Skins Stats & Snaps: Texans @ Redskins (Offense)

A look at the stats and snap counts for every offensive player on the Redskins in the team’s Week 11 matchup with the Houston Texans

Snaps- Jay Gruden used 18 of his 24 offensive players and one defender over the course of 75 snaps on Sunday against the Houston Texans. The 75 snaps represented the team’s second-highest total of the season (Week 1 at Cardinals).

Of the six who did not play on offense, four were inactive (Jamison Crowder, Samaje Perine, Chris Thompson and Trent Williams) one played solely on special teams (Jehu Chesson) and one was active but did not take a snap of any kind (Luke Bowanko).

Yards- The offense set new season lows in both total yards gained (278) and yards per play (3.81). The last time a Washington team posted worse numbers in both yardage statistics was in Week 6 of the 2015 season (at Jets).

The First Lead Change- The first lead change of the Redskins’ 2018 season came with 11 minutes and 57 seconds left in the game.

They were tied for the longest such streak of games to a start season in NFL history (9), but by making it to the fourth quarter without a lead change, they technically set a new record for the longest stretch without a lead change to begin a season.

3rd & 4th Down- Washington was able to convert on six of their 15 third-down tries (40%). Four of those six conversions came on plays where the Skins needed to gain five or more yards to move the chains, with the other two coming on 3rd-and-1 plays.

That doesn’t sound too terribly bad, but things look much worse when you consider that the nine unsuccessful plays on the money down included 3 sacks (Smith twice and McCoy once) and 2 interceptions (both by Smith). The offense currently ranks 20th in the league in third-down conversion percentage (38.2%).

The Redskins were able to convert on their only fourth-down attempt of the afternoon, a 4th-and-1 play at the beginning of the fourth quarter. Going into week 12, the Skins rank 12th in fourth-down conversion percentage (61.5%).

Red Zone- The Redskins made it to the red zone four times in week 11 and reached the end zone on three of those trips. Unfortunately, their lone blunder in the red area did put points on the board, just not for Washington. On a 3rd-down play at Houston’s 9-yard line, Alex Smith threw an interception to Justin Reid, who returned the pick-six 101 yards.

Turnovers- Washington tied a season-high with 2 giveaways (Week 5 at Saints). They are, however, one of eight teams that has turned the ball over one time or less in at least eight of their games this year. You’ll be happy to know that the elite trio of the Saints, Rams and Chiefs are included in this group.

Injuries- Five of the offense’s projected starters going into training camp are now on injured reserve (Derrius Guice, Shawn Lauvao, Brandon Scherff, Paul Richardson and Alex Smith). Together those players will have missed 50 games this season.

Three of the other starters (Trent Williams, Jamison Crowder and Josh Doctson) and their third-down back, who is essentially a 12th starter, have already combined to sit out for 15 contests.

That means the offensive starters and Chris Thompson will end the year with a bare minimum of 65 games lost due to injury, which is eight more than the 57 missed games by CT and last year’s starting offense.

QUARTERBACKS

Quarterbacks (2 Players)
Player (* - starter)	Snaps	Snap %
Alex Smith *	51	68%
Colt McCoy	24	32%

Alex Smith (The Game)- Alex Smith completed 12 of his 27 pass attempts, which was good for a 44.4% completion rate. That is the sixth-lowest completion percentage of his entire career and his lowest in the last ten years. He only gained 135 yards on his 27 throws, his lowest total in over two years. I would downplay these numbers more, but 27 attempts is not an extremely small sample size for one game, especially for Smith, who has attempted between 15 and 27 attempts in 56 of his 161 career starts (34.8).

He did not throw a touchdown for the third time this year, which also marks the seventh occasion in 2018 that he passed for one or fewer scores. Smith did, however, throw interceptions on back-to-back drives. The first one was thrown into the end zone and was returned 101 yards for a touchdown, which was the longest pick-six against the Redskins in franchise history. Three plays later, he threw his second pick at Washington’s own 30-yard line. Both interceptions came on third down. This was just his second multi-pick game since the start of 2016 (including playoffs).

Smith ran the ball four times for a season-best 33 yards and tied a 2018-best with three first downs on the ground. One of those first downs came on third down and another one of them set Adrian Peterson up to score a 3-yard touchdown on the following play.

He was sacked on three of his dropbacks for the seventh time this year. Tim Couch and J.P. Losman are the only players who were sacked precisely three times in more games (single season) than Smith since the merger.

Unfortunately, Alex Smith broke his tibia and fibula on the Texans’ third sack of the game. The injury took place exactly 33 years after Joe Theismann suffered a career-ending injury on a Lawrence Taylor sack. Smith is expected to recover, but it will be a long and arduous process that will take six months, at the very least.

Alex Smith (The Season)- Alex Smith’s first, and perhaps only, season with the Washington Redskins has ended after ten games. The veteran signal caller completed 205 of his 328 passes for 2,180 yards, 114 first downs, 10 touch downs, 5 interceptions and 22 sacks. He ran the ball 41 times for 168 yards, 15 first downs and 1 touchdown.

Smith did not have a good season by almost any measure. I could break the aforementioned totals into per game figures, but I think the best way to articulate his struggles in 2018 is to tell you where he ranked in the major rate and efficiency statistics.

Among 32 qualifiers he ranked 24th in completion percentage (62.5%), last in touchdown percentage (3.0%), 28th in first down percentage (32.3%), 30th in yards per attempt (6.65), 23rd in adjusted net yards per attempt (5.81), 25th in passer rating (84.3), 24th in total QBR (48.9), 23rd in PFF grade (70.2) and 27th in DVOA (-8.7%). He was not responsible for a single fourth-quarter comeback or game-winning drive, so you can guess where he ranked in that regard. His only saving grace was that he ranked 4th in interception percentage (1.5%).

Colt McCoy- Colt McCoy replaced Alex Smith midway through the third quarter and played the final 24 snaps of the game. McCoy played 441 snaps in a meaningless Week 17 affair against the Cowboys in 2015, took the last 3 snaps for the team in a 47-17 beatdown of the Saints that year and was in for the final snaps of a blowout at the hands of the Cowboys last year, but his first meaningful snaps since Week 15 of 2014 came in Sunday’s game.

The ninth year vet stepped in and threw a touchdown pass on his first attempt against the Texans. It was his first score since he threw a 71-yard TD to Rashad Ross in the fourth quarter of the aforementioned 2017 finale against Dallas.

McCoy nearly led the Redskins to their first come-from-behind win of 2018, but he fell just short of doing so. He finished the game with the following line: 12 attempts, 6 completions, 5 first downs, 54 yards, 1 touchdown, no interceptions, 2 sacks and a 90.3 passer rating.

He also ran the ball five times for 2 first downs and 35 yards, which is the best yardage total by a Skins’ quarterback since Kirk Cousins gained 38 yards on the ground against Alex Smith’s Chiefs in Week 4 of 2017. One of McCoy’s chain movers against Houston came on the Redskins’ only fourth-down try of the day; the offense finished the drive by scoring a touchdown and taking the lead after trailing for the first time all year.

McCoy showed that he was not afraid to air it out in this one. His average depth of target of 14.2 yards, was the highest such mark by a Washington QB this season. Expect McCoy to continue to play more aggressively than Smith has.

This will likely cause the Redskins to both gain more yards through the air (25th in passing yards per game) and turn the ball over more often (3rd in giveaways), Jay Gruden and McCoy will need to find a healthy balance between the two if the team hopes to reach the postseason for the first time since 2015.

Colt McCoy’s first start since 2014 will come against the last team he officially won a game against, the Dallas Cowboys.

Mark Sanchez-Mark Sanchez was signed to be the Redskins’ new backup quarterback on Monday. The Sanchize will make his debut with the team exactly six years to the date from his infamous butt fumble. He has only taken 22 dropbacks since the start of the 2016 season and five of those plays ended with either a sack or an interception (3 sacks and 2 INTs).

Sanchez has scored 99 total touchdowns in his career, but he has also turned the ball over 110 times. He’s posted a QB rating over 100.0 in 15 games, but he’s produced a rating below 70.0 in 31 contests. I don’t know about you, but that’s too much bust and not enough boom for my liking.

The main, and perhaps the only, reason Sanchez was signed was because he has played with or for Jay Gruden’s top-3 offensive lieutenants (Bill Callahan, Matt Cavanaugh and Kevin O’Connell). Let’s just hope we never have to see him step foot on the field for the Burgundy and Gold.

WIDE RECEIVERS

Wide Receivers (6 Players)
Player (* - starter)	Snaps	Snap %
Josh Doctson *	64	85%
Trey Quinn *	53	71%
Maurice Harris *	41	55%
Michael Floyd	33	44%
Jehu Chesson	ST Only	0%
Jamison Crowder	Inactive	N/A

Josh Doctson- Doctson received a season-high 7 targets on Sunday, but was only able to produce 3 receptions for 32 yards and 3 first downs on those looks. To be fair, the three passes he caught were the only clearly catchable balls thrown to him all day. Every one of his targets came in the second half and five of them were thrown by Colt McCoy.

He should’ve been credited with forcing what would’ve essentially been a game-winning 37-yard DPI on the Redskins’ penultimate play of the contest, but no flag was thrown. The missed call was confirmed by the league office.

Doctson is only 1 reception and 6 yards behind Maurice Harris for the lead among the team’s wide receivers. He already leads all Washington wideouts in targets and first downs.

But let’s be real, putting up the highest receiving totals among all wide receivers on the Redskins is not some lofty accomplishment. No WR on the team has hit 30 receptions and 300 receiving yards, yet. That’s just a bit troubling, considering 54 wideouts have 30 or more receptions and 73 of them have over 300 yards.

Trey Quinn- Mr. Irrelevant himself, Trey Quinn, returned from an ankle injury that had sidelined him since Week 1.

Quinn, who only played 8 snaps in the season opener against the Cardinals, was on the field for 53 of the offense’s 75 snaps this past Sunday (71%), which is a number that ranks second among all Washington skill position players. Only Josh Doctson (43) and Jordan Reed (39) ran more routes in the game. He replaced Mo Harris as the team’s primary slot man in Jamison Crowder’s absence; Quinn lined up in the slot on 75% of his routes.

The LSU and SMU product caught all four of the passes thrown his way for a game-high 4 first downs and 49 yards, which was the second-highest receiving yardage total on the team. Three of his chain-moving receptions came on third down and he caught an 8-yard pass that was negated by a Houston penalty. Quinn led all Redskins wide receivers in yards per target (12.3) and per route run (1.36). He also ran the ball once on a jet sweep, but was stopped for no gain.

Make no mistake about it, Trey Quinn can play, and he has proved it at every level. Don’t forget that he set the all-time record for the most receiving yards in a high school career (6,566 yards) and led the nation in receptions last year (114 receptions), despite playing on an SMU team that also featured 2018 second-round pick Cameron Sutton.

Maurice Harris- Maurice Harris started for the third time this season, but was on the field for less than 60% of the offensive snaps for the first time since Week 3 (vs. Packers), which was his first game of the year. Mo lined up in the slot just nine times, after taking at least 17 snaps inside in each of the last five games.

This was one of Harris’ least productive games of the year, as well. He was only able to catch 1-of-4 targets for 13 yards and a first down. This was a bit surprising to see after we watched him rack up 17 targets, 15 receptions, 7 first downs and 176 yards in his last two games combined.

Michael Floyd- Michael Floyd played on a 2018-high 33 snaps on Sunday. Floyd caught one of his 3 targets in the game for 18 yards and a first down.

His first two looks came on back-to-back plays on the team’s second drive of the game. Floyd was unable to get both feet inbounds on what would’ve been an 18-yard reception on the first of those targets. He made up for it on the following play with an 18-yard reception on 3rd-and-6. His final target came on the third-to-last play of the game; the pass was not catchable.

The former first-round pick has been targeted 11 times this year, but he’s only got 4 receptions for 53 yards and 3 first downs to show for it. Floyd ranks second among all Redskins with a 13.3 yards-per-reception average (5-target minimum), but also ranks last on the team in yards per target (4.82), yards per route run (0.70) and catch percentage (36.4%); if only he could actually catch the ball.

Jehu Chesson- After being on the field for 4 offensive snaps last week, Chesson was relegated to a special-teams only role against the Texans. Chesson has played solely on special teams in four of his six games with the Redskins this season.

Jamison Crowder- Crowder’s injured ankle forced him to sit out for the sixth consecutive game. Crowder needs to get back on the field as soon as possible because the team desperately needs help at receiver and his absence is likely hurting his chances of earning a big contract next offseason.

He is scheduled to hit free agency in less than 6 months and his value to the Redskins and on the open market is likely dropping by the day. I could definitely envision a scenario in which they let Crowder walk next Spring and replace him with the cheaper, younger, bigger, faster and more agile Trey Quinn.

TIGHT ENDS

Tight Ends (3 Players)
Player (* - starter)	Snaps	Snap %
Jordan Reed *	50	67%
Vernon Davis	28	37%
Jeremy Sprinkle	27	36%

Jordan Reed- This was one of Jordan Reed’s best games in the last two years. The former Florida Gator ran a season-high 39 routes, led all players in the game with 11 targets and 7 receptions and his 71 yards were the most by any Redskin on Sunday. The 7 receptions tied a season high and the 71 receiving yards were his most since he dropped 95 yards on the Cowboys two Thanksgivings ago.

On Sunday, Reed also picked up 3 first downs, caught his first touchdown since Week 1 and was the target on Alex Smith’s 101-yard pick six.

The target on the interception was thrown into the end zone, which snapped Reed’s streak of targets without one that was thrown past the goal line at 59. No other tight end has an active streak even half as long.

Reed earned an 80.6 PFF grade for the performance, the highest rating on the offense and Reed’s best since the aforementioned 2016 Thanksgiving Day matchup.

He currently leads the Redskins in targets, receptions and receiving yards by significant margins. Reed has 24 more targets, 16 more receptions and 171 more receiving yards than the player in second on the team in those categories.

Vernon Davis- Vernon Davis played on just 37.3% of the snaps on Sunday, which was his third-lowest snap share since joining the team in 2016.

Perhaps, Davis’ playing time was cut down because he couldn’t hang onto the ball. First, VD failed to haul in a third-down target midway through the first quarter. He went on to flat-out drop a 2nd-and-9 pass in the second quarter which could’ve easily gone for a touchdown; Alex Smith was sacked on the ensuing third-down play. That drop was a major part of the reason the Redskins went three-and-out following a takeaway by the defense that set the offense up at the Houston 45-yard line.

The 34-year-old tight end has been held without a catch in three of his last five games and is on pace to post his lowest reception total since his rookie season.

Davis’ 38.6 PFF grade ranked last among all Washington offensive players and was his second-lowest grade since Week 7 of the 2014 season.

Jeremy Sprinkle- Sprinkle’s 27 snaps against the Texans represented his second highest total as a pro, and his 36% snap rate was a career high for a game that Washington lost. He also set a new personal record with 12 routes run.

The second-year tight end was “officially” targeted on a red-zone play, but the pass was more of a throwaway than anything, as the ball wasn’t thrown anywhere particularly near him.

RUNNING BACKS

Running Backs (6 Players)
Player (* - starter)	Snaps	Snap %
Adrian Peterson *	42	56%
Byron Marshall	17	23%
Kapri Bibbs	16	21%
Ryan Anderson	2	3%
Samaje Perine	Inactive	N/A
Chris Thompson	Inactive	N/A

Adrian Peterson- This was quite an odd game for Adrian Peterson, at least relative to his 2018 standards.

All three of AP’s lowest snap totals of the year came in the Redskins’ three losses, but he tied a season high with 42 snaps against the Texans. He had not gained more than 20 rushing yards in any of the team’s defeats coming into Sunday, but he rushed for 51 yards in this game. Peterson caught at least two passes and picked up 16 or more receiving yards in each of those previous losses, but against Houston, he was not targeted for the second time this season.

None of his 4 rushing touchdowns in Weeks 1-11 came when the team was tied or behind on the scoreboard, yet both of his trips to the end zone on Sunday came when the Skins were facing a deficit.

All Day only failed to gain yardage on one of his runs, which was the first time that he had not been stuffed on multiple carries all season. However, he kept things medium, as Jim Zorn would say, by not recording a single rush of 10 or more yards for just the second time as a Redskin.

Adrian Peterson (Touchdown Rankings)- Peterson’s two rushing touchdowns moved him past John Riggins and into sixth-place in NFL history with 105 scores on the ground. He is just one TD away from tying the legendary Jim Brown for fifth all-time.

AP was tied with Marcus Allen, Priest Holmes and Shaun Alexander for the fifth most multi-rushing touchdown games in league history (25), but he moved past that trio and into sole possession of fourth on the all-time list. He is one game away from tying Jim Brown in this regard, as well.

Kapri Bibbs- This was probably Kapri Bibbs’ worst game as a Redskin. He played on his lowest snap total in a game that Chris Thompson missed this season (16), was stopped for no gain on his single rush, only picked up 6 yards between his 2 receptions in the game, had one of his targets picked off and gave up a sack in pass protection.

This was the first time in Bibbs’ career that a pass thrown to him was intercepted, he allowed a sack and he averaged less than 6 yards per reception in a game he caught a pass in. Bibbs also committed his first penalty of the year, when he was flagged for holding on special teams.

Samaje Perine- Perine missed the game with a calf injury. He has only played 59 total snaps this season (including special teams).

Byron Marshall- Perine’s absence was a major reason, if not the main reason, why the Redskins activated Byron Marshall from the Reserve/Injured list. Unfortunately, Marshall played just about as poorly as Bibbs did.

In his 2018 debut, Marshall played 17 snaps, gained a total of 5 yards on his two rushes (both of which came on 1st-and-10 plays), gained no yards on his lone reception and gave up the sack that ended Alex Smith’s season. He earned a career-worst 51.8 grade for his showing against Houston.

Whew, so, when does Chris Thompson come back again?

Ryan Anderson- Anderson lined up as a fullback on 3rd-and-1 and 4th-and-1 running plays that moved the chains. The team gained 5 yards on both rushes.

The Redskins have picked up a first down on 8 of Anderson’s 9 offensive snaps this season. They have put up a 73.3% conversion rate on his 15 career snaps (11-fo-15).

Chris Thompson- Thompson was sideline for the fifth time this year and has now missed 11 of the team’s last 16 contests. He amazingly still ranks 2nd among all Washington players and 20th among all running backs in receptions. It should, however, be noted that 14 of his 28 catches on the year came in one game (Week 2 vs. Colts).

Redskins Rushing- Six players combined to run the ball 29 times for 129 yards, 9 first downs and a 4.28 YPC average. The team failed to gain yardage on three carries (one for a loss), but more than made up for it with ten rushes of 5 or more yards.

Interestingly enough, six of those 5-yard runs, five of the nine first downs and 73 of the 129 yards were racked up by Colt McCoy and Alex Smith. All of those numbers were season highs for Washington’s quarterback corps and they at least doubled Alex Smith’s season highs coming into the game.

OFFENSIVE LINEMEN

Offensive Linemen (8 players)
Player (* - starter)	Snaps	Snap %
Tony Bergstrom *	75	100%
Jonathan Cooper *	75	100%
Chase Roullier *	75	100%
Morgan Moses *	75	100%
Ty Nsekhe *	75	100%
Austin Howard	2	3%
Luke Bowanko	0	0%
Trent Williams	Inactive	N/A

Offensive Line (Team)- The Redskins gave up a season-worst 5 sacks, their highest such total in almost exactly a year (6 sacks vs. the Giants on 11/23/2017). The team has now allowed at least 3 sacks in 8 of their last 11 games. Offensive linemen were at fault on three of them this past Sunday against the Texans.

Washington QBs were pressured on 15-of-50 dropbacks (30%) and hit multiple times, as well.

The line did, however, lead the way for the team to rush for 124 yards and average 2.38 yards before contact.

Ty Nsekhe- Nsekhe started for the third straight week and for the 14th time in his career. His 75 snaps in the game tied a career high.

He gave up 4 pressures (3 hurries and a hit), which is twice as many as he had allowed all season coming into the game (2). Nsekhe was also flagged for a third-down false start; luckily, the Texans gave the offense those 5 yards back with a neutral zone infraction and Trey Quinn moved the chains with a 13-yard grab on the next play.

Jonathan Cooper- Jonathan Cooper cut down on the penalties in his second start at left guard for the Redskins (0 penalties on Sunday and 3 last week), but took a step back in pass protection.

After not allowing a single pressure last week against the Bucs, Cooper surrendered two pressures to Houston defenders, including a third-down sack by Jadeveon Clowney that pushed the Redskins out of field goal range on a critical fourth-quarter drive.

Chase Roullier- For the second week in a row, Roullier was perfect in pass protection and did not commit a penalty. He and Ty Nsekhe are the only linemen on the team that have started in multiple games and have not allowed a sack this season; both players have only given up one QB hit on the year.

With Alex Smith now lost for the year, Roullier is the only remaining player on the team who has not missed a single offensive snap in the 2018 season.

Tony Bergstrom- Bergstrom surrendered 3 pressures (all hurries) against the Texans, which marks the third time that he has given up 3-plus pressures in his six starts this season. On the bright side, he did earn a season-high 64.3 PFF grade and recovered an Adrian Peterson fumble. The recovery was the first of his career.

Morgan Moses- Morgan Moses had a rough day against the Texans’ defensive front. He gave up a game-high 6 pressures and 2 sacks. He was also responsible for blocking J.J. Watt on the play that Watt injured Alex Smith on. Moses posted the second-lowest grade on the offense (51.0), which represented the fourth-worst rating he has ever received over the 62 career games he has played on offense in.

No player on the team has been responsible for more sacks (5), hits (5), hurries (12), total pressures (22) and penalties than Moses has in 2018.

It seems like Moses’ knee injury is having a major effect on his play. It’s cool that he’s gritted his way through injuries and been an “iron man”, but if his bum knee or whatever other ailments he might have are really causing him to play like this, then maybe he should take a game off to heal up a bit when Trent Williams returns to the lineup.

Austin Howard- Howard was used as an extra lineman on Redskins’ first down runs on 3rd-and-1 and 4th-and-1 plays. He also played two snaps in his debut with the team last week.

Luke Bowanko- Luke Bowanko was the only active offensive player on the team who did not see the field on offense or special teams, which is an honor usually reserved for Colt McCoy.

Trent Williams- Williams nearly toughed it out and played in this one, but the team ultimately chose to sit him for the third straight week. The Silverback has missed at least three games in each of the last three seasons.

It would be a huge boost for the offense if Williams is able to return and play effectively against a Cowboys’ team which ranks in the top-12 in sacks and sack percentage. Jay Gruden expressed optimism that Williams will be able to go on Thursday.

ALL OFFENSIVE PLAYERS

Offense (25 Players)
Player (* - starter)	Snaps	Snap %		Player (* - starter)	Snaps	Snap %
Tony Bergstrom *	75	100%		Jeremy Sprinkle	27	36%
Jonathan Cooper *	75	100%		Colt McCoy	24	32%
Chase Roullier *	75	100%		Byron Marshall	17	23%
Morgan Moses *	75	100%		Kapri Bibbs	16	21%
Ty Nsekhe *	75	100%		Ryan Anderson	2	3%
Josh Doctson *	64	85%		Austin Howard	2	3%
Trey Quinn *	53	71%		Luke Bowanko	0	0%
Alex Smith *	51	68%		Jehu Chesson	ST Only	0%
Jordan Reed *	50	67%		Jamison Crowder	Inactive	N/A
Adrian Peterson *	42	56%		Samaje Perine	Inactive	N/A
Maurice Harris *	41	55%		Chris Thompson	Inactive	N/A
Michael Floyd	33	44%		Trent Williams	Inactive	N/A
Vernon Davis	28	37%

*All statistics are courtesy of Air Yards, ESPN, NBC Sports, NFL.com, NFL Gamebooks, Pro Football Focus, Pro Football Reference, Redskins.com, Sharp Football Stats and The Washington Post*

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