Snaps- The Redskins’ offense was on the field for 79 snaps and 75 plays against the Cardinals in the season opener. Those are the team’s highest totals since the 2016 overtime affair against the Bengals in London (91 snaps and 88 plays). You have to go back to Week 4 of the 2015 season to find the last time the offense got more work in a regulation game (85 snaps and 79 plays).
Eighteen of the team’s 24 regular offensive players and one defender were used on offense. Of the six players who didn’t see the field, four of them were inactive (Maurice Harris, Samaje Perine, Geron Christian and Casey Dunn), one worked exclusively on special teams (Tony Bergstrom) and one was active but did not play in any capacity (Colt McCoy).
Week 1 Win- Jay Gruden won the first season opener of his head coaching career after going 0-4 in his previous Week 1 games. Also, the Bengals went 1-2 in season openers when Gruden was their offensive coordinator.
The last time the Redskins won an opener was when Robert Griffin led the team to a 40-32 victory over the Saints in Week 1 of the 2012 season. Between 2013 and 2017, Washington’s -59 point differential in regular season openers was tied for last in the NFL with the Cleveland Browns, the only other team that went winless in openers during that span.
Yards- The team’s 429 yards of total offense represents the 14th highest yardage output in the Jay Gruden era. The last time the Redskins gained more than 429 yards in a regulation length game was the Week 3 2017 beatdown of the Oakland Raiders. Washington outgained the Raiders by a whopping 216 yards, their sixth largest positive yardage margin in the last ten seasons.
Points- Washington held a 21-0 lead over the Cardinals going into halftime, the largest halftime lead by the team since Jay Gruden took over as the team’s head coach. In fact, this was the first time that a Jay Gruden Redskins team led by more than 7 points going into halftime of a road game.
The 18-point final margin of victory was tied for the sixth biggest margin in the last ten seasons and the fourth largest margin in the last five seasons.
3rd & 4th Down- The Redskins converted on six of their 13 third-down attempts against the Cardinals. Half of those conversions were on third-and-longs (7, 9 and 12 yards to go) and two of the other three conversions resulted in touchdowns.
Amazingly, the 46.2% conversion rate on the money down represented the team’s best success rate since Week 6 of last season (50% at San Francisco). They only moved the chains on 40 of 140 third-down attempts between this game and that one (28.6%).
The offense was also able to pick up a first down on their only fourth-down try of the afternoon.
The Redskins picked up a total of 30 first downs in the game, the second most in the league this week (the Chargers had 33 first downs).
Red Zone- The Skins scored touchdowns on their first three trips to the red area and went 3-for-4 inside the 20 in the game. They averaged an impressive 4.46 yards on their 13 plays inside the red zone. The Redskins only posted a conversion rate of 75% or higher when they made four or more trips inside the 20-yard line twice in their last 22 games (Weeks 5 and 6 of last season).
QUARTERBACKS
Quarterbacks (2 Players) | ||
Player (* - starter) | Snaps | Snap % |
Alex Smith * | 79 | 100% |
Colt McCoy | 0 | 0% |
Alex Smith (Traditional Stats)- This was Alex Smith’s seventh win in a season opener in the last eight years, and five of those wins came in road games. His teams have won these contests by an average margin of ten points.
Smith completed 21 of his 30 passing attempts (70% completion rate) for 255 yards (8.5 YPA), 13 first downs (43.3% first-down rate), 2 touchdowns (6.7% TD rate), 0 interceptions and a 118.1 passer rating.
After Week 1, he ranks in the top ten in almost every major efficiency category: 9th in completion percentage, 8th in yards per attempt, 5th in first down percentage, 11th in touchdown percentage and 6th in passer rating.
On third down, Smith completed 6-of-9 passes for 92 yards (10.2 YPA), 4 first downs and a touchdown. He was even better in the red zone, where he went 4-for-5, gained 35 yards, picked up 4 first downs and scored 2 touchdowns.
On the downside, Smith was sacked three times (twice in the red zone), though he only lost 8 combined yards on the plays and fumbled the ball twice. He was tied for the most fumbles in Week 1 with five other players and led the league with two recoveries.
Alex Smith (Rushing)- The Skins’ newest signal caller was credited with 8 rushes for 14 yards, including one QB kneel for a loss of a yard. He picked up 2 first downs on those runs, one of which came on a fourth-down QB sneak. Both of his rushing chain movers came on a second-quarter touchdown drive.
Alex Smith (Advanced Stats)- Alex Smith ranked near the top of the league in adjusted net yards per attempt (8.7, 5th), raw QBR (80.1, 6th) and total QBR (82.9, 4th).
He was able to hit those numbers with a dink-and-dunk strategy that allowed him to get rid of the ball quickly and excel under pressure.
Smith’s passes traveled an average of just 3.5 yards from the line of scrimmage, giving him by far the lowest aDOT (average depth of target) among all qualifying passers in Week 1. He also ranked last in air yards to the sticks (his passes were thrown an average of 5.1 yards behind the first-down marker). Smith let his receivers do the heavy lifting, as 180 of his 255 yards were gained after the catch (70.6%). Not one of his passes were thrown more than 12 yards in the air.
Those figures should not shock anyone, as per Pro Football Focus and the Washington Post, Alex Smith’s career aDOT of 7.7 ranks last among all passers who have played in an least two full seasons worth of games (in the PFF era).
He held the ball for an average of just 2.44 seconds before his passing attempts and posted a 93.4 passer rating on throws under pressure (7-of-13 for 65 yards and a touchdown).
WIDE RECEIVERS
Wide Receivers (6 Players) | ||
Player (* - starter) | Snaps | Snap % |
Josh Doctson * | 70 | 89% |
Paul Richardson * | 61 | 77% |
Jamison Crowder * | 49 | 62% |
Trey Quinn | 8 | 10% |
Cam Sims | ST Only | 0% |
Maurice Harris | Inactive | N/A |
Jamison Crowder- Resident slot-man Jamison Crowder hauled in 3-of-4 targets and led all Washington wideouts in receiving yards (32) and first downs (2), despite only ranking third among the team’s receivers in snaps (49) and routes (29). Crowder’s longest reception of the day went for 17 yards on a 3rd-and-12 play at the Arizona 34-yard line. The Skins kicked a field goal four snaps later. He also gained 2 yards on his only carry, but the gain was negated by a holding penalty.
Crowder is currently sitting at 195 receptions for his career and will likely reach the 200-catch mark sometime in the next two weeks (his 49th or 50th career game). If he does, he will become the fourth fastest Redskins player to record 200 catches in franchise history. The only players who did it faster are Jordan Reed (38 games), Gary Clark (43 games) and Charley Taylor (47 games).
Paul Richardson- The Redskins’ biggest free agent signing of the offseason played on 61 of the team’s 79 offensive snaps and caught 4-of-6 targets for just 22 yards and a single first down on his 35 routes (0.61 YPRR).
P-Rich’s biggest contribution to the offense was the two holding penalties he drew against Jamar Taylor. Richardson likely would’ve scored a 77-yard touchdown on one of those snaps had Taylor not held him. Alex Smith’s pass on the play traveled roughly 40 yards through the air; none of Smith’s other passes went for over 20 air yards.
Josh Doctson- The former first-round pick disappointed yet again. Doctson led all backs and receivers on the team with 70 snaps and 36 routes run, but he was only targeted three times and those targets combined to travel less than 15 yards in the air. He caught one of his targets for an 11-yard first down (0.31 yards per route run) and the illegal contact penalty he drew at the end of the first half gave the offense a first down at the Arizona 17-yard line.
So far in his career, Josh Doctson has played in 19 games and started in 15 of them. He’s run 853 routes and has been targeted on 87 of those plays. However, he has only caught 38 receptions for 579 yards. Those totals give him the following dismal efficiency numbers: 43.7% catch rate, 1.27 yards per route run and 12 routes per reception. He has never caught more than four passes in a game and has only topped 61 yards once (81 yards).
Trey Quinn- Mr. Irrelevant played on eight offensive snaps and operated as the team’s punt returner before being forced from the game with a high ankle sprain.
Quinn was used as a run blocker on seven of his eight snaps on offense and earned the best PFF run-blocking rating on the team (84.4).
Wednesday Update: Quinn was placed on injured reserve today. So, unfortunately, he probably will not be able to shake his Mr. Irrelevant moniker this season.
Cam Sims- Fellow rookie wideout, Cam Sims, also suffered a high ankle sprain in the game. His injury occurred while working as a blocker on the opening kickoff of the game. It was his only snap of the day.
It may also very well be his only snap of the season, as the team just placed Sims on injured reserve.
Maurice Harris- Harris remained sidelined with a concussion. He hasn’t made it onto the field for the team since Week 1 of the preseason. He caught a touchdown on his final target of that game.
Brian Quick- Quick re-signed with the Redskins this morning. This was a necessary move, as the team currently only has three healthy receivers on the roster.
TIGHT ENDS
Tight Ends (3 Players) | ||
Player (* - starter) | Snaps | Snap % |
Vernon Davis | 47 | 59% |
Jordan Reed * | 41 | 52% |
Jeremy Sprinkle | 34 | 43% |
Jordan Reed- A finally healthy Jordan Reed returned to action and got the start at tight end for the Burgundy and Gold. It was only his sixth start since his two-touchdown game on Thanksgiving Day against the Cowboys in 2016. He lined up in the slot or out wide on 19 of his 41 snaps (46%) in the game.
Reed looked like his old self, as he caught four of the five targets thrown his way for 48 yards, 3 first downs and a touchdown. This was probably his second-best stat line since the aforementioned 2016 contest on Thanksgiving, with only last season’s game against the Eagles being better (8 receptions, 64 yards and 2 touchdowns).
Reed’s 79.8 PFF grade for the game ranked first on the offense.
Vernon Davis- The ageless Vernon Davis did not start for just the third time in his Redskins career and for the first time since Week 4 of the 2016 season, which was his fourth game with the team. Nevertheless, he still led all Washington tight ends with 47 snaps.
VD was only targeted once on his nine routes run, but he did haul in the pass for a 9-yard first-down reception on a 2nd-and-9 play.
He received over 60% of his snaps in the running game. Davis was called for a holding penalty on a Jamison Crowder rushing play.
The only older tight ends than Davis (34-223d) who played this week were Ben Watson (37-267d) and Antonio Gates (38-085d).
Jeremy Sprinkle- Jeremy Sprinkle set new career highs in offensive snaps played (34) and snap percentage (43%). Sprinkle worked as a run blocker on 25 of those 34 snaps. He did not allow any pressures on his seven pass-blocking snaps and was not targeted for the ninth time in his 12-game career.
RUNNING BACKS
Running Backs (5 Players) | ||
Player (* - starter) | Snaps | Snap % |
Adrian Peterson * | 42 | 53% |
Chris Thompson | 33 | 42% |
Rob Kelley | 8 | 10% |
Ryan Anderson | 1 | 1% |
Samaje Perine | Inactive | N/A |
Adrian Peterson (Playing Time)- Adrian Peterson got the start and led all Redskins’ running backs with 42 offensive snaps. This was only Peterson’s 11th start since his historic 2015 season and just his 28th game since 2013.
Adrian Peterson (Rushing)- Adrian Peterson’s 26 rushes in Week 1, ranked second in the league behind only James Conner’s total of 31 runs, and don’t forget that Conner’s team played an entire overtime period. Peterson’s team-high 96 yards on those totes (3.69 YPC) gave him his third highest rushing total since 2015. AP also led the Redskins with 4 rushing first downs and a touchdown on the ground.
He did go for zero or negative yards on five of his rushes (19%), but he made up for it by gaining five or more yards on nine carries (35%), with three of those rushes gaining 10-plus yards. Twelve of his 26 runs (46%) were considered successful.
Peterson broke three tackles in the running game and his 81 rushing yards after contact (3.12 average) ranked third in the league behind only Saquon Barkley and James Conner’s totals. He broke a total of five tackles in the game (2 receiving), which tied him for the sixth highest total among all running backs in Week 1. Only Dalvin Cook, James Conner, Melvin Gordon, Dion Lewis and Christian McCaffrey avoided more tackles at the running back position.
Peterson accomplished all that despite facing eight or more defenders in the box on 50% of his runs, the fifth highest percentage among all running backs in the league.
Adrian Peterson (Receiving)- All Day caught two of his three targets and racked up a team-high 70 receiving yards on the day, which was the third best total of his entire 134-game career. The vast majority of that yardage came on a 52-yard reception in the fourth quarter; that was easily the longest play of the game and the third longest reception of Peterson’s career. Unfortunately, his fumble at the end of the play led to the Redskins’ only turnover of the game.
Peterson’s 166 yards from scrimmage against his former team on Sunday was tops in this game (by 38 yards) and was his second highest yardage total since November of 2016 (167 yards last year against the 49ers).
Adrian Peterson (Records)- Peterson passed both Marshall Faulk and Jim Brown on the all-time rushing yardage rankings and moved into tenth place on that list with 12,372 rushing yards in his career. AP is just 367 yards away from passing Tony Dorsett (no relation) for ninth in these rankings.
He also scored the 100th rushing TD of his career, which moved him past Barry Sanders and into a tie with Shaun Alexander and Marshall Faulk for seventh all-time. He sits four touchdowns behind John Riggins (6th place) and six behind Jim Brown (5th place).
Peterson joins Hall of Famers Faulk, Brown, Emmitt Smith, Marcus Allen, LaDainian Tomlinson and Walter Payton as the only players in NFL history to have ever gained 12,000 rushing yards and scored 100 rushing touchdowns.
Chris Thompson- Chris Thompson picked up right where he left off last season. The dynamic all-purpose threat ran the ball five times for 65 yards. He ran for the following gains on his five carries: 7, 13, 14, 15 and 16 yards. His four runs of over 10 yards currently ranks first in the entire league. Thompson led the game with a yards-per-carry average of 13. He tied Adrian Peterson and David Johnson for the most rushing first downs in the contest (4).
And you had to know CT was going to get it done through the air, as well. Chris Army Knife led the team with 7 targets and 6 receptions, gained 63 receiving yards, picked up four more first downs and scored a touchdown. He has now scored a touchdown in eight of his last 15 games (10 total TDs in those contests). His offensive yardage total in that span is 1,085.
Thompson ranked second in the contest in yards from scrimmage (128 yards) and his 78.5 PFF grade ranked second among all Washington offensive players. He led all players in the game with 8 first downs from scrimmage and an 11.64 yards-per-touch average.
Dynamic Duo- Peterson and Thompson became the first pair of Redskins’ running backs to gain 125 yards from scrimmage in the same game since Clinton Portis and Ladell Betts accomplished that feat against the Texans in 2006. The last time a pair of Washington teammates (regardless of position) gained 125 yards and scored a touchdown was in that same season, when Clinton Portis and Santana Moss did so against the Jaguars.
Rob Kelley- Kelley played on just 8 offensive snaps in Sunday’s game, his lowest total since Week 4 of 2016. He lined up as a fullback on four of his snaps and as the primary running back on the other four of them.
Fit Rob gained 7 yards on his 3 rushes (2.33 YPC average) and failed to break a tackle or pick up a first down on those runs. To be fair, five more yards were negated by a holding penalty. He was ultimately credited with gains of 0, 1 and 6 yards (33% success rate).
Kelley allowed a pressure on his lone pass-blocking snap of the day and committed a holding foul on an Arizona punt.
His 49.3 PFF grade ranked dead last on the offense.
Ryan Anderson- Anderson was used on one snap as a fullback on Adrian Peterson’s goal-line touchdown rush. The Redskins played him at fullback on six snaps (2 games) in 2017.
Samaje Perine- Samaje Perine, who played in all 16 games last season and started in eight of them, was inactive for the first time in his career.
Redskins Rushing- Washington’s rushing attack took a league-high 42 Week 1 attempts for an NFL-best 182 rushing yards (4.33 YPC), 10 first downs (tied for 2nd) and a touchdown. The yardage total is the second highest by a Redskins’ team since 2016, behind only last year’s 229-yard outburst against the Rams.
The team gained 120 yards on their 24 first-down attempts (QB kneels excluded). Their 4.76 average on first down ranked sixth in the league this past week.
The Skins’ ground game also posted an impressive 48% success rate. A big part of that was the RB trio of Peterson, Thompson and Kelley gaining five or more yards on 15 of their 34 runs (44%). The triumvirate did fail to gain any yards on six of their rushes, but made up for it by gaining 13 or more yards on seven of their carries.
OFFENSIVE LINEMEN
Offensive Linemen (9 Players) | ||
Player (* - starter) | Snaps | Snap % |
Shawn Lauvao * | 79 | 100% |
Morgan Moses * | 79 | 100% |
Chase Roullier * | 79 | 100% |
Brandon Scherff * | 79 | 100% |
Trent Williams * | 78 | 99% |
Ty Nsekhe | 2 | 3% |
Tony Bergstrom | ST Only | 0% |
Geron Christian | Inactive | N/A |
Casey Dunn | Inactive | N/A |
Offensive Line (Team)- Alex Smith was sacked three times, but the offensive line was not credited with any of them. However, all five starters on the line did allow at least one pressure, four of them gave up a QB hit and three of them surrendered 2 pressures. In all, Smith was pressured on 45% of his dropbacks.
The line struggled with penalties, as well. Three linemen combined to commit four of the offense’s six total penalties (3-of-5 accepted penalties). Those infractions cost the offense 20 yards.
This unit fared much better in the running game. Bill Callahan’s bunch paved the way for Washington’s running backs to gain 168 yards on 34 rushes (4.94 YPC), with 60 of those yards coming before contact (1.76-yard average). The offense also picked up the first down on all three of their runs on third and fourth down with one yard to go. Three of the five starters earned run-blocking grades above 70; I think you can guess which three I’m talking about.
Trent Williams- The six-time Pro Bowler played on all but one snap and was the only starter on the line who did not allow a QB hit. His single pressure allowed was tied for best on the unit. This was the 16th game in a row that Williams did not allow a sack in.
His performance in pass protection doesn’t totally mask his mistakes in the game, though. Williams was flagged for holding (10 yards) and a false start foul (5 yards); both of those penalties stalled the drives they occurred on.
Ty Nsekhe- Nsekhe replaced Williams at left tackle on one snap and was used as a sixth lineman on another. Both of his snaps came on running plays.
Shawn Lauvao- Shawn Lauvao made his first start since Week 10 of last season. In case any of you were wondering, he is still the Redskins’ worst offensive lineman. Lauvao allowed a hit and a hurry and committed a false start penalty at Washington’s own 6-yard line. His 55.7 PFF grade ranked last among the team’s six linemen who played on offense.
Chase Roullier- With Spencer Long now in New York, this was Chase Roullier’s first game as the team’s official starting center. Roullier allowed one pressure (QB hit) and committed a holding penalty inside the Redskins’ 10-yard line; the penalty was declined because Adrian Peterson lost 4 yards on the play.
Brandon Scherff- Scherff allowed a hit and a hurry in the game, but was one of the two starters on the line who did not commit a penalty. His grade of 76.1 ranked first among all Skins’ offensive linemen and third on the offense as a whole.
Morgan Moses- Morgan Moses was the only other starter who did not commit penalty; however, he did allow a team-high two hits on Alex Smith. This was his 49th consecutive game played and start for the team. Ryan Kerrigan is the only other player on the team who has played in every Redskins game since the start of the 2015 season.
Other Offensive Linemen- Rookies Geron Christian and UDFA Casey Dunn were inactive for the game. Tony Bergstrom only worked on special teams (4 snaps).
ALL OFFENSIVE PLAYERS
Offense (25 Players) | ||||||
Player (* - starter) | Snaps | Snap % | Player (* - starter) | Snaps | Snap % | |
Shawn Lauvao * | 79 | 100% | Chris Thompson | 33 | 42% | |
Morgan Moses * | 79 | 100% | Rob Kelley | 8 | 10% | |
Chase Roullier * | 79 | 100% | Trey Quinn | 8 | 10% | |
Brandon Scherff * | 79 | 100% | Ty Nsekhe | 2 | 3% | |
Alex Smith * | 79 | 100% | Ryan Anderson | 1 | 1% | |
Trent Williams * | 78 | 99% | Colt McCoy | 0 | 0% | |
Josh Doctson * | 70 | 89% | Tony Bergstrom | ST Only | 0% | |
Paul Richardson * | 61 | 77% | Cam Sims | ST Only | 0% | |
Jamison Crowder * | 49 | 62% | Geron Christian | Inactive | N/A | |
Vernon Davis | 47 | 59% | Casey Dunn | Inactive | N/A | |
Adrian Peterson * | 42 | 53% | Maurice Harris | Inactive | N/A | |
Jordan Reed * | 41 | 52% | Samaje Perine | Inactive | N/A | |
Jeremy Sprinkle | 34 | 43% |
*All statistics are courtesy of ESPN, NBC Sports, NFL.com, NFL Gamebooks, Pro Football Focus, Pro Football Reference, USA Today, Redskins.com, The Washington Post and the Washington Times*
Poll
How many yards will Adrian Peterson rush for this season?
This poll is closed
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0%
Fewer than 300
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0%
300 to 499
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8%
500 to 699
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31%
700 to 899
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19%
900 to 999
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29%
1,000 to 1,199
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9%
1,200 or more