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Snaps- The Washington Redskins’ offense was on the field for 62 snaps, 55 plays and 26:38 of game time against the Cowboys on Sunday. The team currently ranks 26th, 27th and 30th in those categories, respectively.
Losing is Contagious- Washington dropped to 0-2 for the second time in the Jay Gruden era (2016) and lost for the sixth time in their last seven games. This was the team’s fourth consecutive loss. Only the Giants, Jets, Dolphins and Broncos have longer active losing streaks.
Yards- After nearly racking up 400 yards in Week 1, the offense was limited to 255 yards and a 4.6-yard average. The Skins currently rank 25th in both yards (326.5) and first downs (17) per game.
What’s also concerning is that about a quarter of the team’s yardage (65-of-255 yards) and a third of their first downs (6-of-9) were accrued on the final, garbage-time drive of the contest. This is becoming a trend, as the same thing happened in Week 1.
So far, the Redskins have had 18 drives that did not end with a kneel down. Each of their final drives in Weeks 1 and 2 have come when they have been down by 12 or more points. On those possessions, which constitutes just 11% of their drives this season, they have combined to gain 23.7% and 35.3% of the team’s yardage and first downs on the year.
Blown Leads & Points- Washington was not involved in a game with a lead change for the first ten weeks of the 2018 season; they were 6-0 when they got on the board first in those contests. This season, on the other hand, has seen the Skins score first and then proceed to blow that lead in each of their first two games.
Nevertheless, their 24 points per game scored is still good for tenth in the league.
3rd & 4th Down- The Redskins were only able to convert on two of their nine third downs in the game (22.2%). They moved the chains on two of the four money-down plays they needed to gain eight or more yards on, but somehow failed to reach the line to gain on any of the five tries that they only needed to gain four or fewer yards on. Washington’s offense has only had a success rate of 50% or better twice since the start of the 2017 season.
The lack of third-down success on Sunday was a big part of the reason they went for it on fourth down three times in the game. Case Keenum and company actually picked up the requisite yardage to earn a fresh set of downs on two of those three plays. The Redskins have now converted on 4-of-5 fourth-down tries this year (80%). They’d be wise to continue to buck the conventional wisdom and to keep going for it.
Red Zone- The Burgundy and Gold offense scored touchdowns on all three of their trips to the red area. This was the first time the team had three or more red-zone possessions in a game and converted on all of them since Week 11 of the 2017 season (3-for-3 at New Orleans).
On Sunday, the Skins picked up 7 first downs on their 16 plays in the red area, which is good for an impressive 43.8% clip.
Giveaways- The Redskins didn’t turn the ball over for the second straight game. They are one of three teams that has yet to give the ball away once this year (Ravens and Colts), but they still find themselves tied for last place in the NFC. They are also the only team in the league that has already lost two division games.
Penalties- The offense was responsible for committing four of the Redskins’ six accepted penalties (4-of-8 total penalties) and for 35 of the team’s 44 penalty yards (79.5%).
Holding was the call on three of those penalties, which brings the team’s total on the year up to eight accepted holding infractions. Washington led the league with 32 accepted holding penalties last season, and wouldn’t you know it, they are tops in the NFL so far this season, too.
QUARTERBACKS
Quarterbacks (3 Players) | ||
Player (* - starter) | Snaps | Snap % |
Case Keenum * | 62 | 100% |
Dwayne Haskins | 0 | 0% |
Colt McCoy | Inactive | N/A |
Case Keenum (Traditional Stats)- Keenum cooled off a bit after his 380-yard and 3-touchdown performance in Week 1. He completed 26 of his 37 passing attempts (70.3%) for 221 yards (5.97 YPA), 12 first downs, 2 touchdowns and no interceptions (103.5 passer rating). He was only sacked once and did not gain any rushing yards for the second straight week.
Keenum has been about as solid as you can get for the price of just $3.5M. He ranks in the top ten among all qualifying quarterbacks in the following efficiency metrics: completion percentage (69.1%, 8th), passing yards per game (300.5, 10th), touchdown percentage (6.2%, 10th), interception percentage (0, 1st), passer rating (111.2, 8th) and sack percentage (2.4%, 5th).
Every one of those numbers would be new career highs (by a wide margin in most cases) for the eighth-year veteran if he can maintain them through the season. That’s great, but it’s also a sign we should expect to see some regression. Some other reasons to expect a decline are that the opposing defense has dropped at least one interception in both games and much of his production has come on two garbage time drives (19-of-56 completions, 155-of-601 yards, 11-of-27 first downs and 2-of-5 touchdowns).
It’s not just regression that we should be concerned about, it’s the easy passes he’s not connecting on. This was the second game in a row he missed several wide-open throws that would’ve made a major impact on the game, including what would’ve been a 46-yard touchdown and a crucial fourth-down conversion.
Case Keenum (Advanced Stats)- Keenum posted a top-ten QBR for the second consecutive game (65.4), but finished with a PFF rating outside of the top 20 at the position for the second week in a row, too. I’m guessing the truth lies somewhere in the middle.
Colt McCoy- McCoy is making progress with his recovery, but he’s still not quite there yet. Per Jay Gruden, he is scheduled to do some individual work in practice this week.
Dwayne Haskins- If the team keeps losing then Dwayne Haskins might not be waiting too long to make his first appearance in an NFL game. Past history tells us Haskins’ initial start could be coming soon, as well. Per research done by Albert Breer (see the tweet below), quarterbacks drafted in the first round in the last ten years (2010-2019) have, on average, made their first start around their fourth or fifth game with their respective teams (4.56).
If you exclude all the players in this span who started in Week 1 of the season they were drafted in, then we find that the median start for the remaining QBs also comes in their team’s fifth game of the year (mode/most common was Week 4 for this group).
Haskins will already be the last round-one quarterback of 2019 to make his first start, as Daniel Jones just supplanted Eli Manning atop the Giants’ depth chart this morning.
Re: Daniel Jones ... Here's a chart I've kept on first-round quarterbacks, and when they've gotten their first starts. As you can see, since 2008, the idea of a redshirt year has almost always been nonsense. pic.twitter.com/J6omu1e2pD
— Albert Breer (@AlbertBreer) September 16, 2019
WIDE RECEIVERS
Wide Receivers (6 Players) | ||
Player (* - starter) | Snaps | Snap % |
Terry McLaurin * | 56 | 90% |
Paul Richardson | 54 | 87% |
Trey Quinn * | 49 | 79% |
Kelvin Harmon * | 6 | 10% |
Steven Sims | 5 | 8% |
Robert Davis | 4 | 6% |
Paul Richardson- Richardson was only targeted three times in the game, but caught all three passes, gained a total of 16 yards on those plays and scored a touchdown on one of them.
His first catch went for no gain on 3rd-and-3, the 11th score of his 56-game career came from 9 yards out and his final grab gained 7 yards on the offense’s last drive of the day. P-Rich was also wide open on what would’ve been a 46-yard touchdown, but Keenum checked the ball down instead of launching the long bomb.
Terry McLaurin- Believe it or not, but Terry McLaurin has already supplanted Paul Richardson as the team’s number one receiver, and at this rate he’ll soon top all of Richardson’s career numbers as a member of the Redskins.
Terry Mac led all Washington backs, receivers and tight ends in snaps (56) and topped a 90% share for the second consecutive week. His 118 offensive snaps played ranks first among all rookie backs, receivers and tight ends this season.
McLaurin received 9 targets against the Cowboys and hauled in 5 receptions for 62 yards, 4 first downs and a touchdown; he led or tied for the team lead in every one of those statistics. His receptions of 27 and 20 yards represented the Redskins’ two longest plays of the contest.
He also beat Byron Jones deep on the first snap from scrimmage, and likely would’ve gained at least 45 yards on the reception had the pass not been off; instead, he prevented Jones from intercepting the pass. All nine of McLaurin’s targets came against Jones.
Want more proof that Scary Terry is the Redskins’ #1 receiver, well consider that he leads the team and ranks 13th in the NFL with 187 receiving yards. He ranks fifth in the league in air yards (277) and third in air yards market share (50%). His 3 end-zone targets place him in the top five, as well.
Terry McLaurin (Records)- McLaurin is the first Redskins rookie to ever catch a touchdown in each of his first two games. The only non-rookie Washington player to score receiving TDs in both of their first two games were Charlie Brown and Darnerien McCants; both of them made their first appearance in their second year.
The last time a first-year Washington wideout scored in back-to-back games was when Aldrick Robinson hauled in TD grabs in Weeks 10 and 11 of the 2012 season. Rod Gardner (2001) and Chris Cooley (2004) were the only other players to put up such a streak for the Redskins in the last 20 years.
Let’s bump it up to 30 years for our next stat. Here is the list of players who have gained more receiving yards in their first career games in that span (1990-2019): Anquan Boldin (279), Marquise Brown (233), Stefon Diggs (216), DeSean Jackson (216), Will Fuller (211) and Will Moore (189). The only players on the list to score multiple TDs in those games like McLaurin has are Boldin and Brown (2 each). Scary Terry slotted in just ahead of Randy Moss (184 yards) and DeAndre Hopkins (183 yards) on the list.
Trey Quinn- Slot man Trey Quinn caught 4-of-7 targets for 36 yards and a pair of first downs against the Cowboys.
Quinn didn’t put up big numbers in this one, but several of the catches he made were fairly clutch. He caught a 10-yard pass on a 3rd-and-8 play and a 12-yarder on a 4th-and-7; both plays were made on drives the offense scored touchdowns on.
Steven Sims- Like in Week 1, Sims was on the field for just five snaps with the offense. However, this time around he touched the ball on four of those plays (no offensive touches in Week 1). He gained 4 yards on a sweep, picked up 8 yards on a run off a fake sweep the following play and rushed for another 4 yards three snaps later. The drive ended with the first touchdown of the game.
He also picked up 3 yards on a screen pass later in the game.
Kelvin Harmon- Harmon made the first start of his career on Sunday, but he only played 6 snaps (3 routes & 3 run blocking) and was not targeted in the game. He caught both of his targets last week and gained a total of 31 yards on those plays (2 first downs).
Robert Davis- Davis, who was promoted from the practice squad two days before the game, played in what was his second regular season game as a pro. Davis was in for 4 snaps and was not targeted on any of his 3 routes run.
TIGHT ENDS
Tight Ends (3 Players) | ||
Player (* - starter) | Snaps | Snap % |
Vernon Davis | 46 | 74% |
Jeremy Sprinkle * | 22 | 35% |
Jordan Reed | Inactive | N/A |
Vernon Davis- Davis was relatively quiet after last week’s amazing 48-yard touchdown. He was targeted four times over the course of his 46 snaps and 31 routes and caught three of those passes for a total of 29 yards and a first down. Two of the three receptions he hauled in and 20 of his 29 yards came in garbage time on back-to-back plays during the Skins’ final offensive drive of the game.
Jeremy Sprinkle- For the second consecutive week, Sprinkle was targeted on the second play of the game, caught the pass for a first down and was not thrown to again. The main difference was he gained 11 yards on the play instead of 8.
Another difference was that he committed a career-high 2 penalties in the game, which was tied for the most infractions on the team this past Sunday. Sprinkle was flagged for a false start and for a holding penalty that negated a 5-yard Adrian Peterson run and stalled the offense’s second drive of day.
PFF tagged him with a 50.7 rating for the performance, which was the worst grade handed out to any player on Washington’s offense this week.
Jordan Reed- Jordan Reed sat the game out because of lingering concussion symptoms. He has now missed the team’s last five games dating back to Week 15 of last season. The Redskins have played 99 games (including playoffs) since drafting Reed in 2013, and he has been sidelined for exactly a third of those contests (33 of 99).
RUNNING BACKS
Running Backs (4 Players) | ||
Player (* - starter) | Snaps | Snap % |
Chris Thompson | 28 | 45% |
Adrian Peterson * | 18 | 29% |
Wendell Smallwood | 16 | 26% |
Ryan Anderson | 2 | 3% |
Adrian Peterson- AP made his first appearance of the 2019 season on Sunday. However, poor game script limited him to just a 29% snap share and 10 rushes. He could only muster 25 yards on those runs (2.5 YPC), but he did break a pair of tackles, pick up 3 first downs and score a touchdown.
Peterson had a problem with consistency in this one, as almost all of his yardage (24-of-25 yards) came on 40% of his totes (4-of-10 runs); his other six carries combined to produce just a single yard. It probably didn’t help that the Cowboys stacked the box with 8 or more players on 40% of AP’s plays.
He didn’t do enough as receiver to make up for the uneven rushing performance, but he did make a small contribution in this department, as he caught both of his targets, gained a combined 7 yards on the plays and picked up a first down just short of the goal line on one of them. His 4 total chain movers ties him for the most on the team with McLaurin. Peterson’s first down set him up to score the aforementioned rushing touchdown.
It was All Day’s 107th career score on the ground, which moved him past Jim Brown and into sole possession of fifth place on the all-time list. He is now just four more TDs away from passing Walter Payton and moving into fourth. It was also his 113th overall touchdown, which ranks 15th in NFL history.
Chris Thompson- CT led the running back corps in snaps by a pretty decent margin (10 snaps) for the second straight week. He’s played 47 more offensive snaps than any other halfback on the team, so far.
Thompson gained 3 yards between his two carries, one of which picked up a first down on a 2nd-and-1 play.
Of course, most of his production came as receiver, though. He caught 5-of-8 targets, gained 48 yards and picked up 2 first downs through the air. The target, yardage and first down figures ranked second on the team behind McLaurin, who he was tied with for the most receptions. Three of those catches ended up being one of the team’s ten longest plays of the day.
Through two games, CT actually leads the team in targets (18) and receptions (12). He ranks second among all running backs this year in receptions and receiving yards (116). This shouldn’t be that shocking, though; the Skins’ third-down back has been putting up big receiving numbers for some time now. He only needs 125 more receiving yards to move all the way from seventh to fourth on the franchise’s all-time receiving yardage list by a running back.
Wendell Smallwood- Smallwood only played on special teams in Week 1, but ended up getting a fairly healthy snap share in his second game with the team (26%), at least for a third-string running back.
His only rush, which came on a 1st-and-15, gained 4 yards. Both of his targets came on back-to-back plays on the Skins’ final drive of the contest. Smallwood caught each pass and gained 9 yards between the two plays. He picked up a first down on the first of those grabs.
Ryan Anderson- Ryan Anderson played fullback on a pair of Adrian Peterson rushes from the Dallas 1-yard line and made a key block that helped AP score on the second of those runs. Those were the 18th and 19th offensive snaps of his career.
I’m honestly not sure if it would be hyperbole to say Anderson has had more success as a fullback than he has as a pass rusher. The fact that anyone has to even think about this statement is telling.
Redskins Rushing- As a team, the Redskins rushed for 47 yards, 4 first downs and a touchdown on 17 carries (2.76 YPC). They had three totes of over 5 yards (none over 10), but also failed to gain or lost yardage on three runs.
So far this season, not one player has rushed for more than 25 yards for the team, their longest rush was 10 yards and Dak Prescott almost gained more yards on the ground on Sunday (69) than the entire team has through two games (75). Think that’s bad, well then consider that the Redskins rank 30th in rushing yards (75), yards per carry (2.50) and rushing first downs (4), ahead of only the Bengals and Dolphins.
Oh, and one more thing, this was the third straight game in which the team failed to gain 50 yards on the ground. Per Pro Football Reference, that is the Redskins’ longest such streak in recorded team history. The only reason you see other streaks when you follow the link is because there isn’t any data for the games that are included.
Only two other franchises have posted a streak of three games with below 50 rushing yards in the last seven years (Browns and Giants), and both of those runs took place in 2016.
OFFENSIVE LINEMEN
Offensive Line (9 Players) | ||
Player (* - starter) | Snaps | Snap % |
Ereck Flowers * | 62 | 100% |
Morgan Moses * | 62 | 100% |
Donald Penn * | 62 | 100% |
Chase Roullier * | 62 | 100% |
Brandon Scherff * | 62 | 100% |
Tony Bergstrom | 2 | 3% |
Geron Christian | 2 | 3% |
Wes Martin | Inactive | N/A |
Ross Pierschbacher | Inactive | N/A |
Offensive Line (Team)- The line is certainly not helping matters in the running game, as Washington has been one of the worst teams in the league in rushing yards before contact per carry (going into Monday night).
Yards before contact/rush attempt for RBs so far on a team level...
— Rich Hribar (@LordReebs) September 16, 2019
Lowest
CIN: -0.10
NYJ: 0.16
WAS: 0.31
MIA: 0.43
DET: 0.77
Highest
NYG: 4.68
BUF: 2.88
LAC: 2.05
MIN: 2.02
IND: 1.96
As least the line fared better in pass protection this week. Keenum who was sacked once and hit six times last week, was still sacked once in Sunday’s game, but hit only twice. The pressure rate on him also dropped from 42.2% down to 26.3% (10 of 38 dropbacks).
Donald Penn- Penn bounced back from a poor performance last week (3 pressures, 2 QB hits and 2 penalties) and actually had himself a decent game against the Cowboys. He did not allow a single pressure and was not flagged in the game. The last time he accomplished that feat on a full complement of snaps was in Week 11 of the 2016 season (Texans at Raiders).
His 78.7 PFF rating was the best mark earned by a Redskins’ offensive player in the game.
Ereck Flowers- For the second straight game Flowers gave up a pair of hurries, but no hits or sacks. He also wasn’t flagged this week (2 holding penalties in Week 1). Through two games, Flowers does not look like the same player who we saw in the preseason.
There isn’t many things we should be giving the coaches credit for so far this year, but the decision to plug in Flowers at left guard and stick with him through some early growing pains just might be one of them.
Chase Roullier- Roullier didn’t allow a single pressure for the second straight week; he did, however, whiff on a block in the running game that led to Adrian Peterson getting stuffed 4 yards deep in the backfield.
Brandon Scherff- Scherff didn’t surrender any pressures either, but he did get flagged twice for holding penalties. Those infractions combined to nullify 10 yards gained by the offense, negate a first down and stall a drive. This was the first time that Scherff had ever committed more than one penalty in an NFL game.
Morgan Moses- Moses’ struggles continued on Sunday, as he allowed a team-high 3 pressures, one of which was a hit that could’ve easily ended up being a sack. He was not officially credited with allowing the only sack on Keenum, but I personally think he should’ve been.
The offense has virtually gone nowhere when running to his side, too. The team has gained 23 yards on their 15 runs (1.53 YPC) behind right guard, right tackle and right end.
Moses, whose contract pays him an average of $8M per year, easily looks like one of the most overpaid players on the team.
Other Offensive Linemen- Geron Christian and Tony Bergstrom were brought in as extra blockers on Adrian Peterson’s two goal-line rushes, the second of which ended with a touchdown.
Wes Martin (G) and Ross Pierschbacher (C) were both inactive for the second straight week.
ALL OFFENSIVE PLAYERS
All Offensive Players (25 Players) | ||||||
Player (* - starter) | Snaps | Snap % | Player (* - starter) | Snaps | Snap % | |
Ereck Flowers * | 62 | 100% | Wendell Smallwood | 16 | 26% | |
Case Keenum * | 62 | 100% | Kelvin Harmon * | 6 | 10% | |
Morgan Moses * | 62 | 100% | Steven Sims | 5 | 8% | |
Donald Penn * | 62 | 100% | Robert Davis | 4 | 6% | |
Chase Roullier * | 62 | 100% | Ryan Anderson | 2 | 3% | |
Brandon Scherff * | 62 | 100% | Tony Bergstrom | 2 | 3% | |
Terry McLaurin * | 56 | 90% | Geron Christian | 2 | 3% | |
Paul Richardson | 54 | 87% | Dwayne Haskins | 0 | 0% | |
Trey Quinn * | 49 | 79% | Wes Martin | Inactive | N/A | |
Vernon Davis | 46 | 74% | Colt McCoy | Inactive | N/A | |
Chris Thompson | 28 | 45% | Ross Pierschbacher | Inactive | N/A | |
Jeremy Sprinkle * | 22 | 35% | Jordan Reed | Inactive | N/A | |
Adrian Peterson * | 18 | 29% |
*All statistics are courtesy of Air Yards, ESPN, Football Outsiders, NBC Sports, NFL.com, NFL Gamebooks, Pro Football Focus, Pro Football Reference, Redskins.com, Sports Info Solutions and The Washington Post*
Poll
How many yards will the Redskins rush for as a team this season?
This poll is closed
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29%
Fewer than 1,000
-
38%
1,000 to 1,249
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22%
1,250 to 1,499
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8%
1,500 to 1,749
-
0%
1,750 to 1,999
-
0%
2,000 to 2,249
-
0%
2,250 or more