Snaps- Greg Manusky’s defense was out there for 69 plays, 76 snaps and 32:39 of game time. The Redskins’ defense has been on the field for more plays and snaps than the offense has in all but one game this season (vs. Chicago). The D has been out there longer in terms of game clock or time every single week, because the team has lost the time of possession battle in all six of their games.

Yards- The Skins allowed season-lows in total yards (271) and yards per play (3.9), with the per-play figure representing their best clip by over a full yard (5.1).

This was, however, the second-most yards gained by the Miami offense this season (high of 283). The Fins also set a new season-high with 21 offensive first downs, four more than their next highest total.

Points- Washington only gave up 16 points on Sunday, which marks the first time the team held an opponent below 24 points and the second instance in which they allowed fewer than 31 this year. The last time the Burgundy and Gold held an opponent to fewer than 16 points was in Week 15 of last season (at Jacksonville).

Again, it’s important to consider the opponent here, though. Those 16 points were a new season best for the tanking Dolphins, who had only scored 26 points all season prior to Sunday and 16 between their last three games combined.

Takeaways- The Skins’ defense intercepted two Josh Rosen passes in the game. The team has now recorded at least one interception in each of the last five weeks. The Patriots are the only club with a longer active streak of games with a pick (6). Washington is tied for the fourth-most interceptions (7) and the sixth-highest interception percentage (3.2%) in the league.

3rd & 4th Down- One of those interceptions came on third down. The Redskins only allowed conversions on three of Miami’s 14 third-down tries. The resulting 21.4% success rate was easily the lowest such mark allowed by the defense this season (previous low of 33.3%).

It certainly seemed to help that the Dolphins’ average yards to go was 8.9 on these plays and that they needed to gain seven-plus yards on more than half of the third downs they faced (8-of-14). The Fins converted on all three of their third-and-short plays (3 or fewer yards to go), but were unable to move the sticks on any of the other 11 third downs.

The Skins weren’t so lucky on fourth down, though. Miami went for it twice and converted on both plays. The first one was a direct snap to Kalen Ballage out of a punt formation that picked up 3 yards on 4th-and-2. A fumble was forced on the next fourth down, but the Dolphin who lost the ball immediately recovered it just past the line to gain. Luckily for the Redskins, Miami didn’t end up scoring on either drive. The last time Washington gave up multiple fourth-down conversions in the same game was in Week 8 of last season (at New York Giants).

Red Zone- The Burgundy and Gold D surrendered touchdowns to the Dolphins on both of their trips to the red zone.

The Dolphins picked up a first down or scored on three of their six snaps in the red area and averaged 4 yards per play on them. They had only scored a single red-zone TD in 2019 prior to Sunday’s game. We probably shouldn’t be too surprised though, as this was the eighth consecutive game the Skins have allowed the opposition to score multiple red-zone touchdowns in.

Penalties- Washington defenders were responsible for committing four of the team’s six penalties and for 36 of their 56 penalty yards (64.3%). This was just the second time all season that the defense committed more infractions than the offense did.

Rushing Defense- Kenyan Drake, Kalen Ballage, Mark Walton and Ryan Fitzpatrick combined to rush the ball 21 times for 84 yards (4.0 YPC), 7 first downs and a touchdown. The yardage total represents a new season-low for the Skins’ defense, however we once again must consider the opponent.

The yardage and first down totals were new season highs for Miami by a margin of 12 yards and 3 first downs. Their four yards per carry was tied for their personal 2019 best. Not to mention, the Fins’ runs of 14 and 11 yards in the game were their two longest rushes of the year. Finally, the rushing touchdown they scored was their first since Week 15 of last season (at Minnesota).

QB Pressure- The pass rush was able to generate pressure on 29% of the Dolphins’ dropbacks, which is decent but not particularly impressive clip.

What is actually somewhat impressive is that the defense racked up a 2019-high 5 sacks on the day. Their 10.4% sack rate was also another season-best mark. It would, however, have been nice if the sack production was a bit more evenly spread throughout the game, as four of the team’s five sacks were recorded in the first quarter.

Nevertheless, with a combined 9 sacks in the last two weeks, the Redskins’ pass rush is clearly starting to heat up. The Eagles are the only team that has racked up more sacks in that span (11).

Of the nine aforementioned Redskins’ sacks, 7.5 of them were recorded by defensive linemen.

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DEFENSIVE LINEMEN

Jonathan Allen- Despite playing on less than half of the defensive snaps (48.7%), Jon Allen had what was easily his best game of the year this past Sunday.

He recorded third-down sacks of 8 and 4 yards on Josh Rosen and forced a holding penalty on the second of those. This was just the fourth multi-sack showing for Allen as a pro and the third time he’s made a career-high 2.0 sacks in a game. Additionally, this marked the third time that he had recorded at least one sack in consecutive games. In addition to the two sacks, Allen had a QB hurry, which brought him to a season-high tying 3 total pressures.

His other takedown on the day was a on a five-yard 1st-and-10 run by Kenyan Drake. Allen also recorded what was surprisingly the very first PD of his career when he batted down a third-down pass to running back Mark Walton.

Daron Payne- Payne, who scored his first sack of 2019 last week against New England, did not register a single QB pressure of any kind in Miami even though he rushed the passer a team-high 32 times in the game. He did, at least, make 3 tackles (2 solo), with one of those going for no gain at the Washington 1-yard line on a goal-line run.

Matt Ioannidis- The Ion Man only made one tackle on Sunday, but that tackle was his third sack of the year (2.5). The sack came on Washington’s third play of the game and was one of Ioannidis’ team-high 4 pressures (3 hurries). He has now generated at least three pressures in each of the last four games. Only eight other interior defenders have racked up more pressures than Matty I has so far this season (21).

Tim Settle- The second-year nose tackle did not record a single traditional stat or register any pressures for the second time this season. The difference was that he played 25 snaps in this game compared to just 14 of them when he posted his other O-fer.

Settle made at least one tackle in the other eight career games he played 15 or more snaps in. His display against Miami was quite a letdown, especially considering last week he recorded his first career sack set a new personal record with 2 QB pressures.

Treyvon Hester- Treyvon Hester got in on the fun and recorded a sack (8 yards) of his own. It was his first sack of the season and just the second of his three-year and 31-game career. Hester did not record a statistic of any kind on his 11 other snaps in the game. Nevertheless, the sack was good enough to get him a 90.8 PFF grade, the second-best rating of his career.

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OUTSIDE LINEBACKERS

Ryan Kerrigan- We certainly didn’t hear much from Ryan Kerrigan in this one. The four-time Pro Bowler did rack up a team-high tying 4 pressures, but they were all hurries and only one of them was clearly influential in facilitating a sack or a turnover for another player on the team (sack). He certainly has racked up the hurries in the team’s last four games (13), but he’s only had a single QB hit and a half sack in that span.

It would help if he was making more of an impact in the running game, but that hasn’t really been the case recently. For the second week in a row he recorded just one takedown, with both of them coming on running plays. Kerrigan has actually missed as many total tackles (5) this season as he has made against the run.

Montez Sweat- This solid if unspectacular effort was perhaps the best game of Montez Sweat’s young career. The rookie first-round pick notched his first QB hit as a pro and led the team with two of them. Sweat also scored his first ever pass defense when he tipped the ball at the line on a pass to Mike Gesicki.

He did give up a catch, but he shut the play down after a gain of one. He made a stop in the running game after a 3-yard gain, as well. Sweat ranks eighth among all qualifying edge rushers with 10.7% run-stop percentage.

The 75.3 PFF grade he earned for game was a new career high for the Mississippi State product.

Ryan Anderson- Anderson recorded a sack for the first time in his last 13 games, but he foolishly hit Josh Rosen too high on the play and it was negated by the roughing the passer penalty called against him.

On the plus side, he was able to register a QB hit for the second straight game, which marks the first time he’s had hits in back-to-back contests. This week’s hit was made on fourth down. Anderson has now pressured the opposing quarterback at least once in a career-high four straight games.

The outsider backer from Alabama also recorded a pair of tackles, both of which were made within three yards of the line of scrimmage, including a stop for no gain in the running game.

Noah Spence- Noah Spence was out there with the Washington D for 17 snaps, but didn’t crack the stat sheet for the second straight week.

Spence assisted on a tackle and scored a QB hit in his first appearance this season (Week 4 vs. New York Giants), but has done absolutely nothing since then. The team should call up McKinzy from the practice squad to replace Spence if he doesn’t start producing soon.

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INSIDE LINEBACKERS

Jon Bostic- The veteran middle linebacker set new season lows in both defensive snaps (59) and snap percentage (78%).

The limited PT did not stop him from recording 8 tackles (4 solo) and a team-high 5 stops. He made three tackles within a yard of the line of scrimmage, including a TFL on a Mark Walton run for a loss of a yard. That was surprisingly his first official TFL since Week 3 of 2018 (Pittsburgh at Tampa Bay). Bostic also made a pair tackles on third-and-long plays just before Miami reached the line to gain.

He didn’t fare nearly as well in coverage as he did at tackling. He had 5 targets thrown into his coverage and allowed 4 receptions for 61 yards and a pair of first downs on those plays. The reception and yardage totals were both the second-most given up by a Washington defender in the contest. The 30-yard grab he surrendered to Mike Gesicki was the Dolphins’ longest play of the game and it came on a touchdown drive.

As if that all wasn’t enough, Bostic was also flagged for unnecessary roughness on a Miami pass that was going to fall incomplete regardless of whether he made the hit on the play or not.

Cole Holcomb- Bostic and Cole Holcomb had very similar games this past Sunday. Holcomb also saw his playing time get reduced (79% snap rate in Week 5 > 55% snap rate in Week 6), he too, was still able to make a handful of tackles (6 total and 4 solo) and he struggled in coverage (4 targets - 4 receptions - 31 yards - 1 first down).

However, unlike Bostic, Holcomb registered a pressure (a hurry) on one of his four pass-rushing snaps and did not commit any penalties. The rookie insider backer has now generated a pressure in three straight weeks and in four of his six games this season.

Shaun Dion Hamilton- The coaches wised up and gave Shaun Dion Hamilton an increased workload this week. SDH tied a season high with 31 defensive snaps played and certainly made the most out of them.

He made 2 solo tackles, with one of those going for an 8-yard TFL of Kenyan Drake after a botched snap. It was his first tackle for a loss since Week 1 and just the second one of his career. Hamilton would’ve had a third tackle if the Dolphins hadn’t committed a holding penalty that negated the play.

Coverage is where SDH really shined, though. The second-year linebacker was thrown at three times but didn’t allow a single reception in the game. And to top it all off, he made a diving interception on a third-down pass at the Miami 34-yard line that set the Redskins’ offense up for a field goal on the ensuing drive. That play gave SDH both the first pick and PD of his pro career. The last time he intercepted a pass was in the 2016 SEC Championship game against Florida.

Hamilton earned a career-high 92.4 PFF grade for his performance in Miami. He was the sixth-highest graded player in the entire league this week (minimum 10 snaps from scrimmage).

Other Inside Linebackers- Josh Harvey-Clemons’ balky hamstring forced him to miss the second game in a row. Fellow reserve inside backer Tanner Vallejo continued to play exclusively on special teams.

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CORNERBACKS

Josh Norman- At this point the level of competition is starting to not even matter; it would probably be best to just expect Josh Norman to struggle every week, regardless of the opponent.

Norman gave up receptions on four of the five targets thrown into his coverage. On those catches he allowed team highs in receiving yards (62), first downs (4) and touchdowns (1). The Dolphins gained at least 11 yards on each reception Norman allowed and those plays ended up being their second, third, seventh and eighth-longest gains in the contest.

The touchdown J-No surrendered was scored by DeVante Parker with just ten seconds left in the game and it gave Miami the opportunity to tie it up or win with an extra point or a two-point conversion, respectively. Norman also committed a holding penalty in the end zone that set the Dolphins up to score their other touchdown.

The overrated and overpaid veteran corner has now allowed a touchdown in four-of-six games this season and committed a penalty in four straight. He is tied for the eighth most penalties committed by a cornerback and for the most touchdowns allowed at the position (5 each). He’s given up 50-plus yards in five-of-six games, as well.

Norman did make 3 solo tackles on the day, but two of them came after he gave up chain-moving receptions. He also whiffed on a tackle for the second straight week.

Quinton Dunbar- Quinton Dunbar has basically been the bizarro world version of Josh Norman this season. He’s still in his prime, he’s moderately paid and he’s playing at an All-Pro level.

Dunbar was on the field for a season-high 91% of the snaps and tied his career high with 68 defensive snaps played. He was targeted a team-high seven times, but allowed just 3 receptions for a measly 8 yards and no first downs on those plays.

He shut out Miami’s leading receiver, Preston Williams (0 receptions on 3 targets) and intercepted a pass thrown to Williams at the Washington 31-yard line. The pick gave Dunbar a new career high with 3 interceptions this season. It’s pretty amazing that he did in four games this season, what he hadn’t been able to do in his previous four years in the league.

Dunny didn’t just excel in coverage, though; he flashed as a tackler, too. He finished the game with 5 solo and 6 total tackles, which were the fifth and fourth-best totals of his career. Half of his takedowns were made within a yard of the line of scrimmage, two of which were stops for no gain.

Dunbar’s 93.4 PFF grade was not just the top mark on the team or in this game, it was the best grade given to any player in the NFL who played 25 or more snaps in Week 6.

Surprisingly, this wasn’t the highest rating he earned this year, his 94.1 grade in Week 4 was. That gives him the two highest grades recorded by a cornerback all season. After hearing that you probably won’t be shocked to learn that Dunbar is PFF’s highest graded cornerback on the year as a whole (92.4). However, it still might be a bit surprising to hear that Dunbar is the second-highest graded player in the entire league, behind only George Kittle (92.7).

Fabian Moreau- The third-year UCLA product has oscillated back-and-forth between decent and poor showings, with this week’s game falling more under the latter category.

The Dolphins threw at Moreau six times and all six passes were completed, which was the most catches allowed by any Redskin in the contest. Miami gained 30 yards and picked up a pair of first downs on those plays. He was flagged for a holding penalty on a third-down pass, as well.

Moreau did make 5 tackles (3 solo), but all but one of those were made on plays he surrendered a catch on. He also missed on a tackle in the passing game.

His 52.5 PFF rating for the game was the lowest grade handed out to a Redskins defender with more than ten snaps. Our next player would’ve had this honor, but he doesn’t get enough playing time anymore to qualify.

Jimmy Moreland- Moreland played on a career-low 4 snaps in Sunday’s game. This was the third game in a row that his snap total and rate dropped (47, 75% > 15, 19% > 7, 9% > 4, 5%). He did not record any traditional stats for the second time this season and in as many weeks.

However, unlike last week, Moreland was targeted and allowed a catch. The reception was a screen to Albert Wilson that gained a yard. It might’ve actually gone for a loss of a yard if Moreland did not miss a tackle on the play.

Other Cornerbacks- For the third consecutive week, Simeon Thomas only played on special teams and Aaron Colvin was inactive. Thomas, who was a sixth-round pick in the 2018 draft has yet to play a single snap on defense. Colvin, on the other hand, is a veteran who got roasted with the Texans in Week 1 and has not played a single snap of any kind since then.

A Sure Thing- The five cornerbacks who have allowed the highest catch percentage when thrown at this season are: 1) Artie Burns (100%), 2) Aaron Colvin (90%), 3) Fabian Moreau (88.9%), 4) Jimmy Moreland (86.7%) and t-5) Dominique Rodgers-Cromatrie (85.7%).

You might have realized that four of those five players either are on the Redskins’ roster or were at some point this year. I’m sure this has something to do with their scheme, but I just don’t know how any rational explanation could logically explain away how troubling this is.

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SAFETIES

Landon Collins- Maybe Landon Collins was tired of hearing me complain about how he wasn’t making any big plays. I highly doubt that was the case, either way he definitely bounced back with the kind of stat-stuffing display that one would expect to see from the highest paid safety in the league.

He recorded game highs with 10 solo and 12 total tackles, which are the third and fourth-highest totals of his career. Regular tackles are old hat for him this season, though. The news here was that he finally made some big plays.

Collins notched his first pressure of the year when he sacked Josh Rosen for a loss of 9 yards on an early Miami drive. It was the fifth sack of his career and his first since the 2016 regular season finale, which ironically came against the Redskins. He rushed the passer four times in this game, after only being sent on one blitz in the team’s five other games this year combined; and you wonder, why he didn’t have any pressures.

He forced a fumble on a fourth-down tackle, but the ball was quickly recovered by the Miami ball carrier. It had been nearly a full calendar year since Collins had forced or recovered a fumble (10-28-2018), which again, coincidentally, came against Washington.

The star safety excelled in coverage, too. He did give up a reception on four of the team-high seven targets thrown in his direction, but only allowed the Giants to gain a total of 23 yards on those plays, none of which went for first downs. Collins also scored his first pass defenses of the season when he tipped and nearly picked off a deep pass to Mike Gesicki and then saved a touchdown by breaking up a pass to Gesicki in the end zone. This marked his first multi-PD game since Week 4 of the 2017 season (New York Giants at Tampa Bay).

Collins won NFC Defensive Player of the Week for the performance. It was the fourth player of the week award for Collins in his career and his first since Week 11 of 2017. He is the first Washington player to win the award since Keenan Robinson did it in Week 7 of the team’s 2014 campaign on the strength of his 15 total tackles. DeAngelo Hall (twice), Brian Orakpo and LaRon Landry are the only other Redskins recipients of it in this decade.

Montae Nicholson- Montae Nicholson played on every defensive snap for the fourth straight game and for the fifth time this season. He was not targeted on any of his 48 coverage snaps

Nicholson made 3 tackles on the day (2 solo), which was a season low for him, but two of them were made before the Dolphins could reach the line to gain on third down. He did, however, miss a tackle after a Miami reception.

Deshazor Everett- Everett was forced to sit out with a bum ankle. This was the first game he’s missed for the Redskins since Week 7 of the 2017 season (at Philadelphia). Everett was seen riding a scooter and wearing a boot earlier in the week. He will likely miss another game or two.

Troy Apke- Everett’s absence opened the door for Troy Apke to finally get some run on defense. In what was the team’s 18th game since drafting him, Apke took his first snaps with the defense. He was not targeted and didn’t notch any stats on his 10 snaps.

Jeremy Reaves- Unlike Apke, the 2019 preseason sensation didn’t need much time at all to make an impact. Reaves only played 2 defensive snaps, but recorded a tackle on both plays. They were the first takedowns of his career.

Those of you who paid attention to the Redskins’ exhibition games this past August likely already know what I’m about to tell you, but Jeremy Reaves is a better football player than Troy Apke is.

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ALL DEFENSIVE PLAYERS

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SPECIAL TEAMS

Snaps- Washington’s special teams was used on 30 snaps against the Dolphins. Deshazor Everett’s absence meant that somebody else would lead the Skins in specials snaps this week. That mantle was taken up by two players, Shaun Dion Hamilton and Jeremy Reaves, who both played 26 teams snaps in the game,

Dustin Hopkins- Hopkins nailed his 21-yard field goal, which was his 30th straight make on field goals of from 39 yards out or closer, with his last miss coming all the way back in Week 14 of 2016 (at Philadelphia). He is actually 65-for-67 on those kicks in his career (97%).

Long kicks are a different story, though. Hopkins attempted a 55-yarder against the Fins that sailed wide right. It would’ve been just a yard shorter than the longest field goal of his career (56 yards in Week 6 of last season vs. Carolina). Hop had actually made four of his last kicks from 50-plus yards out, but that still only put him at 9-of-19 (47.4%) for his career.

He also hit on both of his extra points and kicked three of his four kickoffs into the end zone for touchbacks. The only one of his kickoffs that was returned was taken out to the 17-yard after a gain of 15.

Tress Way- This was not one of Tress Way’s better games in recent memory. He punted the ball away seven times for 315 yards, which gave him a season-low average of 45 yards per punt. The Dolphins returned four of them for 42 yards (10.2-yard average). That left Way with a net average of 39 yards, another season-worst mark.

He didn’t have any touchbacks and he pinned the Miami offense at the 13 and 16-yard lines on two of his seven kicks, but it’s not as if his shorter punts were the result of a large number of them ending up inside the 20. This game featured both Way’s second-shortest long boot of the season (53 yards) and his shortest overall punt (35 yards).

Way’s 4.47-second hangtime and 57.4 PFF grade were his second-worst and worst marks of the season, respectively.

Kick Coverage- Troy Apke shutdown Preston Williams’ first punt return for no gain at the Dolphins’ 13-yard line. Apke now ranks second on the team with 3 total special teams tackles.

Shaun Dion Hamilton limited Williams’ next return to 12 yards when he took him down at the 38 for his second special takedown on the year.

Old Tressler Way himself pushed Williams out of bounds at the Miami 41 and in doing so put a stop to the Dolphins’ longest return of the afternoon (21 yards). This was Way’s second game in a row with a tackle.

Jeremy Reaves made the tackle at the 25 after a Miami punt return of 9 yards. He also was the only one who notched a takedown on a kickoff return, as he stopped a Kenyan Drake at the Dolphins’ 17-yard line after a gain of 15 yards. Reaves led the team with a career-high 2 special teams tackles.

Punt Returns- The Redskins were punted to a total of seven times on Sunday, which is the most punts they’ve forced their opponent into since Week 12 of the 2017 season (vs. New York Giants).

Trey Quinn returned Miami’s first punt 15 yards before being taken down at the 28; it was his longest runback of the year and the second-longest one of his career. However, the return was somewhat tainted, as Kelvin Harmon committed an illegal block on the play that got the ball moved back to the 18. Quinn lost a yard on his second and final return of the day (14 yards total).

He also fair caught balls at the Washington 38, 30 and 12 and watched as the Fins downed two punts at the 7 and 1-yard lines. Jimmy Moreland committed a holding penalty on the punt Quinn fair caught at the 38 and cost the offense 10 yards of field position on the ensuing drive.

Kickoff Returns- Miami’s first two kickoffs went for touchbacks. The Dolphins recovered an onside kick on the next one, but the recovery was negated because they jumped offsides on the play. Steven Sims fielded the re-kick at the 2-yard line and returned it 21 yards out to the 23.

After failing to convert on a two-point conversion that would’ve won the game for them, the Dolphins attempted another onside kick. Tanner Vallejo recovered it at the Miami 47-yard line and sealed the victory.

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*All statistics are courtesy of ESPN, Football Outsiders, NBC Sports, NFL.com, NFL Gamebooks, Pro Football Focus, Pro Football Reference, Redskins.com, Sharp Football Stats and The Washington Post*