game, Gruden and company chose to only run the ball 17 times and on 28% of the team's plays.
In 2016, the team only rushed the ball less than that two times and only ran it on a lower percentage of the offensive plays in three contests. Between those three games and the one on Sunday, the team has lost four games at home (0-4) by a combined total of 48 points.
Looking back to Sunday's game against the Eagles, they also called just four runs on 33 second-half plays (12.1%), did not run it once in the last 14 minutes of the game, did not run it once inside the Eagle's 25-yard line and did not give a single carry to a running back on third down.
I know that this is a passing league, and this is certainly a passing team, but you simply cannot completely and utterly abandon the running game like this and logically expect to win the game.
QUARTERBACKS
Quarterbacks (2 Players) | ||
Player | Snaps | Snap % |
Kirk Cousins * | 63 | 100% |
Colt McCoy | 0 | 0% |
Kirk Cousins (Traditional Stats)- It was not a banner passing day for Kirk Cousins, who missed multiple open receivers and completed 23 of his 40 passes for 240 yards, 12 first downs and a touchdown.
His 6.0 yards per attempt average and 57.5% completion percentage were his 7th and 8th lowest career marks respectively (5th worse in both categories in games which he attempted more than 16 passes).
Cousins was also taken down for 4 sacks, which is tied with one contest for the second most times that he has been sacked in a game. He has only been sacked on a higher percentage of his dropbacks (9.1% sack percentage) in five other regular season games.
On top of all that, he threw an interception and lost 2 fumbles (3 total turnovers). One of his fumbles was returned for an Eagles' touchdowns.
Kirk Cousins (Advanced Stats)- Cousins also posted lowly QB Rating and QBR scores of 72.9 and 34.8, which both rank among his ten worst showings in these metrics. His 38.7 PFF grade for Week 1 has him sitting at 29th in the league, ranking only ahead of Scott Tolzien and Deshaun Watson. He ranks 23rd in success rate (39%).
One of the few things that he did well against the Eagles was to continue to be aggressive in spite of his struggles as a passer. He ranked in the top-8 this week in time to throw (2.39 seconds), average depth of target (9.3 yards), average air yards to the sticks (plus 1) and aggressiveness percentage (which tracks the amount of passing attempts a quarterback makes that are into tight coverage).
Kirk Cousins (Rushing Stats)- The other area in which Cousins excelled was as a runner. Cousins' 4 rushes went for gains of 4, 7, 9 and 10 yards (30 yards total), the last three of which represented the Redskins' longest runs of the day. All 4 runs were successful plays (100% success rate).
His career-high 30 total yards on the ground (tied with the 2016 Week 16 game at Chicago) also tied a team high total with Robert Kelley in this game. He averaged 7.5 yards per carry, more than double the average of any other player in the game.
Cousins was the only Redskins player to rush for a first down in the game, and he did it three times. The only other rushing first down in the game came on a 4-yard LeGarrette Blount run on a 2nd-and-3 play.
Kirk Cousins currently ranks first among all NFL quarterbacks with a 93.0 Pro Football Focus running grade.
Kirk Cousins (Records)- This was Cousins 33rd consecutive start at quarterback for the Washington Redskins. That is the third-longest such streak by a Redskins QB since the merger. Only Joe Theismann (60 games) and Mark Rypien (41 games) have longer starting streaks as the Burgundy and Gold's signal caller in at least the last 48 years.
WIDE RECEIVERS
Wide Receivers (5 Players) | ||
Player | Snaps | Snap % |
Terrelle Pryor * | 53 | 84% |
Jamison Crowder * | 49 | 78% |
Ryan Grant | 37 | 59% |
Josh Doctson | 20 | 32% |
Brian Quick | 6 | 10% |
Terrelle Pryor- Kirk Cousins and the coaches clearly prioritized getting the ball to Pryor on Sunday. Pryor led the game with 11 targets, which is currently tied for 7th in the NFL. He also led the Redskins in deep-ball targets (3) and was the only player on the team with an end-zone target (2). Those targets were not coming on short, dink-and-dunk type passes either. His average depth of target (aDOT) of 15.1, 166 air yards and 16.3 air yards per target all rank in the top-10 in the league.
Pryor only caught 6 of the aforementioned 11 targets (54.5%), but he did pick up 66 yards and 4 first downs on those catches, both of which were team highs. The problem was not with the passes he caught, it's with the ones he didn't. He gave up too easily on several passes, dropped what would've been a critical first down and dropped a touchdown that would have been negated by a penalty.
Few, if any, players left as many yards on the field as Pryor did in Week 1.
Jamison Crowder- Jamison Crowder was on the field for 78% of the team's offensive snaps and caught just 3 of his 7 passes for a lowly 14 yards and 0 first downs. That equates to the following awful efficiency stats: 42.9 catch percentage, 4.67 yards per reception and 2.0 yards per target. Those are each the third worst numbers in his career. Crowder also muffed a punt and lost the fumble on a punt return. And to top it off, one of his targets also ended in an interception, but, to be fair, that was Cousins' fault.
I'd have to dig into this a bit deeper to be more confident about such a proclamation, but I think this may have been his worst game as pro.
Unfortunately, this may be becoming a trend. Over his last 5 games, Crowder has only caught 12 of 22 targets for 94 yards and no touchdowns.
I love Crowder, but I have failed to ask the following question yet: why does nobody talk about how Scot McCloughan should've drafted Stefon Diggs over Crowder in 2015?
Ryan Grant- Grant played on 59% of the snaps and caught 4 balls for 3 first downs and a career-high 61 yards. Grant's 61 yards are just 15 more yards than he posted all of last season, when he played in 15 more games and on 233 more snaps than he did on Sunday.
It should be noted that none of Grant's receptions came on third down and 56% of his yards came on a 34-yard screen play (the 2nd longest play of his career). He also averaged a league-high 9.9 yards of cushion from his defenders at the snap of the ball, so that might tell you something about how much defenses respect him.
As much as I hate how Grant is overrated by the coaches, it is still nice to see him have a career day. My issue here is that he got significantly more work than Josh Doctson.
Josh Doctson- Doctson recorded a career 20 snaps (12 and 19 snaps in Weeks 1 and 2 of 2016), but he was not targeted once. This needs to change right away.
He needs to be at the very least splitting work with Grant. If Crowder isn't healthy than Grant should take some of his snaps in the slot while Doctson operates as the team's primary flanker. Gruden said he expects to get Doctson in for 35 to 40 snaps next week. Let's hope he keeps his word.
Brian Quick- Quick made it onto the field with the offense on just 6 snaps, but caught his only target for 11 yards and a first down on 3rd-and-10. The Redskins went on to score a field goal six plays later.
TIGHT ENDS
Tight Ends (4 Players) | ||
Player | Snaps | Snap % |
Jordan Reed * | 55 | 87% |
Vernon Davis * | 27 | 43% |
Niles Paul | 5 | 8% |
Jeremy Sprinkle | Inactive | N/A |
Jordan Reed- Jordan Reed started and led all Washington skill-position players in snaps. He caught 5 of his 8 targets for 36 yards and 1 first down. He uncharacteristically dropped a pass, did not break a single tackle, only ran for 9 yards after the catch, caught 62.5% of his targets, and averaged just 7.2 yards per reception and 4.5 yards per target. The last three of those numbers all rank in the bottom-10 in Reed's 48 game career (including playoffs). His injuries clearly look to be affecting him.
On a positive note, Reed became the 12th player in team history to catch 250 passes. He accomplished this feat in his 47th regular season game, which is tied (with Kellen Winslow) for the fewest number of career games needed to record 250 or more receptions by a tight end. Here are the six wide receivers that did it faster: A.J. Green, Julio Jones, Jarvis Landry, Odell Beckham, Aquan Boldin and Lionel Taylor. Jordan Reed likes to keep impressive company.
Reed is just 25 receptions away from ranking in the top-10 in the franchise's all-time reception list.
Vernon Davis- Davis started for the 15th time in his 17 games as a Redskins, but he also received 27 or fewer snaps for just the fourth time as a member of the Burgundy and Gold. Cousins targeted Davis once, but Davis had little chance to haul in the virtually uncatchable pass.
Niles Paul- For some odd reason, Niles Paul only got on the field for a total of 5 snaps, his lowest total since 2013. Perhaps if the Redskins ever cared to run the ball they would be at least able to get him in as a fullback. Unsurprisingly given the situation, Paul did not record any stats.
RUNNING BACKS
Running Backs (4 players) | ||
Player | Snaps | Snap % |
Robert Kelley * | 33 | 52% |
Chris Thompson | 30 | 48% |
Samaje Perine | ST Only | 0% |
Mack Brown | Inactive | N/A |
Robert Kelley- Robert the Fat returned and rushed for only 30 yards on 10 carries (3.0 average). Two of his ten runs went for negative yardage and his two longest rushes of the game each only went for 6 yards.
He did not pick up a single first down in the game, but 50% of his runs did go for enough yardage to be considered successful plays.
Also, don't presume that the Eagle's stacking the box prevented Kelley from breaking off more big runs, as Kelley only faced 8 or more defenders in the box on 30% of his rushes.
He failed to catch his only target of the game.
Chris Thompson- CT essentially split running back duties with Rob Kelley (48% snap share). He ran the ball three times for gains of 1 and 4 yards and a loss of a yard for a total of 4 yards (1.3 yards per carry). He did not pick up a first down and only one of his runs was successful (33% success rate).
As usual, his main contribution to the offense came as a pass catcher. Thompson caught 4 of his 5 targets for 52 yards and 3 first downs and scored the Redskins only offensive touchdown of the game on a 29-yard pass. He broke multiple tackles on the play. Thompson has now scored 3 touchdowns in his last three games.
Samaje Perine- Here is yet another young player who didn't get enough action. Perine did not receive a single offensive snap in the game. I'm sorry, but when you're running backs are averaging 2.6 yards per carry you should probably give your fourth-round pick and Oklahoma's all-time leading rusher a chance.
Rob Kelley, Chris Thompson and Mack Brown have rushed for a combined 5,214 yards in their college and pro careers; Samaje Perine rushed for just under 1,000 fewer yards (4,122 yards) by himself in college.
OFFENSIVE LINE
Offensive Linemen (9 Players) | ||
Player | Snaps | Snap % |
Spencer Long * | 63 | 100% |
Shawn Lauvao * | 63 | 100% |
Morgan Moses * | 63 | 100% |
Brandon Scherff * | 63 | 100% |
Trent Williams * | 59 | 94% |
Ty Nsekhe | 4 | 6% |
Chase Roullier | ST Only | 0% |
Tyler Catalina | Inactive | N/A |
T.J. Clemmings | Inactive | N/A |
Offensive Line (Pass Blocking)- Kirk Cousins was sacked 4 times and hit on 7 total plays. This is the second game in a row in which Cousins has been sacked 4 on of his dropbacks. However, outside of those last two contests, he has only been sacked 4 or more times once (2015) in his career.
The per dropback numbers show just how bad this unit was in pass protection: 9.1% sack percentage, 15.9% hit percentage, 43.2% pressure percentage.
What's even more troubling is that this happened when Cousins was getting the ball out of his hands in average of 2.39 seconds, the 5th fastest such time in Week 1. The Eagles sacked Cousins in an average of 2.58 seconds after the ball was snapped, which is over a half second longer than it took for Cousins to be sacked on average in both 2015 and 2016.
Offensive Line (Run Blocking)- Believe it or not, but the Redskins actually ranked 12th in yards per carry (3.76), 7th in yards before contact per attempt this week (1.94) and 10th in success rate (46%).
We know the truth though, and that is not it. These numbers are biased by a sample size of just 14 total runs and Kirk Cousins' 4 runs accounting for nearly half of the team's rushing yards and all of their rushing first downs.
Kelley and Thompson only averaged more than 2.5 yards per carry when running to the left end or behind right tackle. They only had a success rate over the NFL average when running behind right tackle.
Morgan Moses- Morgan Moses was a plus player in the running game (83.5 PFF grade), but his play as a pass protector was abysmal (43.6). Moses allowed 2 hurries and 3 of the team's 4 sacks, 2 of which resulted in Kirk Cousins fumbles. Moses, who only allowed 5 sacks all of last season, was clearly affected by his injury. He left the stadium in a walking boot.
Brandon Scherff & Shawn Lauvao- Brandon Scherff's preseason struggles appear to have spilled over in to the games that count. Scherff allowed multiple pressures against the Eagles. He and Shawn Lauvao currently rank 52nd and 53rd in PFF rating out of 64 qualifying guards. At least he made a tackle on of the Eagle's fumble returns.
Trent Williams- Trent Williams also made a tackle on a turnover and actually played well when he was in the game (he was replaced by Ty Neskhe on 4 snaps due to injury). He earned an 80.9 PFF grade, the highest such mark by any Washington offensive player.
ALL OFFENSIVE SNAPS
Offense (24 Players) | Offense (continued) | |||||
Player | Snaps | Snap % | Player | Snaps | Snap % | |
Kirk Cousins * | 63 | 100% | Vernon Davis * | 27 | 43% | |
Shawn Lauvao * | 63 | 100% | Josh Doctson | 20 | 32% | |
Spencer Long * | 63 | 100% | Brian Quick | 6 | 10% | |
Morgan Moses * | 63 | 100% | Niles Paul | 5 | 8% | |
Brandon Scherff * | 63 | 100% | Ty Nsekhe | 4 | 6% | |
Trent Williams * | 59 | 94% | Colt McCoy | 0 | 0% | |
Jordan Reed * | 55 | 87% | Samaje Perine | ST Only | 0% | |
Terrelle Pryor * | 53 | 84% | Chase Roullier | ST Only | 0% | |
Jamison Crowder * | 49 | 78% | Mack Brown | Inactive | N/A | |
Ryan Grant | 37 | 59% | Tyler Catalina | Inactive | N/A | |
Robert Kelley * | 33 | 52% | T.J. Clemmings | Inactive | N/A | |
Chris Thompson | 30 | 48% | Jeremy Sprinkle | Inactive | N/A |
*All statistics are courtesy of Air Yards, CSN Mid Atlantic, ESPN, NFL.com, NFL Gamebooks, Pro Football Focus, Pro Football Reference, Redskins.com, Sharp Football Stats and The Washington Post*