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Snaps- The Washington Redskins used 18 of their 25 offensive players over the course of 69 snaps in Sunday’s game against the Atlanta Falcons.
Of the seven who did not play on offense, five were inactive (Jamison Crowder, Brian Quick, Chris Thompson, Casey Dunn and Trent Williams), one played exclusively on special teams (Jehu Chesson) and one was active, but did not take a snap of any kind (Colt McCoy).
Yards and Time of Possession- The offense gained 366 yards and averaged 5.71 yards per play, which were the team’s third-highest totals of the year in both categories. However, they only possessed the ball for 27:04 of the game, their second-lowest time of possession number of the 2018 season (26:43 at New Orleans).
Points- Washington scored just 14 points against a Falcons team that had given up at least 18 points in every other game and had allowed 29 points in four of their eight games.
The Skins have only scored more than 24 points once all year, which ties them with the Browns, Bills, Eagles and Cardinals for the fewest such games this season.
Their lack of offensive production is a major part of the reason that they lost a game by 24 points for the second time this year. Only 11 other teams have lost by a margin of 24 or more so far in 2018. The Redskins join the Bills, Cardinals and Raiders as the four teams that have lost by that margin on multiple occasions.
Washington ranks 25th in points per game (20.0) heading into Week 10.
3rd & 4th Down- The offense moved the sticks on just 5 of the 13 third downs they faced in the game (38.5%). This was mainly a function of being eight or more yards away from the line to gain on eight of those plays and three or fewer yards away on just two of them.
Amazingly, the team has not converted on more than half of their third-down tries in a game since Week 16 of the 2016 season (at Chicago). Washington’s 38% third-down success rate ranks 21st in the league.
At least, the Skins were able to pick up first downs on both of their fourth-down plays. However, it was too little, too late, as both plays came on the final drive of the game.
Red Zone- The Redskins scored touchdowns on both of their trips to the red zone against the Atlanta defense. This was the first time the Washington offense has made multiple trips to the red area in a game and scored touchdowns on all of them since Week 11 of last season (at New Orleans).
Penalties- Washington committed ten accepted penalties for a whopping 147 yards in Sunday’s game. The offense was responsible for seven of those fouls and 80 of the penalty yards. This unit drew drive-stalling flags on five of their first seven drives.
The ten penalties were the most committed by a Redskins team since the 2016, Week 8 overtime game against the Bengals in London (15 penalties). The last time Washington committed more penalties in a regulation game was in Week 1 of 2015 (11 penalties).
The yardage total is on a different level, though. Their 147 penalty yards were the fifth most penalty yards amassed in franchise history, and their most since 1971. Surprisingly, they won three of the four games in which they had racked up more penalty yards.
Injured Reserved Redskins- The Redskins placed three offensive players on injured reserve yesterday. All three players were starters, which brings the total number of starters lost on the offensive side of the ball to four (Derrius Guice).
Midway through the season, Washington now has a whopping 13 players on their IR list. That number ties the Jaguars for the most players on injured reserve in the league. The Chiefs (10) and Colts (12) are the only other teams with ten or more players on IR.
QUARTERBACKS
Quarterbacks (2 Players) | ||
Player (* - starter) | Snaps | Snap % |
Alex Smith * | 69 | 100% |
Colt McCoy | 0 | 0% |
Alex Smith (Traditional Stats)- Alex Smith tied a season-high with 46 passing attempts and completed 30 of those passes (65.2%) for a season-best 306 yards. This was Smith’s first 300-yard game as a Redskin and the 12th 300-yard effort of his career. Five of his 12 300-yard games took place last season with the Chiefs. Smith has never thrown for 300-plus yards more than once in any of his other 12 seasons.
He threw one touchdown pass, but was also intercepted for the third time this season. Smith is lucky he didn’t throw three interceptions, as Desmond Trufant dropped a pair of picks. He posted an 82.3 passer rating in the game, his second-lowest rating of the season.
These are quite disappointing numbers considering they came against a Falcons team that ranks 28th and 29th in passer rating (102.5) and passing yards per game (304), respectively. Nick Foles was the only quarterback who put up worse numbers against Atlanta this season in the following statistics: passing touchdowns, completion percentage, yards per attempt (6.65) and passer rating.
This was the fifth game this year that Smith was sacked exactly three times in. Only Eli Manning, Dak Prescott and Deshaun Watson have been sacked three-plus times in more games this season (6 each).
Alex Smith (Rushing)- Smith only rushed the ball one time, but his 22 yards on that run was enough to give him the team-high in rushing yards. He avoided what looked like a sure sack on the play and scrambled down the sidelined to pick up the first down before being rocked by Atlanta cornerback Brian Poole at the end of the play.
He is on pace to pick up 24 first downs on the ground this season, which would be the most by a Washington quarterback since 2013, when Robert Griffin moved the sticks 25 times as a runner.
Alex Smith (Advanced Stats)- Smith’s 50.1 QBR in Week 9 is about as average as you can get. His performance did, at least, earn him his best PFF grade of the season (74.6).
He also had his best showing of the year when pressured. The veteran QB completed 6-of-9 attempts (66%) for 59 yards when hurried (6.6 YPA and 85.0 passer rating).
Smith was a bit more aggressive than usual this week. He threw five balls that traveled 20 or more yards from the line of scrimmage, which is his second most deep passing attempts on the year (8 at New Orleans in Week 5).
WIDE RECEIVERS
Wide Receivers (7 Players) | ||
Player (* - starter) | Snaps | Snap % |
Josh Doctson * | 68 | 99% |
Maurice Harris * | 60 | 87% |
Paul Richardson * | 54 | 78% |
Michael Floyd | 14 | 20% |
Jehu Chesson | ST Only | 0% |
Jamison Crowder | Inactive | N/A |
Brian Quick | Inactive | N/A |
Paul Richardson- Paul Richardson was on the field for 78.3% of the Redskins’ offensive snaps, his second-highest snap rate of the year.
He tied a season high with 6 targets, but only hauled in 2 receptions for a 2018-low 16 yards. Of his 16 yards, 11 of them, and his lone first down of the day, came on a third-down conversion.
Unfortunately, Richardson, who signed a $40M contract this past offseason, was placed on IR because of a nagging AC joint injury that had apparently hampered him for months. Outside of the 2015 season, when P-Rich played just 6 snaps before suffering a season-ending hamstring injury, his 35 targets, 20 receptions and 262 receiving yards in 2018 are all career lows. He led the team with 2 receiving touchdowns.
Hopefully, the diminutive Richardson can stay healthy next season and finally put up WR1 numbers. The 26-year-old has only caught more than 5 passes and gained over 100 yards in a game once (6 receptions for 105 yards in Week 8 of 2017) and topped 300 yards in a season just once in his career (703 yards last season).
Josh Doctson- Josh Doctson put forth yet another uneven performance. On the second drive of the game he dropped two passes in a three-play span, the second of which would’ve gone for a first down on a 3rd-and-15 play. Doctson leads the team in drops this season.
The former first rounder did his best to make up for it by catching three of his final four targets for 31 yards, 2 first downs and his first touchdown of the season. The TD came on a 5-yard fade route and his other chain mover went for 24 yards on a third down. The 24-yarder was the Redskins’ second longest play of the game, but most of the yardage gained was lost because of the frivolous taunting penalty Doctson was called for following the catch.
Doctson’s final line for the game of 6 targets, 3 receptions, 2 first downs and a touchdown looks even more pedestrian when you consider that he played a season-high 98.6% of the snaps.
This was the third game this season that he’s played at least 95% of the snaps. No Redskins receiver, running back or tight end on the team has hit that number once this year, and yet, Doctson still somehow ranks outside the top-4 on the team in receptions and receiving yards.
Maurice Harris- This was easily the most productive game for Maurice Harris as a pro. The third-year UDFA crushed his old career bests and led all players in the game with 12 targets, 10 receptions, 6 first downs and 124 receiving yards.
Those numbers alone either matched or exceeded his season-long totals from both of his first two years in the league. They also represent new 2018 highs by a Skins wideout.
In fact, he is the first Redskins player to top 100 receiving yards in nearly a year. Jamison Crowder was the last one to do it, when he put up 141 yards against the Giants last Thanksgiving. Additionally, you have to go all the way back to Week 3 of the 2014 season to find the last instance of a Washington player racking up 10 catches and gaining 100-plus yards (Pierre Garcon vs. Eagles).
Mo Harris is now the only wide receiver on the Skins’ roster who has ever caught 10 or more passes in a game. Michael Floyd is the lone Washington wideout to ever produce more receiving first downs in a single outing (7 twice). Floyd (three times) and Jamison Crowder (once) are the only receivers on the roster who gained more than 124 receiving yards in a contest.
I do, however, need to mention that 60% of his receptions (6), 61% of his yards (76) and 83% of his first downs (5) were picked up when there were 20 minutes or less left in the game and the team was down by 21 or more points.
Harris set new personal records with 60 offensive snaps played and an 87% snap rate, as well. Look for him to see similar workloads in the second half of the season with Richardson now on the shelf. He surprisingly leads all healthy wide receivers on the team in receptions (21) and receiving yards (226).
Michael Floyd- Floyd played on 14 snaps and a 20% snap share against the Falcons, his second-highest playing-time numbers of the season. He ran a route on eight of those snaps and was targeted once, but the ball bounced off the helmet of a Falcons’ defender.
Jehu Chesson- Jehu Chesson continued to work strictly on special teams. Of his 388 career total snaps, 304 of them have come on special teams, and of his 84 career offensive snaps, just one of them was taken this season.
Brian Quick- Chesson’s special teams prowess bumped Brian Quick to the inactive list for the second consecutive week. Quick has only played on 133 offensive snaps since joining the team last offseason. His career low for offensive snaps in a single season prior to last year were the 182 snaps he played on in his rookie year (2012). He should certainly get more opportunities going forward with Paul Richardson now on IR.
Jamison Crowder- Crowder’s ankle injury sidelined him for the fourth straight week. He now ranks outside the top-six on the team in targets (20), receptions (13), receiving yards (134) and receiving first downs (7).
TIGHT ENDS
Tight Ends (3 Players) | ||
Player (* - starter) | Snaps | Snap % |
Jordan Reed | 37 | 54% |
Vernon Davis | 32 | 46% |
Jeremy Sprinkle * | 12 | 17% |
Jordan Reed- Neck and back injuries limited Reed to a season-low 37 snaps in Sunday’s game. The sixth-year tight end out of Florida caught 4-of-6 targets for 34 yards and 1 first down. His 34 yards and single first down represented his second-lowest and lowest (tied) totals of the year.
He would’ve been credited with a 6-yard first-down reception on Alex Smith’s first pass of the game, but the play was negated by a holding penalty. He was officially targeted twice in the first half, with both passes coming in the second quarter. He didn’t receive his fifth and sixth targets of the afternoon until there was approximately a minute left in the game.
So far this season, Reed is either averaging career lows or his second-lowest marks as a pro in receptions per game (4.13, worst), catch percentage (62.3%, worst), yards per target (6.42, 2nd-worst) and yards per route run (1.50, 2nd-worst). The decline in catch percentage is especially disturbing, after he came into 2018 averaging a historic 76% catch rate.
On a positive note, Reed has played in all 8 of the Redskins’ games; he had never made it past the team’s sixth contest of the year in any one of his five previous seasons before missing a game (knock on wood).
Vernon Davis- The soon-to-be 35-year old tight end turned back the clock again with another productive outing. Davis set new season-highs in targets (7), receptions (5) and first downs (3). His 62 yards were his second-most of the year. Davis ranked second on the team behind Maurice Harris in every one of those categories against the Falcons.
Two of his first downs came on third and fourth down, and at one point, Alex Smith targeted him on five consecutive passes. Smith’s final pass to Davis was picked off.
VD’s 71.5 PFF grade ranked third on the team.
Davis ranks third in yards per target (11.6) and fourth in both yards per reception (15.47) and yards per route run (2.23) among all tight ends with at least 20 or more targets this season.
Jeremy Sprinkle- For the first time in his career, Jeremy Sprinkle was the only Redskins tight end who started. However, Sprinkle didn’t get much playing time after that because of extremely poor game script; he was in for a season-low 17.4% of the snaps.
He was not targeted on any of the five routes he ran in the game. There are 97 tight ends who have been targeted multiple times this year and Sprinkle is not one of them (1 target).
RUNNING BACKS
Running Backs (4 Players) | ||
Player (* - starter) | Snaps | Snap % |
Adrian Peterson * | 32 | 46% |
Kapri Bibbs | 21 | 30% |
Samaje Perine | 15 | 22% |
Chris Thompson | Inactive | N/A |
Adrian Peterson- Adrian Peterson once again struggled in a Redskins’ loss. He gained just 17 yards on his 9 carries against the Falcons (1.89), which were his second-lowest rushing attempt and yardage totals of the year.
What’s worse is that AP amassed 11 of his 17 yards on just one run, his lone rushing first down in the game. He didn’t gain more than 4 yards on any of his other 8 carries. Peterson lost yardage three times (33.3%) and was stopped for no gain twice, which means over half his runs failed to produce positive yardage (55.6%). He leads the NFL in both the number of carries that have lost yards (22) and the number of carries that have not gained any yardage (32).
A lot of people seem to think Washington wins when Peterson runs well. I think it’s the other way around, and that Peterson runs well when the Redskins are winning. Roughly three-quarters of his rushing yards (73%) and rushing first downs (74%) have come when the Skins were already ahead on the scoreboard. All four of All Day’s rushing touchdowns have been scored when the team was winning.
Peterson tried to make up for his lackluster performance on the ground versus Atlanta by producing through the air. AP caught all three of his targets for 16 yards and a first down. He took one catch for a gain of 25 yards, but the play was negated by a holding penalty.
His 33 yards from scrimmage in Sunday’s game was a new season low and his worst such output since Week 7 of last year, when he gained 33 yards as his Cardinals lost in a 33-point shutout against the Rams.
Kapri Bibbs- Bibbs played more than 20 snaps (21) and was on the field for over 30% of the offense’s snaps for the third time in the team’s last four games.
The Colorado State product toted the rock three times for a season-high 20 yards (6.7 YPC), 2 first downs and the team’s only rushing touchdown. The TD was the both the second rushing score of Bibbs’ season and career. His 13-yard run with 23 seconds left in the first half was the Skins’ second longest rush of the day.
Bibbs got his lone target of the game on the very next play. He caught the screen pass 5 yards behind the line of scrimmage and his 20 yards after the catch resulted in a 15-yard first down for the offense.
His 3 total first downs were tied for the second most on the team (Vernon Davis) and were a new season high for him.
Samaje Perine- In what was his third appearance of the year, Samaje Perine tied or exceeded his totals on the season coming into the game in snaps (15), targets (3), receptions (2), touches (4), receiving yards (8), rushing yards (20) and first downs (1).
Perine gained 9 yards on his 1st-and-10 carry and picked up an 11-yard chain mover on a 3rd-and-8. His first catch went for 8 yards, but his other reception was stopped for no gain on the final play of the contest.
Every single one of his snaps and touches came on the final drive of game.
Chris Thompson- CT was on the inactive list for the third time in the past four weeks. He has now missed at least 3 games in seven of his last eight seasons of football (2 in college). His rib injury will likely keep him out of the lineup for at least another week.
Redskins Rushing- The Redskins averaged 5.72 yards per carry against the Falcons, which was their second-best average of the season, but that didn’t matter, in part, because their 15 rushes in the game were a new season low.
The team failed to gain yardage on five carries, but offset that by gaining over 10 yards on another four runs. The problem was 57 of their 79 yards (72%) came on those four carries. They only had one other run which gained more than 4 yards.
OFFENSIVE LINEMEN
Offensive Linemen (9 players) | ||
Player (* - starter) | Snaps | Snap % |
Ty Nsekhe * | 69 | 100% |
Chase Roullier * | 69 | 100% |
Tony Bergstrom | 66 | 96% |
Morgan Moses * | 61 | 88% |
Geron Christian | 40 | 58% |
Brandon Scherff * | 37 | 54% |
Shawn Lauvao * | 3 | 4% |
Casey Dunn | Inactive | N/A |
Trent Williams | Inactive | N/A |
Offensive Line (Team)- Alex Smith was pressured on 13 of his 50 dropbacks (26%), but he was sacked on three of those plays, only one of which was the fault of the offensive line.
The line didn’t do quite as well when it came to blocking in the running game and playing within the confines of the rules. Redskins’ runners averaged a pathetic 0.67 yards before contact. O-linemen were responsible for six of the team’s ten accepted penalties in the game and 65 of their 147 penalty yards. There were also two additional infractions committed by Washington linemen that were declined.
Shawn Lauvao- On the second offensive snap of the game Lauvao committed a holding penalty that negated what would’ve been a first-down reception by Jordan Reed. On the very next play he was beat by Grady for a sack and tore his ACL.
At the time of his injury, he led the team with 15 pressures allowed this year. Lauvao’s season ended with a 52.2 PFF rating which ranked him 52 out of 66 qualifying guards in 2018. He has never ranked inside the top-40 at the position
The Redskins should’ve known an injury plagued season was coming for Lauvao for two reasons: 1) he is the seventh-oldest guard to have started in multiple games this season, and 2) he gets hurt all of the time.
Since the year before the Redskins signed him (2013), Lauvao never played in a full 16 games, he averaged 5.6 games missed per season and was out for over a third of his games in that span (35%). This will be the third time in the last four seasons that he has missed seven or more contests.
It’s time for the Redskins to finally part ways with Shawn Lauvao, who will hit free agency again next Spring.
Brandon Scherff- The former top-5 pick will not be making his third straight trip to the Pro Bowl this season after suffering a torn pec on Sunday that will end his season. Coming into the week, Scherff had missed just 2 of 55 games (3.6%) and 166 of 3,614 snaps (4.6%) in his career.
On Sunday, he tied a season high with 3 pressures allowed (all hurries). He also committed a penalty for just the second time this season, a holding infraction that negated what would’ve been the team’s second-longest play of the day (25-yard Adrian Peterson reception). His PFF grade for the game was a career-worst 45.1.
Scherff allowed one sack all year, committed just 2 penalties, allowed the fewest number of pressures among the team’s starting O-linemen and made the key block on multiple touchdown plays. His absence will have a major effect on the offense and the team as a whole during the final eight weeks of the season.
Chase Roullier- Chase Roullier has somehow survived the chaos on the offensive line and is the only player outside of Alex Smith who has not missed a single offensive snap this season. In fact, Roullier has played 53 more snaps than the next relatively healthy lineman on the team has (Morgan Moses), which is almost a game’s worth of plays. He’s failed to play on 100% of the snaps in just one of his 15 career starts.
He was the only one of the seven Redskins’ offensive linemen who played against the Falcons that did not allow a single pressure. Roullier was flagged for the second time this season and in his career (ineligible man downfield), but the penalty was declined just like the penalty he committed in Week 1 was.
His 69.6 rating for the game was a new season high and is the second-best grade of his career.
Morgan Moses- Moses sprained his MCL but only missed 5 snaps in the game. The injury did appear to affect his play, though. He allowed 2 hurries and a hit in pass protection. Moses also committed a team and career-high 4 penalties (3 accepted) for 35 yards. All three of those accepted penalties played a part in stalling offensive drives.
He was tagged with the second-lowest PFF grade (47.7) of his career for his showing on Sunday.
Ty Nsekhe- Ty Neskhe made his 11th career start at left tackle, but wound up finishing the game at left guard after Scherff left the game. It was only the third time in his career that he took snaps at guard.
Nsekhe played quite admirably in relief of Trent Williams and Scherff, as he only allowed 2 hurries, did not commit a penalty and led the team with a season-high 81.8 PFF grade. The Redskins should strongly consider making him one of their starting guards when Trent Williams returns from his injury.
Tony Bergstrom- Bergstrom was pressed into action because of season-ending injuries to both starting guards. He played 34 snaps at left guard and 32 snaps at right guard in the game.
Bergstrom only gave up 2 pressures (both hurries), but posted an abysmal 41.4 PFF grade, which was the lowest rating handed out to any of the team’s offensive players for the game and the second-lowest such mark of his career.
Geron Christian- This year’s third-round pick finally made his regular season debut, but it was easy to see why the team had kept him on the inactive list all season prior to Sunday.
Christian played at both left (32 snaps) and right tackle (8 snaps), allowed 3 hurries, committed two holding penalties, was blown into the backfield on multiple plays and earned a 56.4 PFF grade.
Trent Williams- Trent Williams missed his first contest of the year after undergoing surgery on his thumb last week. He is expected to be out at least another couple of weeks. The six-time Pro Bowler has missed 12 of the Redskins last 41 regular season games (29%).
Casey Dunn- Dunn was inactive for the third straight week. You would think that might change with all of the injuries on the offensive line, but not so sure after seeing the team sign our next three players on Monday.
Austin Howard- Journeyman offensive tackle Austin Howard was added to the roster most likely because Morgan Moses may be forced to miss a game at some point in the near future. The team probably doesn’t trust Geron Christian either, and rightfully so.
The Redskins are the fifth team that Howard will have played for in his eight years in the league. He is 31-years-old, has started in 88 career games and has allowed at least 3 sacks and 20 pressures in each of his last three years. His PFF grades in those seasons have been fairly average (75.3, 67.2 and 66.4).
Jonathan Cooper- The 2014 first-round bust started at left guard for the Cowboys in 13 games last season and surrendered 2 sacks and 20 total pressures in those contests.
Luke Bowanko- The center out of the University of Virginia was drafted by the Jaguars in the sixth round of the 2014 draft. Bowanko has only played on 278 total snaps (including special teams) since the start of the 2015 season.
ALL OFFENSIVE PLAYERS
Offense (25 Players) | ||||||
Player (* - starter) | Snaps | Snap % | Player (* - starter) | Snaps | Snap % | |
Ty Nsekhe * | 69 | 100% | Kapri Bibbs | 21 | 30% | |
Chase Roullier * | 69 | 100% | Samaje Perine | 15 | 22% | |
Alex Smith * | 69 | 100% | Michael Floyd | 14 | 20% | |
Josh Doctson * | 68 | 99% | Jeremy Sprinkle * | 12 | 17% | |
Tony Bergstrom | 66 | 96% | Shawn Lauvao * | 3 | 4% | |
Morgan Moses * | 61 | 88% | Colt McCoy | 0 | 0% | |
Maurice Harris * | 60 | 87% | Jehu Chesson | ST Only | 0% | |
Paul Richardson * | 54 | 78% | Jamison Crowder | Inactive | N/A | |
Geron Christian | 40 | 58% | Casey Dunn | Inactive | N/A | |
Jordan Reed | 37 | 54% | Brian Quick | Inactive | N/A | |
Brandon Scherff * | 37 | 54% | Chris Thompson | Inactive | N/A | |
Vernon Davis | 32 | 46% | Trent Williams | Inactive | N/A | |
Adrian Peterson * | 32 | 46% |
*All statistics are courtesy of Air Yards, ESPN, NBC Sports, NFL.com, NFL Gamebooks, Pro Football Focus, Pro Football Reference, Redskins.com, Sharp Football Stats and The Washington Post*
Poll
How many more games will the Redskins win this season?
This poll is closed
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2%
None
-
14%
1 or 2
-
64%
3 or 4
-
18%
5 or 6
-
0%
7 or 8