Skins Stats & Snaps: Colts @ Redskins (Defense/ST)

A look at the stats and snap counts for every defensive and special teams player on the Redskins in the team’s home opener against the Indianapolis Colts

Snaps- Greg Manusky used 19 of his 26 defenders over the course of 61 defensive snaps against the Colts. Of the seven who did not play on defense, three of them were inactive (Caleb Brantley, Adonis Alexander and Troy Apke) and three played only on special teams (Danny Johnson, Greg Stroman and Kenny Ladler).

QB Pressure- The pass rush was able to pressure Andrew Luck on a third of his dropbacks in the game (11-of-33). That pressure led to one of Luck’s two interceptions and resulted in one sack.

Third Down- After only giving up one third-down conversion on eight attempts last week, the Skins’ defense allowed the Colts’ offense to convert on 9-of-16 plays on the money down.

However, the bigger problem was on first and second down, as eight of the nine Indianapolis conversions came on third downs with 3 or fewer yards to go.

Red Zone- The Colts scored touchdowns on all three of their trips to the red zone, which means that the Redskins have allowed their opponents to score on 4-of-5 red-zone possessions so far this season. The defense will need to do better in the red area if the team is going to be leaning on the defense more than they have in years past.

Tight End Defense- The Washington D allowed the trio of Eric Ebron, Jack Doyle and Ryan Heywitt to catch 5-of-10 targets for 46 yards, 3 first downs and a touchdown. Their tight end coverage could’ve been worse in this game, but it also could’ve been a lot better.

Rushing Defense- After only allowing 65 yards on the ground last week against the Cardinals, the defense gave up 104 yards and 5 first downs to the Colts on Sunday. The Redskins also allowed a rushing TD for the second straight week.

Don’t Pin this L on the D- Yes, Washington’s defense was responsible for allowing three 75-yard touchdown drives in the game, with the first one coming on the opening drive of the contest, but they were very stout outside of that.

On the defense’s seven other non-kneel down drives in the matchup the Colts offense threw 2 interceptions, went three-and-out four times and saw another drive end after just four plays.

Top Ranked Defense- The Redskins defense still looks pretty good when you consider their rankings in some major statistical categories: 1st in total yards allowed (494 yards), 2nd in points allowed (27 points), tied for 6th in takeaways (4), 3rd in PFF grade (84.6) and 8th in DVOA (-15.5%).

DEFENSIVE LINEMEN

Defensive Linemen (6 Players)
Player (* - starter)	Snaps	Snap %
Jonathan Allen *	43	70%
Daron Payne *	39	64%
Matt Ioannidis	37	61%
Ziggy Hood	18	30%
Tim Settle	6	10%
Caleb Brantley	Inactive	N/A

Jonathan Allen- The founding member of the Alabama Wall put forth another solid showing. Big Jon Allen led all Skins D-linemen with 43 snaps played, 3 solo tackles, 4 total tackles, 2 QB hits and 3 total pressures (2 hits and 1 hurry). One of those hits came on the play that Luck threw Swearinger’s second interception of the game on. Allen ranked second on the team with a 79.5 Pro Football Focus rating.

His 4 QB hits and 86.9 grade for the year rank third and ninth among all interior defenders this season.

Daron Payne- Washington’s 2018 first-round pick played 39 snaps and recorded two stops in the running game. Unfortunately, Payne was unable to generate any pressure on his 18 plays as a pass rusher.

Matt Ioannidis- The Ion Man was back in full force this week. He recorded a second-down stop in the running game and tied Jonathan Allen with a team-high 3 pressures. Matty I hit for the pressure cycle by hurrying, hitting and sacking Andrew Luck in the game.

This was the first time in Ioannidis’ three-year career that he has recorded sacks in back-to-back games. He leads the 2018 iteration of the Washington Redskins in both total pressures (7) and sacks (2).

Ziggy Hood- Evander “Ziggy” Hood played 18 snaps in Sunday’s game. He failed to generate any pressure on his ten pass rushes, which makes this the 14th time in his last 25 games that he has not pressured the opposing quarterback once.

Hood did make it onto the stat sheet with two stops in the running game. He stopped one rush for a gain of a yard on a first down and stuffed Nyheim Hines for no gain on a 2nd-and-1 rush.

His 40.1 PFF grade for the game ranked dead last on the team among players who were in for more than one snap from scrimmage.

Tim Settle- Tim Settle saw his already minuscule playing time drop from 8 snaps and 15% in Week 1 to 6 snaps and 10% against the Colts on Sunday. He did score one hurry against the Cardinals, but was unable to generate any pressure on his four rushes in this game. He has yet to record any traditional stats this season.

Caleb Brantley- The former Florida Gator and Cleveland Brown was inactive again this week. You have to wonder whether the team will waive either Brantley or Hood, if and when Stacy McGee returns from the PUP list. I, for one, hope it’s the latter.

OUTSIDE LINEBACKERS

Outside Linebackers (4 Players)
Player (* - starter)	Snaps	Snap %
Ryan Kerrigan *	50	82%
Preston Smith *	47	77%
Ryan Anderson	14	23%
Pernell McPhee	11	18%

Ryan Kerrigan- Kerrigan saw his snap percentage jump from 68% to 82% between Weeks 1 and 2, and he finally found his way onto the stat sheet. However, the only stat he recorded was an assisted tackle on a 1-yard first-down rush.

Kerrigan did pressure Luck three times, with one of those coming on Ioannidis’ sack, but he failed to notch a hit or a sack for the second straight game. This is the first time in his career that Kerrigan has failed to record a sack in both Weeks 1 and 2 of a season. In his first seven seasons, he actually averaged 1.93 combined sacks between Weeks 1 and 2.

In perhaps, what’s a sign of good things yet to come, Kerrigan did lead the team’s top pass rushers in average yards of separation from the quarterback (3.97 yards) in Week 2. He was the only one of Preston Smith, Jonathan Allen and Matt Ioannidis who beat the league average of 4.49 yards of separation.

Preston Smith- At least Preston Smith seems to be starting to wake up. After not appearing on the stat sheet last week, he chipped in with 4 tackles (2 solo) against Indianapolis. The Colts did not reach the sticks on any of Smith’s tackles, and two of them came within a yard of the line of scrimmage.

Most importantly, the fourth-year pass rusher was able to get a quarterback hit on a third-down play that resulted in an incomplete pass and a three-and-out for the Indy offense. That was the first QB hit made by either Smith or Kerrigan this season.

However, this was still just the seventh time both players failed to record a sack in back-to-back contests over the course of their 51 career games together (including postseason).

Pernell McPhee- McPhee continued to shine, despite his lack of substantial playing time. He scored 2 QB hits for the second week in a row. The difference was it only took him five rushes to hit that mark, instead of the 11 he got against Arizona in Week 1. Unfortunately, he was flagged for roughing the passer on one of those hits.

McPhee needs to get more opportunities to rush the passer if he keeps playing like this.

Ryan Anderson- It was a return to normalcy for Ryan Anderson, who recorded the first sack of his NFL career last week. He played 14 snaps against the Colts on Sunday and failed to generate a pressure or record a stat of any kind. Hopefully, this was just a bump in the road instead of regression to the mean for Anderson.

INSIDE LINEBACKERS

Inside Linebackers (5 Players)
Player (* - starter)	Snaps	Snap %
Mason Foster *	60	98%
Zach Brown *	51	84%
Josh Harvey-Clemons	10	16%
Zach Vigil	1	2%
Shaun Dion Hamilton	ST Only	0%

Mason Foster- Mason Foster was all over the field on Sunday and had what was probably his most productive game since 2016. He played on all but one snap, hurried Luck on one of his six pass rushes, set up an interception with a tipped pass and recorded team highs in solo (8) and total tackles (11).

Six of those tackles were counted as stops, with one of them being a TFL and another one stopping the Colts for no gain. In all, Indy only gained an average of 3.1 yards on the 11 plays Foster secured a takedown on. This was his first double-digit tackle game since Week 17 of the 2016 season.

He did give up 5 receptions on his 26 coverage snaps and 6 targets, but the Colts only gained 18 yards and picked up one first down on those catches, all of which Foster made a tackle on.

Zach Brown- Brown saw his defensive snap percentage rise from 68% last week to 84% in Week 2, but that is still lower than the snap rates he saw in 26 of the last 29 games he played in before this season began. It seems like the team is clearly trying to either keep him fresh, take him out in obvious passing situations or both.

ZB generated pressure on one of his six pass-rushing snaps (a hurry), didn’t allow a reception on his 18 coverage snaps and made 6 assisted and 10 total tackles in the game. Those final two marks ranked first and second on the team.

Six of his tackles, including a TFL and tackle for no gain, were made within 2 yards of the line of scrimmage and four of them were counted as defensive stops. Indianapolis did not move the chains on a single one of the ten plays Brown recorded a tackle on.

Brown’s 78.3 PFF grade against the Colts ranked third on the team. His grade of 90.0 on the season ranks fourth among all inside backers.

Josh Harvey-Clemons- JHC saw his PT essentially get cut in half this week (32% to 16% snap rate), most likely because of a negative game script. He subbed in for Zach Brown on 10 snaps, most of which came on third downs and passing plays. He went out in coverage six times and rushed the passer on three plays.

Harvey-Clemons was not targeted and didn’t show up on the Skins’ stat sheet in any capacity.

Zach Vigil- After taking 15 snaps with the defense in Week 1, Vigil came in to spell Foster for just one defensive play against the Colts.

Shaun Dion Hamilton- Hamilton’s only playing time came on special teams for the second week in a row.

CORNERBACKS

Cornerbacks (6 Players)
Player (* - starter)	Snaps	Snap %
Josh Norman *	61	100%
Quinton Dunbar *	60	98%
Fabian Moreau *	39	64%
Danny Johnson	ST Only	0%
Greg Stroman	ST Only	0%
Adonis Alexander	Inactive	N/A

Josh Norman- Norman played on all 61 defensive snaps against the Colts. He allowed all four of the targets thrown into his coverage to be caught for 47 yards and one first down. That is the most yards J-No has allowed since Week 14 of last season (142 yards allowed against the Chargers).

He made tackles on three of the four receptions he gave up, but also whiffed on a game-high two tackle attempts.

The Redskins would likely struggle mightily in pass defense if the play of the soon-to-be 31-year-old starts to fall off.

Quinton Dunbar- Dunbar came back down to earth after his career day against the Cardinals in Week 1.

The former wideout played on all but one snap and gave up a team-worst 52 receiving yards and 2 first downs in his coverage. The first downs came on passes of 22 and 21 yards to T.Y. Hilton and former Redskin Ryan Grant, with the former coming on third down; those were the Colts’ two longest plays of the game. Two of Dunbar’s 5 solo tackles came on plays he allowed catches on.

On a positive note, QD was able to score a PD on a first-down pass to Jack Doyle at the end of the first quarter. His 5 pass defenses through two weeks of the season are tied for the most in the NFL.

Fabian Moreau- Like Dunbar, Fabian Moreau also got a dose of reality in Week 2. After not allowing a single catch on 36 coverage snaps and 2 targets against the Cardinals, the second-year corner allowed a catch on three of the four targets that were thrown in his direction for 21 yards and a first down.

He committed a 37-yard pass interference penalty against T.Y. Hilton that set the Colts up to score their second touchdown of the afternoon. Penalties aren’t counted as “long plays”, but if they were then that would have been the longest play of the game by either team.

Moreau also recorded 2 tackles (1 solo and 1 assist) and hurried Andrew Luck once on just three pass-rushing snaps.

Greg Stroman- Greg Stroman was relegated to a special-teams only role after seeing 11 snaps at outside corner last week in Arizona. He operated as both the team’s primary punt and kickoff return man.

Danny Johnson- The undrafted free agent out of Southern University only saw time on special teams for the second straight game.

Adonis Alexander- Alexander was on the inactive list for the second consecutive week. He figures to remain there until an injury or poor play by one of the corners ahead of him on the depth chart gives him a chance to dress on game day.

SAFETIES

Safeties (5 Players)
Player (* - starter)	Snaps	Snap %
Montae Nicholson *	61	100%
D.J. Swearinger *	61	100%
Deshazor Everett	2	3%
Kenny Ladler	ST Only	0%
Troy Apke	Inactive	N/A

Montae Nicholson- Last year’s fourth-round pick played on 100% of the snaps for the second time in as many games this season. It was just the third time in Nicholson’s career that he’s been in on every defensive snap.

He was targeted three times on his 32 coverage snaps and gave up 2 receptions for a total of 20 yards on those plays.

Unfortunately, the two receptions he allowed both came on the opening drive of the game and had a big impact on the final outcome. Nicholson gave up a 13-yard reception to Eric Ebron on a third down that set the Colts up inside the Redskins’ red zone. Three plays later he allowed Ebron to catch a 7-yard touchdown. The Skins did not top 6 points until there were less than six minutes left in the game.

Nicholson was, at least, able to defend a deep pass thrown to Ebron on a Colts’ drive that went three-and-out.

He tied a career high with 6 total tackles in the game (4 solo), but also missed a tackle for the second straight week.

D.J. Swearinger- D.J. Swearinger played on 100% of the snaps for the 15th time in his 18th career game as a member of the Redskins and almost single-handily kept Washington in the game.

Like Nicholson, he gave up a third-down conversion and a touchdown (T.Y. Hilton) on one drive; however, he also made solo tackles on two of the three receptions he allowed (3 solo tackles in the game), registered a hurry on his lone pass-rushing snap and picked off two passes in the game.

The Skins scored two-thirds of their points (6) on the drives following Swearinger’s interceptions. This was the second time with the Redskins and in his career that Swearinger has intercepted two passes in a game.

He became the 19th player in team history to record two or more interceptions in multiple games since at least 1950. That list includes greats like Darrell Green, Paul Krause, Jake Scott, Chris Hanburger, Lemar Parrish, Shawn Springs and Champ Bailey.

Swearinger’s 91.5 PFF grade for the performance ranked eighth in the NFL among all players who took more than 10 snaps from scrimmage in Week 2. Here are the only players that bested him this week: Ryan Fitzpatrick (96.3), Dante Fowler (94.9), Patrick Mahomes (94.1), Sam Shields (93.7), Kirk Cousins (93.6), Darius Leonard (92.6) and Aaron Donald (92.3).

Deshazor Everett- Deshazor Everett took just 2 snaps with the defense for the second straight week. Everett only played on fewer than 8 defensive snaps twice in the 14 games he was active for last season. He has yet to record a stat of any kind this season.

Troy Apke- Troy Apke sat this one out with a hamstring injury.

Kenny Ladler- Apke’s replacement worked exclusively on special teams. Unfortunately, Ladler did not record any specials stats in the game.

ALL DEFENSIVE PLAYERS

Defense (26 Players)
Player (* - starter)	Snaps	Snap %		Player (* - starter)	Snaps	Snap %
Montae Nicholson *	61	100%		Ryan Anderson	14	23%
Josh Norman *	61	100%		Pernell McPhee	11	18%
D.J. Swearinger *	61	100%		Josh Harvey-Clemons	10	16%
Quinton Dunbar *	60	98%		Tim Settle	6	10%
Mason Foster *	60	98%		Deshazor Everett	2	3%
Zach Brown *	51	84%		Zach Vigil	1	2%
Ryan Kerrigan *	50	82%		Shaun Dion Hamilton	ST Only	0%
Preston Smith *	47	77%		Danny Johnson	ST Only	0%
Jonathan Allen *	43	70%		Kenny Ladler	ST Only	0%
Fabian Moreau *	39	64%		Greg Stroman	ST Only	0%
Daron Payne *	39	64%		Adonis Alexander	Inactive	N/A
Matt Ioannidis	37	61%		Troy Apke	Inactive	N/A
Ziggy Hood	18	30%		Caleb Brantley	Inactive	N/A

SPECIAL TEAMS

Special Teams (30 Players)
Player	Snaps	Snap %		Player	Snaps	Snap %
Deshazor Everett	21	84%		Montae Nicholson	7	28%
Danny Johnson	21	84%		Mason Foster	6	24%
Jehu Chesson	18	72%		Tim Settle	6	24%
Josh Harvey-Clemons	18	72%		Tony Bergstrom	4	16%
Kenny Ladler	18	72%		Matt Ioannidis	4	16%
Zach Vigil	18	72%		Shawn Lauvao	4	16%
Greg Stroman	16	64%		Morgan Moses	4	16%
Jeremy Sprinkle	15	60%		Ty Nsekhe	4	16%
Shaun Dion Hamilton	14	56%		Brian Quick	4	16%
Ryan Anderson	12	48%		Chase Roullier	4	16%
Rob Kelley	9	36%		Jonathan Allen	3	12%
Fabian Moreau	9	36%		Ziggy Hood	3	12%
Nick Sundberg	9	36%		Ryan Kerrigan	3	12%
Tress Way	9	36%		Daron Payne	3	12%
Dustin Hopkins	8	32%		Brandon Scherff	1	4%

Snaps- Ben Kotwica used 30 players over the course of the 25 special teams snaps in the game. That group of 30 players was made up of 17 defenders, 10 offensive players and 3 specialists. Only four players worked exclusively on special teams (Shaun Dion Hamilton, Kenny Ladler, Greg Stroman and Danny Johnson).

Johnson and Deshazor Everett led the team with 21 specials snaps. Josh Harvey-Clemons, Jehu Chesson, Zach Vigil and Kenny Ladler were right behind them with 18 teams snaps a piece.

Dustin Hopkins- Dustin Hopkins hit on two field goals from 49 yards out and a 27-yarder, but missed wide left on what would’ve been another 49-yarder. Surprisingly, Hopkins has hit on five of his six career attempts from 49 yards (this was his first such miss) and is 12-for-15 on kicks between 45 and 49 yards out.

Three of his four kickoffs landed in the back of the end zone and went for touchbacks, with the other one being returned 19 yards out to the Indy 24-yard line.

Tress Way- Three of Tress Way’s punts were fair caught or downed inside the Colts’ 20 and a fourth punt was downed at the 22-yard line. Way did, however, seem to shank a punt from the Washington 32-yard line that only traveled 28 yards before sailing out of bounds at the Indianapolis 40. His 36.4-yard punting average for the game was the third lowest such mark of his career.

Kick Coverage- Josh Harvey-Clemons tackled former Redskin Zach Pascal at the Indianapolis 24-yard line after a gain of 19 yards on the Colts’ only kickoff return of the game. That was Washington’s only special teams tackle of the contest.

Danny Johnson and Jehu Chesson downed punts at the Indy 22 and 10-yard lines, respectively.

Nick Sundberg’s holding penalty on a Tress Way punt moved the Colts’ starting field position on the ensuing drive from the 18 to the 28.

Kickoff Returns- Greg Stroman and Danny Johnson operated as the team’s return men on all four of the Colts’ kickoffs. Three of those kicks sailed to the back of the end zone and ended up as touchbacks.

Greg Stroman fielded the Skins’ only kickoff return of the matchup at the 2-yard line and returned it 16 yards out to the Washington 18. A Jehu Chesson holding penalty on the play moved the offense back to the 9-yard line to start their opening drive of the second half.

Punt Returns- The Colts punted four times in Sunday’s game. One of them went for a touchback and Greg Stroman fair caught three other punts at the Washington 25, 15 and 27-yard lines. Stroman gained 6 yards on his only punt return of the night before being tackled at the 38-yard line.

*All statistics are courtesy of ESPN, NBC Sports, NFL.com, NFL Gamebooks, Pro Football Focus, Pro Football Reference, USA Today, Redskins.com, The Washington Post and the Washington Times*

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