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Skins Stats & Snaps: Bears @ Redskins (Offense)

A look at the stats and snap counts for every offensive player on the Redskins in the team’s MNF matchup with the Chicago Bears

NFL: Chicago Bears at Washington Redskins Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports

Snaps- The Washington Redskins’ offense was on the field for 68 plays and 79 snaps in Monday night’s game against the Chicago Bears, which represented the team’s fourth-most offensive plays run and their most snaps played since the start of last season.

Yards & Points- The Skins racked up 356 yards of offense but were only able to put 15 points on the board. However, that was still the second-most yards and the most points given up by the Bears all season. The problem was that 83% of those yards and all of the points were picked up after the Bears had already taken a 28-0 lead.

3rd & 4th Down- It seems like everybody is focusing on how bad Washington’s defense has been on third down, but yet the offense’s struggles in this regard continue to go relatively unnoticed.

The Burgundy and Gold were only able to move the chains on three of their nine third downs (33.3%), despite only needing to gain a yard or two on five of those plays (5.8-yard average). Two of those nine third downs ended with an interception or a sack. The team has yet to convert on 40 or more percent of its money-down opportunities in a game this season and ranks 23rd in the league with a 32% success rate on these plays.

For the second week in a row, Jay Gruden decided to go for it on fourth down three times and watched as his offense moved the chains on two of those tries (66.6%). One of the attempts resulted in a 2-yard touchdown and another one of them ended with a lost fumble.

No team has gone for it on more fourth downs (8) and converted on more of them (6) than the Redskins have this season. This is one thing, albeit a small one given the circumstances, everyone should be proud of Jay Gruden for.

Red Zone & Two Point Attempts- The offense made five trips to the Chicago red zone, but was only able to score touchdowns on two of those drives (40%). This was the team’s most red-zone possession since Week 3 of last season (5 vs. Green Bay), but their worst success rate in the red area since Week 15 of 2018 (33.3% at Jacksonville). The last time Washington’s offense had five or more red-zone possessions and scored on fewer than three of them was in Week 17 of the 2015 campaign (at Dallas).

This also marked just the third time in the last five years in which the offense went for two on multiple occasions (Week 11 of 2016 and Week 14 of 2018). They were unable to convert on either try Monday night.

Giveaways- After not giving the ball away once through the first two weeks of the season, the Redskins committed a whopping 5 turnovers against the Bears’ vaunted defense. The Steelers are the only other team that has had five or more giveaways in a single game this season (5 turnovers in Week 1 vs. San Francisco). The Redskins had not turned the ball over this many times since Week 11 of the 2015 season (at Carolina).

This was also the third time in the last nine games that Washington signal callers threw 3 interceptions. However, it was the first case of the team losing multiple fumbles in a single contest since Week 13 of 2017 (at Dallas).

Penalties- Only four of the team’s nine accepted penalties and 20 of their 61 penalty yards were the offense’s fault. In the first two games, the offense was responsible for at least two-thirds of the penalties and penalty yards, but in this contest the script was flipped, as the Washington O was only culpable for roughly a third of the penalties and penalty yards.

On the downside, all three infractions stalled drives and one of them nullified a 22-yard gain.


QUARTERBACKS

Quarterbacks (3 Players)
Player (* - starter) Snaps Snap %
Case Keenum * 79 100%
Dwayne Haskins 0 0%
Colt McCoy Inactive N/A

Case Keenum (Traditional Stats)- We saw a dropoff in Case Keenum’s performance for the second straight week, but this time it was a stark one. Keenum connected on 30 of his 43 passes (69.7%) for 332 yards (7.72 YPA), 21 first downs and 2 touchdowns, with the completion and first down totals representing season highs for the veteran passer. Both of his passes on two-point conversion attempts fell incomplete.

Those aren’t bad numbers in a vacuum, the problem is that there were also sacks and turnovers, a lot of sacks and turnovers. The Bears registered 4 sacks for 45 yards on Keenum, which was the most times he had been sacked since Week 8 of last season and the second-most sack yards against him in his entire career (50 yards in his first career game).

After not throwing a single interception or fumbling the ball once in Weeks 1 and 2, Keenum threw 3 interceptions, including a pick-six on the first drive by former Redskin HaHa Clinton-Dix, and lost two fumbles, one of which occurred when he made the ill-advised decision to extend the ball out on a 4th-and-1 play at the Chicago 16-yard line, not the 1-yard line.

This was just the third time in his 60-game career that Keenum had thrown three or more picks and it was the first time he had ever turned the ball over a total of five times as a pro. You have to go back about 10 ten years to find the one and only time that he had five-plus turnovers in college (6 interceptions vs. Air Force in 2009).

Despite his struggles on Monday night, Keenum still ranks inside the top ten in completions (2nd, 86), passing yards (4th, 933), passing touchdowns (4th, 7), passer rating (9th, 100.0) and completion percentage (9th, 69.4%)

Case Keenum (Advanced Stats)- The advanced stats certainly don’t paint a prettier picture for the journeyman signal caller. He ranked 31st in QBR (17.3) and 30th in PFF rating (36.1) at the position this week. The PFF grade ranked dead last on the team and was the second-worst mark of his career (35.6 in Week 15 of 2013). Keenum’s five turnover-worthy plays on the night brought his tally on the year to a league-high nine such plays this year.

He struggled both when under pressure (64.6 passer rating) and when using play action (53.5 passer rating).

Other Quarterbacks- To make matters worse, Keenum injured his foot in the game, did not practice today and is currently wearing a walking boot. Gruden said he expects him to play on Sunday, but that is far from a guarantee at this point.

Colt McCoy participated fully in today’s walkthrough. It was his first practice of any kind in well over a month. McCoy has a legitimate shot at starting on Sunday if Keenum can’t go.

Dwayne Haskins is currently listed as the backup to Keenum, but that could easily change if Jay Gruden likes what he sees from McCoy in practice this week.


WIDE RECEIVERS

Wide Receivers (6 Players)
Player (* - starter) Snaps Snap %
Terry McLaurin * 70 89%
Paul Richardson * 67 85%
Trey Quinn 59 75%
Kelvin Harmon 10 13%
Robert Davis 9 11%
Steven Sims 7 9%

Terry McLaurin- The rookie third-round pick out of OSU recorded 8 targets, 6 receptions, 70 yards, 5 first downs and a touchdown on Monday Night Football against the Bears. Scary Terry led the Redskins or tied for the team lead in first downs, touchdowns and air yards (91).

He made a contested catch in the end zone to give himself a touchdown for the third consecutive week, moved the chains with a fourth-down grab and would’ve added another 22 yards to his stat line had one of his receptions not been negated by an illegal-shift penalty.

Terry McLaurin Records- McLaurin’s performance in the game gave him the following records:

  • He became the first rookie to catch a touchdown pass in each of his first three games since Martavis Bryant did it in 2014. Only 15 other players have accomplished that feat since at least 1950, and just four of those did it in the last 20 years. Charlie Brown is the only other Redskin on that list, but he wasn’t even really a true rookie in 1982 when he did this (drafted in 1981).
  • McLaurin F1 is the now just the sixth rookie wideout since at least 1950 to gain 60-plus receiving yards and score a receiving TD in each of his first three games. The only other player in the last 50-plus years who can make this claim is 1984 Rookie of the Year Louis Lipps.
  • Scary Terry is the only player in recorded NFL history who has ever begun his career with three consecutive games with 5 receptions or more and a receiving touchdown. Julio Jones is the only other player in the league who has been able to do that this year.

McLaurin is on pace to catch 85 balls for 1,371 yards and 16 touchdowns. If he could maintain this pace and hit those extrapolated figures, he would finish his rookie campaign with the eighth-most receptions, the third-most receiving yards and the second-most receiving touchdowns ever recorded by a rookie. Let’s be realistic, though; he likely won’t reach those numbers.

However, even if he could just get 80% of the way there it would still give him a top-25 all-time finish by a rookie in each category. At least so far, Terry McLaurin is having one of the best rookie seasons by a wide receiver in NFL history.

Terry McLaurin Rankings- The Ohio State product leads the Redskins in targets (18), receptions (16), receiving yards (257), air yards (368), yards from scrimmage (257), first downs (13), touchdowns (3), longest gain (69 yards) and PFF grade (82.9). Terry McLaurin has been the best player on the Redskins this season.

He leads all rookie receivers in receptions, first downs, touchdowns and PFF grade. The only first-year player ahead of him in any of the statistics that were listed in the previous paragraph and not this one is first-round pick Marquise Brown. McLaurin, who was selected 51 picks after Brown was, is looking like the best hidden gem of the entire 2019 draft.

Terry Mac is one of just six players, regardless of experience, with a receiving touchdown in each game this season. He ranks 4th in receiving touchdowns, 14th in receiving yards, 7th in receiving first downs and 6th in PFF grade among all wide receivers. Terry McLaurin is not just one of the best Redskins or rookies, he is shaping up to be one of the best receivers in the entire league this year.

Paul Richardson- Paul Richardson had what was probably his best game as a member of the Redskins. He led the team in targets (9), receptions (8), first downs (5, tied for 1st), receiving yards (89) and touchdowns (1, tied for 1st). His target and reception figures were new career highs and his first-down total tied the personal record he set in Week 8 of 2017 (Houston at Seattle), which happened to be the only time he’s ever gained more receiving yards (105) or scored more than one touchdown (2) in a game.

This was P-Rich’s second consecutive game with a score, marking the third time he’s found the paint in back-to-back contests in his career. His TD on Monday came from two yards out on fourth down. Richardson also hauled in a 15-yard chain-moving grab on a third down that put the Skins into the red zone and set them up to score a touchdown two plays later. Half of his first downs (4-of-8) this year have come on third or fourth down.

Richardson drew a 4-yard DPI penalty on Kyle Fuller on Monday night, as well.

Perhaps Richardson can thank some of his success this year to how he is being utilized as more of a possession receiver in the intermediate parts of the field instead of being used as a deep-ball threat the way he has been in the past. His career average depth of target (aDOT) coming into the year was 13.5, but he is sporting an aDOT of just 8.7 through the first three games of the 2019 season.

Trey Quinn- The Skins’ slot receiver got seven looks in the passing game and turned those targets into 5 receptions, 30 yards and a pair of first downs. He led the squad with two targets on third down, but was unable to haul in either pass.

It’s nice to be able to count on Quinn to catch four or five balls every week, but it’s also fair to be a critical of the fact that he’s only gaining about 30 yards a game.

Of the 48 wide receivers and tight ends who have been targeted 20 or more times this season, Quinn ranks 47th in yards per reception (7.62), yards per target (4.95), aDOT (5.2) and yards per route run (0.85). Only Dede Westbrook ranks lower in any of those metrics. So, to say that Quinn has just been inefficient is definitely an understatement.

Kelvin Harmon- Harmon has seemingly disappeared after a debut game in Week 1 that saw him haul in two receptions for 31 yards and a pair of first downs. Believe it or not, but he was out there for 10 snaps against the Bears. He just wasn’t targeted for the second consecutive week.

Robert Davis- The third-year wideout’s playing time more than doubled from 4 to 9 snaps, but like Harmon, he also didn’t get any looks in the passing game for the second game in a row.

Steven Sims- Steven Sims, however, didn’t need much PT at all to get noticed in this one. He caught both of his targets, gained 24 yards on the plays and picked up first downs both times, one of which came on third down. The Redskins scored touchdowns on both drives Sims had a reception on. He led all players on the team with an 89.5 PFF grade.

The rookie UDFA was not perfect, though. He committed an illegal-shift penalty that negated a Terry McLaurin 22-yard gain; Case Keenum fumbled the ball away on the very next play, and the Bears scored three snaps later.


TIGHT ENDS

Tight Ends (3 Players)
Player (* - starter) Snaps Snap %
Vernon Davis * 56 71%
Jeremy Sprinkle * 38 48%
Jordan Reed Inactive N/A

Vernon Davis- VD caught two of his four targets and picked up 15-yard first downs on both catches (30 receiving yards). Davis’ first target came on the opening drive of the second half; the pass was intercepted and returned 59 yards by HaHa Clinton-Dix. Each of his other three targets were thrown to him on a possession that started late in the third quarter.

Davis also gave up a sack for the first time since Week 10 of last season (at Tampa Bay), dropped a pass and was flagged for false start and illegal formation penalties (the latter was declined). So needless to say, this was not a banner day for the ageless one.

Jeremy Sprinkle- Sprinkle started and played 38 snaps in the game, which was his third-highest total as a pro. He received a career-high 4 targets and caught two of them for a total of 19 yards and a first down. His 2 receptions and 19 yards were both tied for the second-best marks of his career.

Sprinkle likely would’ve set new personal records in those statistics had he not dropped what should have been at least a 20-yard first down on the Skins’ second offensive play of the night. It was actually the first drop of his career, but it was a costly one, as Case Keenum threw a pick-six on the following play. He was only credited with one drop, but there is a strong argument to be made that the other incompletion thrown to him was, in fact, dropped, as well.

It also wouldn’t be out of line to charge him, instead of Vernon Davis, with the first sack on Keenum. Sprinkle was lined up across from Khalil Mack on the play and just simply didn’t block him. It looked like this was by design, but at the same time, it makes absolutely no sense for him not to be blocking Mack in that situation, so it just as easily could’ve been a mistake on his part.

Jordan Reed- Jordan Reed missed his sixth consecutive game, and his third straight because of the concussion he suffered in Week 3 of the preseason.

A day before the Monday’s contest, Adam Schefter reported that several people inside Redskins Park and around the league are concerned that Reed might not be able to play again because of his issues with concussions.

He has easily been one of the top, if not the top playmaker for the Redskins since he was drafted in 2013, but at this point the best move for both Reed and the franchise would probably be for him to retire. Doing so would obviously be the best decision for Reed’s long-term health and it would both save Washington at least $8M in cap space in each of the next two years and allow the team to begin its search for a new starter.

Jerome Cunningham- Cunningham was signed to the active roster today. He has only played in 12 games and on 253 total snaps over the course of his seven-year career. Cunningham played his college ball at Southern Connecticut State and has had pro stints with the Giants, Jets, Titans and Lions.

Between all of his preseason and regular season appearances, he has amassed just 15 receptions for 189 yards, 6 first downs and a touchdown.


RUNNING BACKS

Running Backs (3 Players)
Player (* - starter) Snaps Snap %
Chris Thompson 40 51%
Adrian Peterson * 37 47%
Wendell Smallwood 2 3%

Adrian Peterson- Adrian Peterson’s struggles continued, as the Hall of Famer runner was only able to muster 37 yards on his 12 totes this past Monday night (3.08 YPC). AP’s longest rush gained just 7 yards and he did not pick up a single first down in the game. Of his 12 runs, 11 of them came on first down. He was also stuffed for no gain on a 3rd-and-1 inside the Chicago red zone.

Peterson was targeted three times and lost 3 yards on his only reception. He earned the third-worst PFF grade on the team (44.3) for the performance.

All Day, who averaged 5.14 yards per touch between his first two games last season, has only posted a per-touch average of 2.64 yards so far in 2019. He currently ranks 41st in yards per carry (2.82) and 31st in yard after contact per attempt (2.45).

Chris Thompson- Washington’s third-down back out-snapped Peterson by a count of 40-37. Thompson has led all Redskins running backs in snaps in all three weeks of the season.

CT ran the rock seven times for 29 yards, a first down and a team-best 4.1-yard average. The 29 yards on the ground was his highest such total since Week 1 of last season (at Arizona). Thompson’s 11-yard rush was the team’s longest run of the day and accounted for half of their rushing first downs.

Chris Army Knife was even better as a receiver. He caught 4-of-5 targets for 79 yards and 3 first downs. CT’s yards from scrimmage (108 yards) and receiving yardage (79 yard) totals ranked first and second on the team and represented his best marks in those statistics since Weeks 1 and 2 of last season, respectively.

Much of his receiving production came on receptions of 33 and 24 yards, which were the Redskins’ two longest plays of the game. The 33-yarder was the fourth-longest catch of Thompson’s career and his longest since his 49-yarder in Week 6 of 2017 (vs. San Francisco).

He easily led the team with 84 yards after the catch, which was a number that ranked second in the NFL this week (Alvin Kamara was first with 104 YAC). In fact, Thompson’s season-long YAC total of 175 yards ranks fourth in the league. He also is still tied for the team-lead in receptions (18) and continues to rank second among all running backs in receiving yards (195), behind only Austin Ekeler (205 yards).

However, it’s worth noting that all but one of his receiving first downs (5-of-6) and over half of receiving yards (102-of-195) this season have been racked up in the fourth quarter of games when the team has been down by nine points or more.

Chris Thompson Records- Thompson moved into third and fifth place all-time for the most receptions (186) and receiving yards (1,589) by a running back in team history. He now sits 52 catches and 896 receiving yards away from breaking Larry Brown’s franchise records in both categories.

Wendell Smallwood- Smallwood saw his snap count drop from 14 last week down to just two on Monday night. He did not touch the ball on either snap.

Redskins Rushing- The Washington offense combined to run the ball 21 times, but was only able to produce 69 yards, a 3.29-yard average and 2 first downs on those rushes. Sadly, sans the first-down total, all of those figures were new season highs.

Statistically the Redskins rank as one of the three worst teams in rushing yards (144), rushing average (2.82), first downs (6), first-down percentage (11.8%), 20-yard runs (0) and rushing DVOA (-38%).


OFFENSIVE LINEMEN

Offensive Line (9 Players)
Player (* - starter) Snaps Snap %
Morgan Moses * 79 100%
Donald Penn * 79 100%
Chase Roullier * 79 100%
Ereck Flowers * 78 99%
Brandon Scherff * 74 94%
Tony Bergstrom 6 8%
Geron Christian ST Only 0%
Wes Martin Inactive N/A
Ross Pierschbacher Inactive N/A

Offensive Line (Team)- Redskins runners were stuffed on all three of their short-yardage carries on third and fourth down and fumbled the ball away on one of them. This jives with the team’s 31st-place ranking in Football Outsiders Power Success metric (20%). The O-line ranks 23rd in FO’s all-important adjusted line yards average (3.79).

Things were much worse for the line is pass protection this week, though. The Bears defense was allowed to register 4 sacks for 45 yards, 5 QB hits and a 37.5% pressure rate on Case Keenum.

Donald Penn- Penn regressed a bit after a strong showing last week. He gave up 3 hurries and was flagged for holding Khalil Mack at the Chicago 11-yard line.

The penalty was a major part of the reason that the drive stalled and ended with a missed field goal and no points. Penn leads the team in both total (4) and accepted (3) penalties.

Ereck Flowers- Another game down and another impressive performance from Ereck Flowers, who only allowed a single pressure in the contest (a hurry). Flowers is the only starting offensive lineman on the team who hasn’t surrendered either a sack or a QB hit so far this season. Go figure.

Chase Roullier- Despite suffering a minor leg injury in the game, Chase Roullier played on 100% of the snaps for the 22nd straight time. He was, however, responsible for giving up a career-high 4 hurries. Rouillier has not gotten off to a great start this year and is on pace to allow 37 total pressures by season’s end, a number which would exceed his current career total by five.

The third-year pivot was spotted with a sleeve and a brace on his left knee this afternoon.

Brandon Scherff- Once again, Brandon Scherff, who missed 5 snaps with a minor ankle injury, was solid, but made a few costly mistakes, as well. He posted a 76.5 PFF grade, which ranked second on the team, but gave up a hurry and a sack.

The sack was courtesy of Danny Trevathan, who faked out Scherff hard by stopping cold on a pass rush, only to start rushing again and notch the sack as soon as Scherff looked away. The walk-year guard was not officially credited with allowing a sack on the final play of the game, but I wouldn’t argue with you at all if you wanted to tally that one for him, too.

On the positive side, left guard was the only spot the team averaged more than 4 yards per carry when running behind (5-33-6.6).

Scherff is not having his best season, but that is no reason not to give him the big new contract he deserves. The team is reportedly offering him a little over $13M APY, but they ought to know that anything less than about $15M per just won’t get it done.

Morgan Moses- You have to feel a bit for Morgan Moses given the situation. He was going up against one of the greatest pass rushers of this era, and perhaps of all time, and wasn’t given much help to block him.

Nevertheless, Moses was not able to rise to the occasion. Just as he did in Week 1, the sixth-year right tackle surrendered a sack, a hit and 4 hurries, which tied his career high of 6 total pressures. Case Keenum fumbled the ball on the sack, the Bears recovered and scored a touchdown three snaps later. Moses was also responsible for allowing a hurry on Keenum’s pick-six and probably would’ve been charged with another sack or two had the Bears not bailed him out with penalties.

Morgan Moses has now allowed an NFL-high 15 pressures this season.

Other Offensive Linemen- Tony Bergstrom saw time at both guard spots, as he filled in for Ereck Flowers at left guard for a snap and manned the right guard spot for Brandon Scherff for 5 plays. Bergstrom did not allow a pressure or commit a penalty on any of his 6 snaps.

Geron Christian, who was brought in as an extra goal-line blocker for a pair of snaps against the Cowboys, was relegated to a special-teams only role once again. Rookies Wes Martin and Ross Pierscbacher were inactive for the third time in as many games.


ALL OFFENSIVE PLAYERS

All Offensive Players (24 Players)
Player (* - starter) Snaps Snap % Player (* - starter) Snaps Snap %
Case Keenum * 79 100% Adrian Peterson * 37 47%
Morgan Moses * 79 100% Kelvin Harmon 10 13%
Donald Penn * 79 100% Robert Davis 9 11%
Chase Roullier * 79 100% Steven Sims 7 9%
Ereck Flowers * 78 99% Tony Bergstrom 6 8%
Brandon Scherff * 74 94% Wendell Smallwood 2 3%
Terry McLaurin * 70 89% Dwayne Haskins 0 0%
Paul Richardson * 67 85% Geron Christian ST Only 0%
Trey Quinn 59 75% Wes Martin Inactive N/A
Vernon Davis * 56 71% Colt McCoy Inactive N/A
Chris Thompson 40 51% Ross Pierschbacher Inactive N/A
Jeremy Sprinkle * 38 48% Jordan Reed Inactive N/A

*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

When will Jay Gruden be fired?

This poll is closed

  • 8%
    After Week 4 (Giants)
    (16 votes)
  • 15%
    After Week 5 (Patriots)
    (28 votes)
  • 7%
    After Week 6 (Dolphins)
    (14 votes)
  • 2%
    Between Weeks 7 and 9
    (5 votes)
  • 8%
    During the Week 10 Bye
    (16 votes)
  • 1%
    Between Weeks 11 and 17
    (2 votes)
  • 41%
    Right after the season ends
    (74 votes)
  • 10%
    He’ll stick around until his contract runs out at the end of 2020
    (18 votes)
  • 2%
    He’ll be with the team for the foreseeable future
    (5 votes)
178 votes total Vote Now