Snaps- The Washington Redskins’ defense was on the field for 67 plays, 72 snaps and a season-high 36:36 of the game clock against the Minnesota Vikings on Thursday Night Football. The Skins’ defense was out there for 26 more plays and 29 more snaps than their offense was, which were the biggest differentials for the team in either category this year.

Yards- The Vikes dropped 434 yards on Greg Manusky’s hapless defense, which somehow was just the fourth-highest total they’ve given up this season. That number more than doubled up what the Redskins’ offense produced (216) and was just a yard shy of tying the highest total yardage differential by the team in 2019 (-219 vs. Dallas in Week 2 and New England in Week 5).

Points- The defense allowed 19 points in the game, which was the third-lowest mark allowed and scored by the Redskins and Vikings this season, respectively. They also held Kirk Cousins and company to just one touchdown a week after not giving up any of them against the 49ers. This marks the first time the Redskins have only allowed a single touchdown in a two-game span since Weeks 15 and 16 of the 2017 season (vs. Arizona and Denver).

Primetime- The Redskins have played 36 primetime games in the last dozen years (since 2008) and their record in those games is an astoundingly bad 8-28. They rank dead last among all NFL teams in both winning percentage (.222) and point differential (-313) during that span. Their point differential is over 100 points worse than the 31st ranked team in that statistic (-209 for Miami).

3rd & 4th Down- Washington gave up chain movers on eight of the Vikings’ 15 third-down tries. The Minnesota offense averaged 7.5 yards to go on these plays, but gained 8.5 yards per play and a total of 127 yards on the money down. They busted out with three gains of 20-plus yards on their eight third-and-longs and converted on all but one of their six third downs with four or fewer yards to go.

Washington has allowed conversions on half of the third downs they’ve defended this season (57-of-114), which ranks 31st in the league and ahead of only the Falcons (53%).

On the plus side, the Skins did stop the Vikings short of the line to gain two of the three times they went for it on fourth down. One of those successful stands gave the offense the ball back at Minnesota’s own 34-yard line, but the other one occurred with the Redskins down by 10 and 26 seconds left in the game, rendering the play relatively meaningless outside of counting purposes.

Takeaways- The defense forced and recovered a fumble on the Vikings’ first drive of the game. This was the team’s seventh consecutive game with a takeaway, which is tied for the third-longest streak in the league (Patriots-11, Buccaneers-8).

Penalties- The D was responsible for three of Washington’s 4 accepted penalties and 36 of their 46 penalty yards (78.3%). Nevertheless, the team’s 4 penalties and 46 yards on them were their lowest and second-lowest totals of the season.

Red Zone- Lightning struck twice, as the Redskins held firm in the red zone for the second consecutive game. Dalvin Cook did score once from four yards out, but that was the only touchdown the Vikes scored on their four trips to the red zone (1-for-4). The defense only allowed 26 yards on the 14 plays they faced in the red area (1.86-yard average).

Between the last two games, the Skins’ opponents have only found the paint on 12.5% of their red-zone possessions (1-for-8). The last time the team had this level of red-zone success in a two-game span was Weeks 10 and 11 of last season (1-for-8 at Tampa Bay and vs. Houston).

QB Pressure- The Skins notched 3 sacks (12 yards) on the night, with two of those coming in the red zone. Only the Eagles (18), 49ers (18) and Jaguars (16) have recorded more sacks than the Redskins have in the last four weeks (14). Of their 14 sacks in that stretch, 9.5 of them were made by defensive linemen. The D-line also played a critical role in pressuring Kirk Cousins on 36.7% of his dropbacks in this contest, which was the Redskins’ best pressure rate of the season.

Perhaps, all of this pressure prevented Cousins from having the type of huge game that he was having in the three weeks prior to this matchup (75.6% completion rate, 325.3 yards per game and a 10:1 TD to interception ratio), but it wasn’t enough to completely shut the former Redskins signal caller down.

KC completed 23-of-26 passes on Thursday night, which gave him an 88.5% completion percentage, the highest completion percentage in Vikings history (minimum 20 attempts) and the second-highest rate allowed by the Redskins since at least 1950 (Drew Brees with 89.6% in Week 5 of last season).

Rushing Defense- The Vikings ran the ball 38 times and gashed the Redskins’ defense to the tune of 168 yards (4.24 YPC), 10 first downs and a touchdown. The first down and yardage figures were the second and third-highest totals allowed by the Skins this season.

Minnesota only gained a yard or less on five of their rushes and took 11 of their totes for five-plus yards, including Alexander Mattison’s 28-yarder, which was the second-longest run allowed by the defense all year (Dak Presscott for 42 yards in Week 2).

Mattison and Dalvin Cook didn’t just shred the Washington defense on the ground, they did it through the air, too. The duo accounted for 235 of Minnesota’s 434 yards of offense (54.1%). Most of that yardage was gained by Cook in particular, whose 171 yards from scrimmage was the most yardage allowed by the Redskins this season and the third-highest such total in the last three years (197 yards by Saquon Barkley in Week 14 of last season and 180 yards by Amari Cooper in Week 12 of 2018).

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DEFENSIVE LINEMEN

Jonathan Allen- Allen made 7 tackles (3 solo) for the second week in a row, which is the second-most takedowns he’s recorded in the pros. Five of them were made behind or within three yards of the line of scrimmage and at least five yards away from the line to gain.

By far, Allen’s most impactful tackle was an 8-yard sack of Kirk Cousins on a third-and-goal play. The sack was his fourth of the year, which puts him on pace to just narrowly top the career-high 8 sacks he recorded last season (8.57). He registered a hurry and drew a holding penalty against Pat Elflein on a third down pass in the red zone (declined). Elflein held Allen on two running plays, with one of those infractions leading to a stalled Minnesota drive.

Despite all of that, Allen received a 42.2 PFF grade for the performance, which is the second-lowest mark of his career. His grade appears to have been dragged down by a career-worst 33.3 rating in run defense.

Matt Ioannidis- Ioannidis led the Redskins with 4 QB pressures, which was at least twice as many as any other player on the team had. This was the third consecutive game in which he’s registered exactly 4 pressures and led the team in this department. He might’ve even been credited with a fifth pressure and a QB hit if he had not been called for a cheap roughing the passer penalty because his helmet ever-so-slightly tapped Cousins’.

One of those pressures was a 4-yard sack in the red zone, which brings him up to 3.5 of them on the year. Right tackle Brian O’Neill, who was responsible for blocking Ioannidis on the play, had not given up a single sack in his two-year career before this game.

That was one of the Ion man’s 6 tackles in the game (3 solo). The Vikings gained a total of 8 yards on plays he secured a takedown on (1.3 yards per play). Ioannidis led all players in the game with a career-high tying 5 defensive stops. On the downside, he did whiff on his seventh tackle of the year, which is five more than he missed in his entire three-year career prior to this season (2 total missed tackles).

Ioannidis’ 76.7 PFF grade ranked third on the team.

Daron Payne- Once again, Daron Payne had an impact in ways that aren’t readily apparent to someone who just takes a brief glance at the box score.

For example, Payne wasn’t credited with a tackle or forced fumble on the play, but he ran 30 yards downfield to Stefon Diggs and wrapped him up to ensure that Diggs would not be able to regain control of the ball after it had been jarred loose by another Redskins defender. Washington ended up recovering Diggs’ fumble at the conclusion of the play, but that probably doesn’t happen without Payne making the effort he did.

Also, one of his 4 assisted tackles was the main reason the defense was able to shut down a 4th-and-1 Kirk Cousins QB sneak for no gain at the Minnesota 34-yard line. Payne finished the night with 7 total tackles (3 solo); that ties the career high he set against the 49ers just four days earlier.

He registered 2 hurries in the game, which is more pressures than he had in the last two games combined. One of those hurries came on third down and forced Cousins to throw the ball away.

Tim Settle- The 22-year-old nose tackle’s 13 snaps and 18% snap rate are right in line with the amount of playing time he got against the 49ers (10, 16%). Settle was averaging 24 snaps and a 32% snap share between Weeks 3 and 6.

He made two tackles, but one of them was negated by a Minnesota holding penalty, a holding penalty that he drew against Vikings tackle Brian O’Neill. On his lone official takedown, he stopped Alexander Mattison after a gain of 1 at the Washington 8-yard line.

He failed to generate a single pressure for the third time this season, but at least in this case, that has more to do with the fact that he only rushed the passer on two of his snaps.

Settle’s season-low 29.4 PFF grade was the worst rating handed out to any Washington player in the contest.

Treyvon Hester- Hester got 11 snaps with the defense after not playing at all on Greg Manusky’s unit against the 49ers.

He did nothing to prove that benching him a few a days earlier was the wrong call, as he was blanked on the stat sheet for the first time this season in a game he played more than two snaps in.

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OUTSIDE LINEBACKERS

Ryan Kerrigan- Ryan Kerrigan, who has started in every single game since he entered the league in 2011, made his 136th consecutive start yesterday. With Matt Ryan missing the Falcons’ game yesterday, that moves Kerrigan into third place for the most consecutive games started by an active player. Only Philip Rivers (216) and Brandon Carr (183) have longer active streaks.

That’s great, but in terms of actual production Kerrigan was once again fairly quiet. He generated pressure on two of his 19 pass-rushing snaps (both hurries) and recorded 2 solo tackles, with one of those going for a 1-yard TFL. The veteran edge rusher also allowed a reception for just the third time this season, as he was charged with giving up a 15-yard screen pass to Dalvin Cook at the end of the first half.

Midway through the season, Kerrigan is on pace to set new career lows in tackles, defensive stops, TFLs, forced fumbles, sacks and pressures (would tie his career low). Kerrigan has proven me wrong and others wrong before by busting out of slumps with a run of big games, but perhaps at age 31 father time is actually and finally catching up to him.

Several teams are reportedly interested in acquiring Kerrigan before today’s trade deadline. It would be sad to see him move on, but trading him would also probably be the best thing for the future of the franchise. Now whether or not a deal involving Kerrigan will actually happen is another story.

Montez Sweat- This was your typical Montez Sweat performance from a production standpoint: a 60% snap rate, 1 hurry, 4 tackles (2 solo) with three of those coming in the running game and not any really big plays. The rookie edge rusher also gave up a reception (4 yards) and missed a tackle for the third time in the last four weeks.

Ryan Anderson- Anderson made it onto the field for 27 defensive snaps against the Vikings, and, with the exception of one play, did little to impress while he was out there.

He failed to generate any pressures for the second straight game and only made 2 solo tackles in the game, one of which stopped a Vikings run after a gain of a yard on a 3rd-and-5 play. He made his other takedown right after giving up a 7-yard reception to rookie tight end Irv Smith on a 3rd-and-4 play that moved the Vikings into field goal range.

Anderson’s one saving grace was that he recovered a Stefon Diggs fumble on the fifth play from scrimmage in the game; he had not either recovered or forced a fumble in his career prior to Thursday night.

Noah Spence- Spence set new season highs in both defensive snaps played (21) and snap rate (29%), but literally did nothing in terms of production with the opportunity. He has been totally shutout of the box score in three of his five games this season.

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INSIDE LINEBACKERS

Jon Bostic- Jonathan Bostic bounced back from what might very well have been his worst game of the year by having one of his best outings of the season.

He ranked second on the team with 9 total tackles and 4 stops, with both of those figures representing his second-highest totals this season. His 2019 personal best of 7 solo tackles led all players in the game. Bostic also had two other takedowns get negated by Minnesota holding penalties, one which would’ve been a 2-yard TFL.

Bostic’s biggest tackle was a 0-yard sack on the Skins’ first defensive play of the second half. He had not notched a sack, QB hit, pass defense or any kind of turnover-causing play in 2019 until this. In fact, you have to go all the way back to Week 7 of last season (Browns at Steelers), which is a full calendar year ago, to find the last time Jon Bostic did any of those things.

He did surrender 5 receptions on the 5 targets thrown his way, both of which were game-high figures, but despite the fact that he gave up 44 yards on those catches, the Vikings did not pick up a first down on any of them.

Bostic posted a 72.3 Pro Football Focus grade, his second-best showing in that department all year and the third-highest mark among all Washington defenders in Week 8.

Cole Holcomb- Rookie inside backer Cole Holcomb got a bump in playing time this week, as his 49 snaps and 68% snap rate were his second-highest figures in either category since Week 3.

Holcomb recorded 7 tackles (3 solo) against the Vikings, including the one he forced a fumble on at the Washington 25-yard line after a Stefon Diggs 32-yard reception. The FF was his second of the year (Week 4 at New York Giants), which makes Holcomb just the fifth Redskin on record to force multiple fumbles in his rookie season (Sean Taylor, Carlos Rogers, Trent Murphy and Bashaud Breeland). He is currently tied with Josh Allen, Charles Omenihu and Maxx Crosby for the most forced fumbles among all rookies this season.

The Skins’ fifth-round pick was far from perfect in this one, though. He allowed 2 receptions for 36 yards and a first down on 2 targets. The vast majority of that yardage came on a 31-yard screen to Dalvin Cook at the end of the first half. It was the most critical play on the lone touchdown drive of the night and was the fourth-longest gain of the contest.

Shaun Dion Hamilton- In contrast to Holcomb, Hamilton saw his PT cut down for the second consecutive game (31-41% > 25-39% > 23-32%). SDH did little of note on Thursday night, recording 4 tackles on 1st-and-10 running plays. He did, at least, limit two of those four rushes to just two yards, though. He gave up a chain-moving 11-yard reception on one of his 7 coverage snaps, as well. Any chances that SDH had of winning back his old job from Cole Holcomb are dwindling by the day.

Other Inside Linebackers- Another week in the books and another week where Tanner Vallejo plays all of his snaps on special teams and Josh Harvey-Clemons sits out to nurse his balky hamstring. JHC has now missed four straight games.

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CORNERBACKS

Quinton Dunbar- Quinton Dunbar was limited to a season-low 17 snaps (24%), because of a hamstring injury he appeared to suffer on the Vikings’ third drive of the night. Dunbar has now missed the majority of three of the team’s eight games.

QD gave up a 4-yard grab to Stefon Diggs on the second play of the game and a 6-yarder to Kyle Rudolph (2-2-10) before making the tackle a yard before the line to gain on both second-down plays. That left the Vikings with 3rd-and-1 situations they converted on with 2-yard gains on the ensuing plays. He recorded his third and final takedown of the night on an 18-yard Dalvin Cook screen.

Dunny’s 78.4 grade ranked first on the defense and second on the team. This was the third time this season and in the past five weeks that he has put up the best PFF score among all Washington defenders.

Josh Norman- The coaches only intended on using the injured Josh Norman (thigh, hand) in case of emergency. That emergency actually did in occur in the form of a Quinton Dunbar injury, and Norman was forced into action as a result.

He played for 60% of the snaps, which was his third-lowest playing-time clip since joining the Redskins in 2016. He was limited to a 53% snap rate in Week 6 of 2016 at Detroit because of a concussion and 34% in Week 4 of 2017 at Kansas City due to a broken rib.

J-No only allowed 2 receptions on Thursday night, but they came in the form of 39-yard and 22-yard Stefon Diggs catches on third down, which represented the Vikings’ longest and sixth-longest plays of the game. At least that damage was localized, as both receptions came on Minnesota’s field goal drive at the start of the second half. Norman was one of two defenders on the team who gave up multiple first downs and more than 50 receiving yards in their coverage.

He recorded 4 tackles (3 solo) in the game, but only one of them was made before the Vikings had picked up a first down; they averaged just under 20 yards per play (19.8) on the snaps Norman secured a takedown on.

Fabian Moreau- Moreau started for the second time this year and played on 92% of the defensive snaps. You did not need to use a complicated algorithm to determine he would have a bad game; all you needed to know was that he had a plus outing in the game prior and that he lacks a shred of consistency.

The former third-round pick was targeted four times on his 27 coverage snaps and gave up 4 receptions for 73 yards and a pair of first downs, with both of those last two numbers being team highs. All but one of those catches and yards were racked up by Stefon Diggs, who utterly embarrassed Moreau on several occasions in this one. He was particularly shamed on the 34 and 32-yarders that he allowed to Diggs, which were the second and third-longest gains of the night.

Three of Moreau’s season-high 5 solo tackles were made after catches he had surrendered. He also tied a team and career high with 2 missed tackles.

Jimmy Moreland- Moreland played 28 snaps in Minnesota, which was his second-highest total since Week 4 (35 last week vs. San Francisco). He was not targeted on any of his 12 coverage snaps, which marks the third time he had not been thrown at this year. He was flagged for lowering his head to initiate contact on his lone tackle of the night.

Simeon Thomas- Thomas was in for 6 snaps for the second straight week. Just like last week, five of his snaps came in coverage, he was not targeted and he did not crack the stat sheet.

Aaron Colvin- Colvin, who went six weeks without stepping on the field, played for the second straight week. His playing time was limited to just 2 special teams snaps, though.

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SAFETIES

Landon Collins- Landon Collins’ bounced back from his season-worst performance against the 49ers with a solid showing on Thursday night.

He led all players in the game with 11 tackles (6 solo), which was just one takedown shy of his season high of 12. Collins was also credited with 3 defensive stops, including a 4th-and-1 tackle for no gain on a Kirk Cousins QB sneak at Minnesota’s own 34-yard line. He ranks seventh in league with 70 total tackles and is on pace to finish the year with a career-high 140 of them. The veteran safety did, however, whiff on a pair of tackles for the second straight week and for the third time this season.

He was targeted twice on his 28 coverage snaps and gave up receptions on both passes that went for a total of 19 yards and a first down. The bulk of that yardage came on a 16-yarder to Bisi Johnson on Minnesota’s lone touchdown drive of the evening.

What was perhaps the most impressive thing Collins did was to generate pressure on both of the snaps he rushed the passer on. He scored his first hurry and QB hit of the season on those plays. He’s generated 3 pressures on 8 pass-rushing snaps this season (37.5% pressure rate), so perhaps the coaches should consider giving him more opportunities in this regard.

Montae Nicholson- Nicholson was sidelined with the ankle injury that he suffered earlier in the week against the 49ers.

Just halfway through the season, the third-year safety has already set career highs in pass defenses (4), interceptions (2) and fumble recoveries (1) this season. He is on his way to easily posting new personal bests in tackles (35) and defensive stops (5), as well.

Troy Apke- The second-year safety out of Penn State made his first NFL start and played on all 72 defensive snaps, which was easily a career high.

Unfortunately for the Redskins, Apke wasn’t able to match the production from his last outing. He gave up a 6-yard reception to Stefon Diggs on a 3rd-and-4 play that kept the Vikings’ final scoring drive of the night alive. He allowed another reception later in that same series, but stopped the play for a loss of a yard, which earned him his first TFL as a pro.

Apke made two other solo takedowns (3 total), but those tackles were made after receptions of 15-plus yards. They were not enough to make up for his team-high tying 2 missed tackles on the night.

Apke’s misses came on a 31-yard screen pass to Dalvin Cook and a 28-yard run by Alexander Mattison. Those were the fourth and sixth-longest offensive gains of the game and they came on the Vikings’ only touchdown drive and their final clock-killing possession at the end of the game, respectively. He also had a shot at stopping Dalvin Cook at the 1-yard line on his touchdown run, but was unable to keep the NFL’s leading rusher out of the end zone.

Jeremy Reaves- Jeremy Reaves made his first start as a pro and was on the field for 10 defensive snaps, which is literally double the number of snaps he had played in his career coming into this game (5).

Reaves made 3 tackles (1 solo), which meant he recorded a takedown on almost a third of the plays he was in for. He initiated helmet-to-helmet contact with Stefon Diggs on his final tackle and rightfully drew an unnecessary roughness penalty for the hit. The collision actually gave Reaves a concussion that knocked him out of the game.

Deshazor Everett- A bad ankle kept Everett out for the third straight week. Despite the absences, he still leads the team in special teams tackles (4).

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ALL DEFENSIVE PLAYERS

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SPECIAL TEAMS

Snaps- Shaun Dion Hamilton led the Redskins in special teams snaps with 17 of them. This was the third time he’s led the club in specials snaps in the last four weeks and in his career, but it’s the first time he wasn’t tied for the most snaps when he did so. SDH was followed by Troy Apke and Cole Holcomb, who were in for 15 and 13 special teams plays, respectively.

Dustin Hopkins- Dustin Hopkins nailed field goals from 21, 30 and 43 yards out, which gave him a season-high 3 made field goals on the night. Hop had missed three of his last six coming into the game.

All four of his kickoffs went for touchbacks. This was the fifth time this season that a team facing the Redskins did not return a single kickoff. The Panthers are the only team that has had fewer kickoffs returned against them this season (1) than Washington has (4).

Tress Way- Tress Way, who was averaging 5.3 punts per game this season, only kicked the ball away twice in this game, his second-lowest total of the year (1 punt vs. Chicago in Week 3). His two punts went for 107 total and net yards and gave him total and net averages of 53.5, which were the fourth and second-best marks of his seven-year career.

His 63-yarder, which was his second-longest boot of the season, pinned the Vikings’ offense at their own 9-yard line. His other punt went for 44 yards and was fair caught at the Minnesota 34.

Kick Coverage- Not one player on the team recorded a special teams tackle because the Vikings did not return a single kickoff or punt. This was the first time the Redskins’ opponent did not return a kickoff or a punt in a game since Week 6 of the 2011 season (vs. Philadelphia).

The only noteworthy thing that happened in terms of kick coverage was Jimmy Moreland downing Tress Way’s 63-yard punt at the Minnesota 9-yard line.

Punt Returns- The Vikings did not punt the ball away once on Thursday night. Here’s a breakdown of how their eight possessions ended: four field goals, two turnovers on downs, one fumble and one touchdown.

Per Pro Football Reference, the only other time the Redskins were not punted to once in a game since 1963 was last year’s Week 5 game against the Saints (43-19 loss).

Kickoff Returns- Four of the Vikings’ six kickoffs ended up going for touchbacks; Steven Sims returned the other two for 54 yards (27-yard average).

On the final play of the first half, Sims fielded the first kickoff he returned a yard deep in the end zone and returned it 31 yards out to the Washington 30. That was Sims’ second-longest return of the year (45-yarder vs. Chicago in Week 3). Sims then caught the opening kickoff of the second half two yards deep in the end zone and took it out to the 21-yard line for a gain of 23.

Sims trails only Cordarrelle Patterson in kickoff return yards (343 to 417) and ranks ninth in the league in yards per kickoff return (22.9).

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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*