Snaps- Greg Manusky’s defense was on the field for 61 plays, 62 snaps and 31:47 of the game clock. That is the fewest number of snaps and the second-lowest number of plays run by the Washington defense all season. In terms of time of possession, this was the second-lowest amount of time that the D has been out there for (31:36 vs. Chicago in Week 3).

The Redskins are the only team in the entire league that has not won the time of possession battle at least once all year. In fact, every other club has possessed the ball longer than their opponent on multiple occasions this season.

Yards- The Bills only gained 268 yards of total offense, which was their second-lowest total of the season (253 yards vs. Philadelphia last week) and the fewest number of yards allowed by the Redskins’ defense all season. Buffalo only averaged 4.4 yards per play, which was the second-best clip for Washington’s defense in 2019 (3.9 at Miami). This was also the second-best showing for the D in terms of first downs, they only gave up 18 chain movers, which was just one more than they allowed to Miami in Week 6.

Points- After holding their opponents to fewer than 20 points in each of the last three weeks, the Redskins gave up 24 points to the Bills. That was Buffalo’s third-highest total on the year (31 vs. Miami and 28 at New York Giants) and the sixth time the Burgundy and Gold surrendered 24-plus this season.

3rd Down- The Skins let Josh Allen and company convert on 6-of-12 third-down tries (50%). Half of those chain movers came on third-and-short plays, two of which were QB sneaks. On the other end of the spectrum, two of those first downs were picked up when Buffalo needed to gain 10-plus yards. They passed for 23 and 25 yards on those plays, which were their second and third-longest gains from scrimmage in the game.

The 50% success rate allowed by Washington’s defense on third down was right in line with their season average, which still ranks 31st in the league. The Redskins have allowed the opposition to convert on more than half of the third downs they’ve faced in two-thirds of their games this season.

4th Down- The D put the clamps down and stuffed a Frank Gore run on 4th-and-1, but couldn’t keep Josh Allen out of the end zone on a fourth-down QB sneak from the 1-yard line. Washington has given up at least one fourth-down conversion in each of the last four weeks.

Red Zone- The Skins were tremendous on one of their red-zone stands. On three consecutive plays, the D made a 6-yard sack, an 8-yard TFL and an 8-yard sack.

That was great, but you have to wish that they would’ve spread some of those big plays across their other red-zone possessions, because the Bills found the paint on each of their other three trips inside the Washington 20-yard line (75%).

The team had been defending better in the red zone recently, as they gave up as many red-area touchdowns this week as they had in their last three games combined (3-for-10 in that span).

Takeaways- The Bills fumbled twice this past Sunday afternoon, but the Redskins were unable to make the recovery on either play and failed to record a takeaway for the first time since Week 1. Their seven consecutive games forcing a turnover was tied for the third-longest such streak (with four other teams) this season.

Penalties- The Redskins committed five penalties, but only three of them were accepted, which was a new season low and is their second-fewest number of accepted infractions in nearly two years (2 penalties vs. Eagles in Week 17 of 2018). The team’s 15 penalty yards was tied for their third-lowest total of the last decade and their lowest overall one since 2015 (6 penalty yards in Week 15 vs. Buffalo).

Only one of both the total and accepted penalties for the game was committed by the defense. The one accepted penalty and the 5 penalty yards charged to that side of the ball both tied 2019 lows.

QB Pressure- This was not a very productive day in the pass-rushing department. Sure the defense recorded 2 sacks, but they came on the same drive within two plays of each other. The team didn’t have a single non-sack QB hit and posted a season-worst 26.1% pressure rate.

Now Buffalo’s 146 passing yards and 7 passing first downs were new season lows for them and for Washington, but you have to wonder if this had more to do with the weather than it did with the Redskins’ pass-rushing chops.

Rushing Defense- The trio of Devin Singletary, Frank Gore and Josh Allen combined to rush for 122 yards, 10 first downs and 2 touchdowns on 39 carries (3.13 YPC).

This was the first time the Burgundy and Gold have given up multiple rushing scores since Week 12 of last season (2 TDs at Dallas), but it also marked the lowest rushing average they had held any opponent to since Week 8 of 2018 (2.64 at New York Giants). However, that average would be a bit higher if we were to exclude Josh Allen’s three kneel downs (3.47).

This was actually the third-lowest total rushing yards allowed by the defense all season. The team has given up 100-plus rushing yards in seven contests, which is tied for the second-most such games in the NFL (Arizona with 9).

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DEFENSIVE LINEMEN

Jonathan Allen- J. Allen (Jonathan) hurried J. Allen (Josh) twice in the game, which made him one of just two Washington defenders to finish with multiple QB pressures.

He tied for the second-most solo (5) and total (7) tackles on the team. This was his third game in a row with exactly seven takedowns; he had never recorded more than four tackles in three consecutive games prior to this. Allen was also tied for the most stops on the club (3), with two of them stuffing Frank Gore runs for no gain at the 1-yard line on back-to-back plays.

Allen was the culprit on the defense’s lone penalty. His holding infraction cost Washington five yards of field position and set the Buffalo offense up with a first down at midfield.

Matt Ioannidis- The Skins’ best D-lineman matched a season-low by generating only one pressure. That pressure, however, was his fourth sack (3.5) in the last six weeks and his second in as many games. Matty I was held on the play, but still managed to take down Josh Allen for a loss of eight yards. He added three more tackles to bring his total for the contest to four (all solo).

All of the other linemen on the roster have combined to record only four more pressures this season than Ioannidis has by himself (34 to 30).

The Temple product ranks fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth among all qualifying interior defenders in pressures (30), sacks (4.5), pass rushing productivity (7.8) and pass rush win rate (15%), respectively. Aaron Donald, Calais Campbell, Fletcher Cox and Chris Jones are the only ones who rank above the Ion Man in more than one of those categories. That quartet is comprised of four of the six interior defenders who have been named All-Pros in the last two years.

Daron Payne- The 2018 first-round pick didn’t impress from a raw numbers standpoint, but still made a few impressive plays in this one.

He didn’t generate any pressures for the first time since Week 6 (at Miami) and for just the second time in his last 13 games. Payne also only recorded 2 tackles and a single stop, which were his second-lowest and lowest totals of the year.

However, his biggest impact was made on the tackles he set up, as opposed to the ones he made himself. For example, on a 4th-and-1 run by Frank Gore at the Washington 24-yard line, he pushed the O-lineman blocking him into the backfield and set another Redskins defender up to make a stop for no gain.

His 70.8 PFF grade for the game ranked second on the defense.

Tim Settle- Settle suffered a hamstring injury that limited him to season lows in both snaps (8) and snap percentage (13%). Before exiting the game, he teamed up with Jon Allen to stop a Frank Gore run for no gain at the Washington 1-yard line.

Treyvon Hester- Treyvon Hester only played on defense for 2 snaps in this one and didn’t find his way onto the stat sheet. He’s made 4 tackles and generated one pressure (sack) on his 51 defensive snaps this season.

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OUTSIDE LINEBACKERS

Ryan Kerrigan- Ryan Kerrigan was on the field for 87% of the defense’s snaps, but I wouldn’t blame you if you missed him out there, because he did virtually nothing in terms of production.

Kerrigan didn’t register a single pressure on any of his 16 pass rushes. The last time he failed to generate any pressures was in Week 4 of the 2016 season against the Browns, and he only played 8 snaps in that contest. This was just the third time in his career that he’s not finished with any pressures in a game he played 20-plus snaps in, with the last such occurrence coming in Week 17 of 2013 (at New York Giants).

He made 2 tackles on the day, but Josh Allen picked up a first down on a 3rd-and-1 QB sneak on one of them and the other takedown was just an assist after a 2-yard run by Devin Singletary on first down. The veteran outside backer gave up a pass for the second straight week, with this one going for 11 yards on a 1st-and-18 play.

Ryan Anderson- Anderson set new career highs in both snaps played (32) and snap rate (52%), yet he was unable to notch a pressure for the third game in a row. The third-year edge rusher also has now gone 16 straight contests without recording a sack, which is a career-long streak for him (14 games without a sack to start his career).

He only made two tackles against the Bills, but they both counted as defensive stops. Anderson snuffed out a red-zone shovel pass to Isaiah McKenzie eight yards behind the line of scrimmage to score his first TFL since Week 1 of last season (at Arizona) and stopped a Frank Gore rush after a gain of just a yard on a 1st-and-10 play.

Montez Sweat- The rookie first-rounder only commanded 29 snaps and a 46.8% snap share, which were 12 snaps and almost eight percentage points lower than the career-worst playing-time figures he posted three weeks ago in Miami (41 and 54.7%). This was also the first time that he had ever been out-snapped by Ryan Anderson (32 to 29).

Sweat surprisingly played fairly well in spite of the reduced PT. He only rushed the passer ten times, but managed to register a team and career-high 3 pressures, with one of them being a goal-to-go sack that dropped Bills’ signal caller Josh Allen eight yards in the backfield.

The sack represented one of his 3 solo tackles in the game. The Ryans, Kerrigan and Anderson, have combined to play 340 more snaps than Montez Sweat has this season (399 to 739), but the rookie has recorded a half sack more (2.5 to 2.0), the same number of tackles (33) and only two fewer stops (19 to 21) than those two have between them.

Noah Spence- Spence has oscillated between playing either roughly 20 or 5 snaps, with this being one of the low weeks. He was unable to generate a pressure or record any traditional statistics on his 7 defensive snaps. This was the fourth time he’s failed to notch a stat of any kind in his six games this season.

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INSIDE LINEBACKERS

Jon Bostic- Bostic played 100% of the defensive snaps for the fourth time this season. The Skins’ MIKE linebacker made 4 tackles (3 solo), which was his second-lowest number of tackles this season (2 at Philadelphia in Week 1). One of his takedowns stopped a Devin Singletary rush from gaining any yards. Bostic may have only notched 2 TFLs on the year, but he has also made five tackles that have stopped the opposition for no gain.

He was targeted three times on his 22 coverage snaps and gave up a pair of receptions on those plays. Cole Beasley beat him for a 7-yard gain on a 2nd-and-8, but that gain total was wiped out because the other pass Bostic was charged with allowing was a pitch to Isaiah McKenzie that ended up going for a loss of eight. So, in all, the receptions Bostic “gave up” actually lost a yard. He had allowed 44 or more receiving yards in each of his last three games prior to Sunday.

Cole Holcomb- This may very well have been Holcomb’s worst game in the pros. He tied a season-low with 3 tackles (all solo). None of them were made behind or within two yards of the line of scrimmage and he whiffed on an attempted takedown for the seventh time this season.

The rookie inside linebacker allowed 3 receptions for a pair of first downs and a team and career-high 66 receiving yards. Dawson Knox beat him for an 8-yard grab on a 3rd-and-4 play and came up just about a foot short of scoring a touchdown on the reception. Holcomb was also charged with surrendering a 49-yard screen to Devin Singletary, which ended up being the longest gain from scrimmage in the contest.

Perhaps the only thing that leaves Holcomb coming out looking a little better was that he scored a hurry on one of his two pass-rushing snaps. However, he missed on what should’ve been an easy sack of Josh Allen on the play.

His season-worst 29.9 PFF grade was the lowest grade given to any player in the game.

Shaun Dion Hamilton- Two weeks after only getting four fewer snaps than Cole Holcomb, which was the slimmest margin between the two players by ten snaps, Shaun Dion Hamilton only played three fewer snaps than the rookie from UNC did (27 to 30).

SDH earned the extra PT by flat outplaying Holcomb. His 5 solo tackles tied the career high that he set in 2018 and his 6 total takedowns were a new season high. One of those tackles was a 3-yard TFL on a 3rd-and-1 Frank Gore run.

Hamilton did allow a reception to Devin Singletary and missed a tackle on the play, but Singletary ended up actually losing seven yards on the reception.

SDH has been better than Hamilton both in coverage (0.35 to 1.67 yards per coverage snap) and as a tackler (12.5 to 8.9 tackling efficiency) this season, so I’m not entirely sure why the playing-time split between them hasn’t consistently been at least as close as it was in this game.

Other Inside Linebackers- Josh Harvey-Clemons returned from a hamstring injury that had sidelined him since Week 5. He played exclusively on special teams just as he had in his previous four appearances this season. Tanner Vallejo also only got work on special teams. The pair of inside backers have combined to play 224 specials snaps and not one single defensive snap this season.

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CORNERBACKS

Josh Norman- Josh Norman by no means had a fantastic outing in Buffalo, but it was still easily one of his better games of the year.

He was thrown at five times on his 23 coverage snaps, but he only gave up 2 receptions for 26 yards and a single first down on those passes. The first down and 23 of those 27 yards came on a 3rd-and-18 John Brown reception that set the Bills up in the red zone and to score a touchdown four plays later. It was Buffalo’s second-longest offensive play of the game.

J-No set a new season high with 2 pass defenses, but they were two of the most unearned PDs you’ll see. The first one bounced off the back of his helmet in the end zone and he clearly tackled John Brown before the ball arrived on the second of those plays.

Norman posted yet another season-high by recording 7 tackles (6 solo). He forced Josh Allen to fumble on one of those tackles, but the Bills recovered the ball. It was Norman’s first FF of the year. His 12 forced fumbles since entering the league in 2012 is the second-most among all defensive backs, behind only Charles “Peanut” Tillman’s 15. Norman is tied with Keanu Neal for most fumbles forced by a DB since 2016 (8), his first year in Washington.

Quinton Dunbar- Dunbar regressed a bit this week and had what was one of his worst performances of the season.

He only allowed 3 catches for 37 yards on his 5 targets and 21 coverage snaps, but those receptions were quite impactful ones.

The first of those came on the final play of the Bills’ opening possession, when he got badly beat by Cole Beasley for a 6-yard touchdown. It was the first score Dunbar had surrendered all year.

Then, on Buffalo’s very next drive, he gave up a 25-yard grab to John Brown. This particular reception was the third-longest play from scrimmage in the game, came on 3rd-and-10 and set the Bills up at the Washington 2-yard line; they kicked a field goal four plays later and took a 10-0 lead. QD also gave up a 6-yarder on a 3rd-and-7 pass in Washington territory, but got bailed out when the defense shut down the ensuing rushing attempt on 4th-and-1.

Dunny made one of his 3 solo tackles on the day after allowing that last reception. All three of his takedowns were counted as defensive stops, which tied him with Jon Allen and Matt Ioannidis for the most stops on the team.

Dunbar’s 36.1 PFF grade for the game represented his worst career rating in a game he played for more than ten snaps in.

Fabian Moreau- The Bills didn’t use a ton of three-receiver sets, so the Redskins’ slot man only got 45 snaps and a 73% snap share in this one, which were by far his lowest numbers in the last four games (38 snaps and 49% vs. New England in Week 5).

He gave up chain-moving receptions on both of the targets thrown into his coverage, with those passes combining to gain 28 yards. One of those catches was made on Buffalo’s first third down of the game. Both receptions allowed by Moreau were a part of touchdown drives and were on Washington’s side of the field.

The third-year corner recorded just 2 tackles and tied a season-low with a single solo takedown. He also had a team-high 2 missed tackles for the second week in a row and for the third time this season.

Moreau earned a 30.9 PFF grade for this showing, which was the second-worst grade handed out to any player in this game.

Jimmy Moreland- Moreland wasn’t targeted and did not crack the box score on any of his 5 snaps (4 coverage).

Other Cornerbacks- Simeon Thomas was limited to special teams work after getting exactly 6 defensive snaps in each of the last two weeks. Aaron Colvin was a healthy scratch for the first time since Week 6 (at Miami) and for the fourth time this season.

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SAFETIES

Landon Collins- The three-time Pro Bowler was in for every single defensive snap, just as he has been in every other game this season. He has played 51 more snaps from scrimmage than any other player on the team and ranks second among all NFL defenders in snaps (633), behind only Tyrann Mathieu (650).

Collins led the Skins with 9 tackles (5 solo), which marks the third time in the last four weeks and the fourth time overall this year that he’s recorded the most takedowns on the club. Four of his tackles on Sunday were made behind or within two yards of the line of scrimmage, including a 4th-and-1 stop for no gain on a Frank Gore run at the Washington 24-yard line and a TFL on a Devin Singletary tote three yards in the backfield. He also didn’t miss any tackles for the first time since Week 5 and just the second time this season.

The veteran safety ranks third and fourth among all players in solo (52) and total (79) tackles. He’s tied for the most TFLs among defensive backs in the league (5).

Collins wasn’t targeted on any of his 20 coverage snaps against the Bills. This was the first time he wasn’t thrown at once since Week 12 of the 2017 season (with New York Giants at Washington).

Troy Apke- Washington’s backup free safety started and played 100% of the snaps for the second consecutive week.

Apke, like Collins, was not targeted once in the passing game and made a handful of tackles. He tied the career highs in solo (5) and total (6) takedowns he set two weeks ago against the 49ers. His two most important ones were a stop of Frank Gore on 3rd-and-1 from the Redskins’ own 1-yard line and a 7-yard TFL on a Devin Singletary reception. This was Apke’s second straight contest with a TFL and the first time he didn’t miss a tackle since Week 6 (at Miami).

He earned a 71.9 PFF grade, which was the highest mark awarded to a Washington defender in the game.

Montae Nicholson- Nicholson sat out a second straight game with a sprained ankle. He has now missed multiple contests in each of his three seasons in the league.

Deshazor Everett- Deshazor Everett, who signed a three-year extension prior to the game, was held out for the fourth straight week with an ankle injury. He has now missed more games this season due to injury than he did in his previous four years in the pros combined (3).

Jeremy Reaves- Reaves played just 3 defensive snaps against the Bills, all three of which came in coverage. He was not targeted and did not record any stats.

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ALL DEFENSIVE PLAYERS

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SPECIAL TEAMS

Snaps- Jeremy Reaves didn’t play much on defense, but he did lead the Redskins in special teams snaps with 21 of them. He’s now led the club in special snaps in three of the four games he’s been on the active roster for this season.

Dustin Hopkins- Hop hit on field goals from 29, 33 and 39 yards out, which gave him his second game in a row with three makes. This was the fourth time in his seven-year career that he’s made three or more field goals in back-to-back games.

Two of his four kickoffs went for touchbacks, but the other two were returned for a total of 90 yards (45-yard average), which is the second-most return yards gained off of his kicks in his career (111 yards vs. Philadelphia in Week 6 of the 2016 season).

The bulk of that yardage came on the 66-yard return by former Redskin Andre Roberts. Although, Hopkins could’ve personally shaved off about 30 yards of that return had he not been stiff-armed by Roberts on the play, which was his first whiff of the season and just the second of his career.

This was the second-longest return ever produced from a Hopkins’ kickoff; ironically, the longest one against him was an 86-yard touchdown by Wendell Smallwood in the aforementioned 2016 matchup with the Eagles. Only two other teams have ever even combined to gain more than 66 yards off his kickoffs in a full game.

The other kickoff returned by the Bills was fielded by fullback Patrick DiMarco at the 12-yard line and returned 24 yards. That kick only traveled 53 yards in the air, which was Hops’ shortest kickoff on a non-onside attempt all season. I won’t give him a total pass on this game, but I do think the windy conditions had something to do with his subpar showing in the kickoff department.

Tress Way- This was not Tress Way’s best day at the office. He punted the ball five times for 172 yards. He averaged 34 yards per punt, which was the second-lowest clip of his career (1 punt for 27 yards in Week 1 of the 2016 season vs. Pittsburgh). The Bills did not return any of his kicks, so his net average was 34 too, his third-lowest such mark in a game where the opponent had no returns.

Two of his punts were particularly problematic. His first punt of the day came from the Washington 33-yard line and it only traveled 21 yards out to the Buffalo 46. The Bills scored a touchdown on their ensuing drive. It was Way’s shortest punt this season by 14 yards.

His final boot of the day left something to be desired, as well. He kicked the ball from the Redskins’ 4-yard line but it only traveled 42 yards to the Washington 46. Just as was the case with his first punt discussed, Buffalo scored a touchdown on their next possession.

Way was tagged with a career-worst 42.2 PFF grade for his showing on Sunday. He did not play well in this game, but I’d still be remiss if I didn’t point out that windy conditions definitely had an impact on the punting game for both teams.

On the plus side, he didn’t have any touchbacks for the fourth straight week and pinned the Buffalo offense inside their own 20-yard line twice (10 & 16).

Kick Coverage- Jeremy Reaves downed Way’s aforementioned 21-yarder at the Buffalo 46, and Tanner Vallejo touched down the punt that pinned Josh Allen and company at their own 10-yard line.

Vallejo did, however, miss a tackle inside the Bills’ 20 on the 66-yard kickoff return by Roberts. Troy Apke was finally able to shut the play down at the Redskins’ 39-yard line. With that tackle Apke moved into a tie with Deshazor Everett for the most total specials tackles on the team (4). Josh Harvey-Clemons put a stop to Patrick DiMarco’s KO return at the Buffalo 36 after a gain of 24 yards.

Punt Returns- The Bills punted the ball away three times. The first one went out of bounds at their own 35 after traveling just 15 yards. That horrendous kick set the Skins up for a field goal six plays later.

Trey Quinn’s only return came on their next punt. He caught the ball at the Washington 28, ran to his left to avoid a tackler and ended up not gaining any yards on the play.

Quinn totally misjudged the third Buffalo boot. Instead of running up to field the ball at the 34-yard line or scooping it up at the 25, he let it roll past him and go all the way to the Washington 13.

Quinn’s 6.4-yard return average ranks 15th in the league.

Kickoff Returns- Steven Sims returned three kickoffs for 56 yards in the game (18.7-yard average). He posted gains of 18 and 16 yards on his first two runbacks, both of which made it out to the 18-yard line. He fielded his last return at the 8-yard line and gained 22 yards before being tackled at the Washington 30.

Sims still only trails Cordarrelle Patterson in KO return yards this year (399 to 451), but he has fallen to 16th in return average (22.17). He leads all players in number of kickoff returns with 18 of them.

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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*