A look at the stats and snap counts for every defensive and special teams player on the Redskins in the team’s Week 15 matchup with the Jacksonville Jaguars
Snaps- Greg Manusky used 20 of his 25 defenders over 52 snaps in Sunday’s game.
Of the five players who did not play, two were inactive (Ryan Anderson and Greg Stroman) and three played exclusively on special teams (Montae Nicholson, Adonis Alexander and Zach Vigil).
QB Pressure- Redskins’ pass rushers pressured Cody Kessler on 14-of-29 dropbacks. That equates to a 48.3% pressure rate, the team’s second-best showing in that metric this season (52.3% vs. Dallas in Week 7).
Six of those pressures ended with sacks, which marks the second time this year that the team has recorded 6 or more sacks (7 at Giants in Week 8). The Redskins had not produced multiple games with 6-plus sacks since 2000 (3 games).
The team’s sack total shot up to 40 after this game, which ranks ninth in the league.
Passing Yards- Washington’s sacks knocked 37 yards off of the Jags’ net passing yardage total, which was already at a lowly 57 yards before the sacks were factored in. That gave Jacksonville just 20 net passing yards in the game, which is the fourth-fewest pass yards allowed by the team since 1960. You have to go all the way back to 1980 to find the last time they held an opponent to fewer yards through the air (-12 at Cardinals).
Points- The Burgundy and Gold defense kept the opposition out of the end zone for the second time this season. The only other game in which the Skins didn’t allow a touchdown from scrimmage in was the Week 10 matchup with the Bucs (16-3).
Washington gave up 13 points in Sunday’s game and pulled out the victory. They’ve won all eight of the games they’ve allowed 18 or fewer points in this season. They’ve also lost every time they given up more than 18 points (0-7).
Red Zone- Kessler and company made it to the red zone once in Sunday’s contest and they were shut down. After a penalty, a sack, an incomplete pass and one completed pass, the Jags were forced to settle for a field goal on the drive.
This was just the second time this year the defense has shut their opponent out in the red area (Bucs went 0-for-5 in Week 10).
The Skins rank seventh in red-zone TD rate allowed (51.1%).
3rd Down- The defense was able to hold the Jaguars to just a 38.5% success rate on third-down, as they only allowed them to convert on 5 of their 13 attempts. Four of those conversions came on Cody Kessler scrambles.
Thankfully, the D made more big plays on the money down than Kessler did with his legs. Manusky’s bunch recorded 3 sacks, one pass defense and an interception on five of those plays.
Washington has held its opponent to a conversion rate under 43% in four of the last five games.
Takeaways- The Redskins forced a turnover on the Jaguars’ first (fumble) and last (interception) drives of the game. This was the first time the team netted multiple takeaways in a game since Week 11 (vs. Houston).
Tight End Defense- This was the defense’s best showing against a group of enemy tight ends all season. Blake Bell and James O’Shaughnessy combined to catch two passes for 13 yards and no first downs on 2 targets. I’d like to give the Redskins more credit here, but I can’t because this was probably the worst tight end corps they’ve faced all year.
The Jags lost Austin Seferian Jenkins and Niles Paul to injuries earlier in the season.
Injured Reserve Redskins- Washington placed three more players on the Reserve/Injured list in the past week. They are now up to a whopping NFL-high 20 players on IR. They still have a shot to match the 23 players they had to tag with that designation last season.
Rushing Defense- Five Jacksonville players combined to rush the ball 26 times for 172 yards and 9 first downs, which was the most chain movers allowed by the Burgundy and Gold defense all year.
This was the seventh straight game that the defense has allowed over 100 yards on the ground (153 YPG) and a YPC average over at least 3.9 (5.2 YPC in that span).
All five of Jacksonville’s longest offensive plays came on runs. Only one of their nine plays of 10-plus yards was a pass, and running back Leonard Fournette was on the receiving end of the play. Fournette and company were only stopped for no gain or a loss on 11.5% of their rushes, which is not great considering they gained five or more yards on 42.3% of their totes.
Quarterback Cody Kessler was responsible for approximately 40% of the Jaguars’ rushing yardage (44% of rush first downs). His 68 yards on the ground were the fifth most by a quarterback against the Redskins in the last ten years. Only Russell Wilson (twice - 122 and 77 yards), Michael Vick (80 yards) and Tyrod Taylor (79) have gained more yards with their legs against the Skins since 2009.
#FireBruceAllen- There are six teams from the four major professional sports that are located in the DMV: Washington Redskins, Washington Capitals, Washington Nationals, Washington Wizards, Baltimore Orioles and Baltimore Ravens. The Orioles are the only one of those teams with a new executive who is in charge of personnel decisions.
Here are the winning percentages (starting with their first full seasons) for the five other executives with their current teams (listed from best to worst): Brian MacLellan (.615), Ozzie Newsome (.542), Mike Rizzo (.539), Ernie Grunfeld (.440) and Bruce Allen (.422).
DEFENSIVE LINEMEN
| Defensive Linemen (6 Players) | ||
| Player (* - starter) | Snaps | Snap % |
| Daron Payne * | 36 | 69% |
| Jonathan Allen * | 29 | 56% |
| Matt Ioannidis * | 24 | 46% |
| Stacy McGee | 14 | 27% |
| Tim Settle | 11 | 21% |
| Caleb Brantley | 9 | 17% |
Jonathan Allen- Jonathan Allen had what was one of his most dominant performances as a pro in his 19-game career.
Allen played on just 57.7% of the defensive snaps, his second-lowest snap share of the year, but that didn’t stop him from posting career and team highs in sacks (2), TFLs (3) and PFF grade (88.5).
Allen’s first sack came on a third-down play that ended Jacksonville’s second drive of the game. On the following drive he stuffed Leonard Fournette for a loss of 2 yards on a 2nd-and-4 snap; Kessler was sacked on the next play and the Jaguars went three-and-out. He made his second sack just outside of Washington’s red zone (22-yard line).
In all, Allen recorded five tackles on the day. The Jaguars lost a total of 15 yards on those plays and didn’t gain more than a single yard on any of them.
He is now up to 7 sacks on the year, which gives the team multiple interior defenders with 7 or more sacks for the first time in franchise history.
Daron Payne- Payne led all Washington D-linemen with 36 snaps played. He’s paced Jim Tomsula’s unit in snaps in three of the last four weeks.
The 2018 first-round pick notched 2 tackles (both solos) and 2 pressures (both hurries), which would’ve made for a pretty ho-hum day if not for his biggest play of the game.
On the Jaguars’ opening drive, Payne recovered a fumble and returned it 9 yards to the Jacksonville 34-yard line. The recovery was the first of his career.
He is one of six rookies who has recorded a sack, forced fumble, fumble recovery and a PD; the others are: Bradley Chubb, Genard Avery, Kenny Young, Sam Hubbard and Darius Leonard.
Matt Ioannidis- Matt Ioannidis has struggled since suffering a shin injury in Week 12 (at Cowboys), and it showed again on Sunday.
He was only out there for 22 snaps (42.3%), which was his fourth-lowest total of the year. Three of Matty I’s four lowest snap counts and percentages have come in his last three games.
Ioannidis made a tackle that stopped a Jacksonville run after a gain of a yard, but that was his only tackle on the day, which is tied for his lowest tackle figure in a game he played more than 3 snaps in this season.
He rushed the passer 14 times in the contest, but only generated pressure on one of them (a hurry).
The Ion Man racked up 4.5 sacks, 2 QB hits, 17 total pressures and 14 tackles between Weeks 8 and 11. Since suffering his injury in Week 12 he’s not recorded a sack or a hit, has registered just 3 pressures and has only made 5 tackles. Clearly the injury has taken a toll on his production.
Stacy McGee- McGee saw his snap count from the previous game (28) get cut in half against the Jaguars (14), but he still found a way to have his most productive outing of the season.
The veteran D-lineman set new season highs in solo tackles (2), total tackles (3) and stops (3). All three of his tackles were made within 4 yards from the line of scrimmage, with one of them stopping T.J. Yeldon for no gain.
He matched his 2018 totals prior to the game in both total tackles (3) and stops (3).
Of course, McGee was not able to pressure Kessler on any of his rushes, though. He’s only scored one pressure in his last 7 games (39 pass-rushing snaps) and has yet to record a sack in his 22 games with the team (197 rushes).
Tim Settle- Tim Settle received his lowest snap total (11) since Week 11. Like in that game against the Texans, Settle did not record a single traditional stat and was unable to generate any pressures.
Settle’s career-low 28.9 PFF grade ranked dead last on the team and 2nd worst among all interior defenders in Week 15 (min. 10 snaps).
Caleb Brantley- Brantley, like Settle, was a total zero in terms of statistical production, he just had two fewer snaps to work with (9). You would think that at least one of them would’ve cracked the box score between their 20 combined player snaps.
OUTSIDE LINEBACKERS
| Outside Linebackers (4 Players) | ||
| Player (* - starter) | Snaps | Snap % |
| Ryan Kerrigan * | 46 | 88% |
| Preston Smith * | 44 | 85% |
| Pernell McPhee | 14 | 27% |
| Ryan Anderson | Inactive | N/A |
Ryan Kerrigan- Remember way back at the start of the season when Kerrigan failed to record a sack in any of the first three games? Most people don’t, because he’s been great since then. The trend continued against the Jaguars.
In this past Sunday’s game Kerrigan led the team in sacks (2), QB hits (2), total pressures (7) and defensive stops (5).
Unfortunately, his 6 tackles were one shy of a season-high (7 last week vs. Giants), but his 5 solo takedowns did represent a new 2018 personal record him. The Jags lost a total of 4 yards on the plays Kerrigan made a tackle on. He is the only player on Washington’s defense who has played more than 120 snaps and has not missed a single tackle all year.
Both of his sacks stalled Jacksonville drives. On his first one, he forced a fumble that Washington recovered on the opening drive of the game. His other sack came on a third-down play in the second half.
Not only is Kerrigan already the franchise’s all-time leader in forced fumbles, he ranks second in that statistic since joining the league in 2011. Von Miller is the only player who has recorded more FFs in that span (26 to Kerrigan’s 25).
His 2 sacks on the day pushed his career to 82.5, which moved him a half sack ahead of Charles Mann and into sole possession of second-place in franchise history behind only Dexter Manley (91 officially and 97.5 unofficially).
The Heartbreak Kid is also now up to 11 sacks on the year, which marks the third straight season and the fourth time in the last five years that he’s hit double-digits in this statistic. Mann is the only player in team history with more such seasons (5) and Manley is the only Redskin with more consecutive seasons with 10-plus sacks.
One record that Kerrigan is likely to break this year is the one for most seasons leading the team in sacks. He is currently tied with Manley (5) for the most such seasons.
RyKer was just named to his fourth career and third straight Pro Bowl. He is the only player on the Redskins’ defense who was named to the NFL’s version of the All-Star game. Just nine players and four defenders in franchise history have been named to more Pro Bowl teams than Kerrigan has. Trent Williams (7) and Chris Samuels (6) are the lone Redskins who have more bids in the last 25 years.
It seems like Redskins fans are always searching for a flashier and more dynamic player to emerge on the defense, but right around this time, just about every year, they remember that Ryan Kerrigan is the best defensive player on the team.
Preston Smith- Preston Smith played on over 80% of the snaps for the fifth consecutive week and ranked second in the game, behind only Kerrigan, in total pressures, with six of them. One of those disruptions was a half-sack in the fourth quarter. The sack was Smith’s first in the last three weeks.
He recorded a stop on a Cody Kessler scramble (3 yards) following his sack. His other takedown was made after he allowed a 6-yard reception to tight end Blake Bell. In all, he recorded 3 tackles (1 solo), which was tied for his lowest total since Week 10.
Smith made his biggest mistake of the game on Leonard Fournette’s only touch of the second half. Because the fourth-year OLB failed to set the edge on the play, Fournette was able to cut his run back and gain 25-yards on the play, which was the Jaguars’ longest play from scrimmage on the day. That gaffe gives you an idea of how he ended up with a season-worst 51.7 PFF grade in run defense for the game.
Ryan Anderson- Anderson missed his second straight game with a hamstring injury. This was the first game all season in which the Redskins only dressed three outside backers.
Pernell McPhee- The lack of a fourth OLB led to only a modest increase in playing time for Pernell McPhee (26.9% vs. his season average of 23.2%).
He recorded exactly one tackle (solo) for the third straight week and for the seventh time this season. He has not yet recorded more than one tackle in a game this season. What’s worse is that the opposition gained at least 2 yards on every play he’s made a tackle on this year. The median and average of those gains are 4 yards and 8.1 yards.
It’s a very similar story with his pass-rushing production. McPhee started out hot with 8 total pressures (including 4 hits) in the first three weeks of the season, but since then he’s only registered 5 pressures and hasn’t done so more than once in any individual game.
It might almost be time for McPhee, who turned 30 on Monday, to hang em’ up.
INSIDE LINEBACKERS
| Inside Linebackers (5 Players) | ||
| Player (* - starter) | Snaps | Snap % |
| Mason Foster * | 52 | 100% |
| Shaun Dion Hamilton * | 28 | 54% |
| Zach Brown | 17 | 33% |
| Josh Harvey-Clemons | 6 | 12% |
| Zach Vigil | ST Only | 0% |
Mason Foster- Foster was on the field for 100% of the defensive snaps for the 12th straight game.
He led the team with 7 total tackles, with four of those coming within 3 yards of the line of scrimmage and at least 7 yards away from the line to gain.
This was the eighth time Mase has led the team in tackles this season; although, this was the first game in which he did so since Week 10. His 115 total tackles on defense ranks sixth in the league and puts him on pace to pass his career high of 123 against the Titans this coming Saturday.
Foster did surrender catches on both of the targets thrown his way, but he limited Leonard Fournette to just 5 total yards between the two plays before he ended the plays with solo tackles.
He earned an 81.0 PFF grade for the performance, which ranked third on the defense.
Shaun Dion Hamilton- Shaun Dion Hamilton started and played exactly 28 defensive snaps for the second consecutive week. His snap total may have been the same, but he saw his snap share jump for the fourth consecutive game: 0% (Week 11) > 5.7% (Week 12) > 6.7% (Week 13) > 43.8% (Week 14) > 53.8% (Week 15).
SDH finished the game with 4 tackles (2 solo), with three of those being made within 2 yards of the line of scrimmage or behind it.
The tackle made behind the LOS was a sack that Hamilton split with Preston Smith. This was the rookie’s first career sack of any kind. The play was made on his only pass-rushing snap in the game. He’s generated pressure on 3 of his 5 pass rushes this season (60% pressure rate).
SDH’s career-best 85.6 PFF grade ranked second on the team.
Zach Brown- Zach Brown played second fiddle to Hamilton for the second week in a row. Brown practiced every day last week, so we now know for sure that the missed practice excuse for the prior game was Redskins’ fake news.
This was the second week in a row that ZB didn’t start and played on less than 45% of the snaps; the last time either of things happened was in Week 16 of the 2015 season. His 18 snaps on Sunday represented his lowest total since week 15 of 2015.
He did make the most of his limited opportunities, though. Brown made 4 tackles, one of which was his first sack since Week 9 of last year.
The only catch he allowed went for 5 yards on a 1st-and-15 play that he ended with a solo tackle.
His 77.7 PFF grade was his best rating since Week 11 (vs. Houston).
Brown is right about his days in Washington being numbered. No backup is worth the $9M per year that he would average on the final two years of his contract. Washington would incur a dead cap charge of $3M by moving on from the 29-year-old inside backer this offseason.
Josh Harvey-Clemons- Hamilton’s emergence has coincided with Josh Harvey-Clemons seeing his playing-time on defense take a nosedive. Here are JHC’s snap counts and percentages since SDH made his first appearance on defense in Week 12: 18 (25.7%) > 1 (1.3%) > 8 (12.5%) > 6 (11.5%). He’s seen two of his three lowest snap shares in the last year come in the past three weeks.
Harvey-Clemons was targeted on one of his 4 coverage snaps and did not give up a catch on the play. He’s only given up one catch (7 yards) in the team’s last five contests.
He rushed the passer on his other 2 snaps and registered a hurry on one of them.
Zach Vigil- Zach Vigil’s 17 snaps on defense this year came in Weeks 1 and 2. I imagine the soon-to-be free agent will be looking to sign with a team he thinks he can get some defensive PT on.
CORNERBACKS
| Cornerbacks (6 Players) | ||
| Player (* - starter) | Snaps | Snap % |
| Josh Norman * | 52 | 100% |
| Fabian Moreau | 47 | 90% |
| Joshua Holsey | 29 | 56% |
| Danny Johnson | 5 | 10% |
| Adonis Alexander | ST Only | 0% |
| Greg Stroman | Inactive | N/A |
Josh Norman- Josh Norman, who turned 31 last week, put forth together yet another strong showing.
J-No was targeted three times on his 29 coverage snaps, but only allowed a catch on one of those plays. He made one of his 4 tackles (3 solo) on the play after the Jags gained 7 yards on a 3rd-and-9 play.
Norman’s 80.2 PFF grade for the game was his highest such rating since Week 11 of the 2016 season (81.3 vs. Packers on MNF).
He has been targeted 12 times in the last three weeks, but has only allowed 5 catches for 37 yards, 2 first downs, a touchdown and an interception on those plays (42.7 passer rating against).
Fabian Moreau- Fabian Moreau has gone back-and-forth between good and bad performances in the last month; luckily, this was one of the good ones.
He played on over 90% of the snaps for fourth time in his career (90.4%), chipped in with a solo tackle and was not targeted once on his 28 coverage snaps. This was the third game this season that Moreau did not surrender a single catch in.
The second-year corner saved his biggest play for last. With just under 3 minutes left in what was a tie game, Moreau recorded the first interception of his career at the Washington 29-yard line and returned it 16 yards to the 45. The Redskins ran the clock all the way down and kicked the game-winning field goal as time expired.
His 73.6 PFF grade was his second-highest rating as a pro (82.5 in Week 5 at Saints).
Joshua Holsey- Josh Holsey struggled in what was his first and only appearance of the season. He spent 24 of his 29 snaps lined up in the slot.
Holsey was charged for giving up team highs in targets (4), receptions (3), receiving yards (29 yards) and first downs (2). He was the only player on the team who allowed a single receiving first down or more than 7 receiving yards.
Both of his tackles were made on third-down plays after the Jaguars had already passed the line to gain.
His 42.8 PFF grade ranked second-worst on the defense and third-worst among all cornerbacks in Week 15 (min. 10 snaps).
Unfortunately, Holsey’s horrible injury luck continued when he tore his ACL early in the fourth quarter. He was placed on the injure reserved list.
Danny Johnson- Johnson played on just 5 snaps before being forced from the game with an injury. He allowed a 5-yard reception on one of his 3 coverage snaps, but made the tackle 6 yards shy of the line to gain on a Jacksonville third down. The Jaguars kicked a field goal on the following play.
Johnson was placed on IR today because of a dislocated finger and an unspecified knee injury.
He was probably both the Redskins’ worst corner and their best kickoff returner this season. Johnson posted the highest numbers on the team in the following statistics: passer rating allowed (154.3), YPT allowed (11.5), yards-per-coverage-snap allowed (3.41), kickoff return yards (283), kickoff return average (23.6) and longest kickoff return (44 yards).
DJ played on defense in eight games and was on the field for 67 defensive snaps in those contests.
Greg Stroman- Greg Stroman was inactive for the first time all year, and there was no injury; he was a healthy scratch.
I get not using him as a punt returner anymore, but I don’t think it was incredibly wise to let Holsey, Johnson and Alexander operate as the only backups behind Norman and Moreau considering that the trio had only combined to play 81 career snaps on defense over the course of 8 career games.
Adonis Alexander- Alexander somehow only played on special teams even though Stroman was inactive, and Holsey and Johnson were injured. He’s only been on the field for 10 defensive snaps so far this year.
Harlan Miller- Miller has played both at corner and safety in his career, but he was signed in a corresponding move to Holsey’s placement on IR, so I decided to include him here.
He was picked by the Cardinals in the sixth round of the 2016 draft and has played 197 defensive and 116 special teams snaps across his 7 career games, none of which were in 2018.
He put up the following numbers in those contests: 12 tackles on defense, 1 tackle on special teams, 1 fumble recovery and 1 interception.
SAFETIES
| Safeties (4 Players) | ||
| Player (* - starter) | Snaps | Snap % |
| Ha Ha Clinton-Dix * | 52 | 100% |
| D.J. Swearinger * | 52 | 100% |
| Deshazor Everett * | 5 | 10% |
| Montae Nicholson | ST Only | 0% |
D.J. Swearinger- D.J. Swearinger was out there for every single defensive snap for 26th time since joining the team last year. He has only missed 4 snaps since the start of last season.
Despite not missing any plays in the game, Swearinger did not record a single traditional stat in the entire contest for just the second time since joining the team (Week 9 vs. Falcons). He did miss a tackle for the eighth time this year, though.
On a positive note, DJ didn’t allow a reception on the only target thrown his way. This was the first game in 2018 that he didn’t surrender at least one catch in (5 such games in 2017).
Swearinger did not make the Pro Bowl, as many expected he would. If we were judging things solely off of the first seven contests of the year, I’d say this was an atrocious snub. If, however, we were only considering his last seven games, then I’d be totally fine with his exclusion.
In Weeks 1-8, Swearinger recorded 4 interceptions, 7PDs, 2 forced fumbles, a fumble recovery, a sack, 32 total tackles, 13 defensive stops, 2 missed tackles and a 90.9 PFF grade.
Since then (Weeks 9-15), he’s put together the following stat line: 0 interceptions, 3 PDs, 1 forced fumble, 0 fumble recoveries, 18 total tackles, 5 stops, 6 missed tackles and a 58.9 PFF grade.
Ha Ha Clinton-Dix- Clinton-Dix was in for every defensive play for the fourth straight week.
The veteran safety out of Alabama was not targeted in the game, which marks the second consecutive week he’s gone without allowing a single reception.
Once again HHCD was active as a tackler, as he tied for a team-high 5 solos. Unfortunately, only one of those takedowns was made within 10 yards of the line of scrimmage and he tied a team and season-high with 2 missed tackles.
Clinton-Dix’s biggest play of the game was the pass defense he scored against Donte Moncrief on a 3rd-and-7 play. The Jags would’ve had a fresh set of downs to work with at the Washington 37-yard line had the Skins’ newest safety not made the play.
Deshazor Everett- The Skins’ opened up the game with a three-safety look on defense, which gave Deshazor Everett his second start of the season.
Everett played on four more defensive snaps against the Jags (5 total) and did not record any stats for Greg Manusky’s unit for the first time since Week 11.
He is on pace to finish the year with about 62 defensive snaps played and 6 tackles, which is basically the equivalent of one full game’s worth of work.
Montae Nicholson- Nicholson’s fall from grace continued this week. He did not play on defense for the fourth straight game and only appeared on 9 special teams snaps. The 9 total snaps on Sunday represented a new career low for the second-year safety. He also failed to crack the special teams stat sheet for the first time in the last three weeks.
The lower than usual playing time may have something to do with Nicholson suffering a finger sprain in the game.
To top it all off, he was arrested on Monday night for assault and battery and being drunk in public. As a result of the altercation, Nicholson was placed on the Reserve/NFI list and he will not return this season.
Nicholson only defended one pass all year and did not pick off any passes. He also failed to record any hits, sacks, TFLs, forced fumbles or fumble recoveries. The one stat he did lead the team in was missed tackles (9).
Things certainly did not work this season for who Jay Gruden once called “the Jordan Reed of the defense.”
Jeremy Reaves- Reaves is listed as a DB, but came out of college as a safety, so I put him here.
The 22-year-old rookie UDFA has yet to play in an NFL game, but racked up huge numbers at South Alabama in college: 301 tackles, 20 TFLs, 1.5 sacks, 8 interceptions, 2 fumble recoveries and 8 forced fumbles.
He won Sun Belt Defensive Player of the year in 2017.
The glaring concern with Reaves is his athleticism. He posted a 1.42 RAS score (out of 10) and his SPARQ of 88.5 puts him below the 1st percentile (0.2) among all safeties. Not good.
ALL DEFENSIVE PLAYERS
| Defense (25 Players) | ||||||
| Player (* - starter) | Snaps | Snap % | Player (* - starter) | Snaps | Snap % | |
| Ha Ha Clinton-Dix * | 52 | 100% | Stacy McGee | 14 | 27% | |
| Mason Foster * | 52 | 100% | Pernell McPhee | 14 | 27% | |
| Josh Norman * | 52 | 100% | Tim Settle | 11 | 21% | |
| D.J. Swearinger * | 52 | 100% | Caleb Brantley | 9 | 17% | |
| Fabian Moreau | 47 | 90% | Josh Harvey-Clemons | 6 | 12% | |
| Ryan Kerrigan * | 46 | 88% | Deshazor Everett * | 5 | 10% | |
| Preston Smith * | 44 | 85% | Danny Johnson | 5 | 10% | |
| Daron Payne * | 36 | 69% | Adonis Alexander | ST Only | 0% | |
| Jonathan Allen * | 29 | 56% | Montae Nicholson | ST Only | 0% | |
| Joshua Holsey | 29 | 56% | Zach Vigil | ST Only | 0% | |
| Shaun Dion Hamilton * | 28 | 54% | Ryan Anderson | Inactive | N/A | |
| Matt Ioannidis * | 24 | 46% | Greg Stroman | Inactive | N/A | |
| Zach Brown | 17 | 33% | ||||
SPECIAL TEAMS
| Special Teams (30 Players) | ||||||
| Player | Snaps | Snap % | Player | Snaps | Snap % | |
| Jehu Chesson | 22 | 85% | Jonathan Allen | 7 | 27% | |
| Deshazor Everett | 22 | 85% | Maurice Harris | 6 | 23% | |
| Zach Vigil | 22 | 85% | Joshua Holsey | 6 | 23% | |
| Josh Harvey-Clemons | 20 | 77% | Matt Ioannidis | 6 | 23% | |
| Danny Johnson | 19 | 73% | Michael Floyd | 5 | 19% | |
| Byron Marshall | 18 | 69% | Luke Bowanko | 4 | 15% | |
| Adonis Alexander | 15 | 58% | Ha Ha Clinton-Dix | 4 | 15% | |
| Matt Flanagan | 14 | 54% | Austin Howard | 4 | 15% | |
| Shaun Dion Hamilton | 14 | 54% | Zac Kerin | 4 | 15% | |
| Jeremy Sprinkle | 14 | 54% | Ryan Kerrigan | 3 | 12% | |
| Andrew East | 10 | 38% | Pernell McPhee | 3 | 12% | |
| Tress Way | 10 | 38% | Daron Payne | 3 | 12% | |
| Montae Nicholson | 9 | 35% | Chase Roullier | 3 | 12% | |
| Dustin Hopkins | 8 | 31% | Ty Nsekhe | 2 | 8% | |
| Tim Settle | 8 | 31% | Morgan Moses | 1 | 4% | |
Snaps- Ben Kotwica utilized 30 players over the course of 26 special teams snaps on Sunday afternoon against the Jaguars. The group was comprised of 15 defenders, 12 offensive players and three specialists.
Jehu Chesson, Deshazor Everett and Zach Vigil tied for the team lead in specials snaps with 22 each (85%). Everett is the only player who has led the team in every game this year in teams snaps.
Long snapper Nick Sundberg was put on IR prior to the game because of a back injury. He was replaced with 2015 UDFA Andrew East. Washington is the sixth NFL team East has been on, but this was actually the first career game for the 27-year-old specialist.
Ironically enough, the most recent team to release him was the Jacksonville Jaguars.
Tress Way- Tress Way’s historic season continued on Sunday. He punted the ball away six times for 279 yards (46.5 average). Three of the punts were down inside the Jacksonville 20, with two of them pinning the Jags at or inside their own 5-yard line.
Way leads the league in inside the 20 (39) and the 5 (6), with the margin in the former category being a whopping 7 punts. He is on pace to pin opposing offenses inside their own 20-yard line 45 times in 2018, which would be tied for the third-most such punts in NFL history (data dates back to 1991). He’s already broken the franchise record he set last season in this statistic (33 punts inside the 20).
There have been 11 seasons in which a player has pinned their opponents inside the 20 on 40 or more punts. Only one of those players posted an inside-the-20 rate higher than 50% (Johnny Hekker with 52% in 2016). Tress Way is currently dropping balls inside the 20 at a 54.2% clip.
He has punted the ball a whopping 72 times without kicking a single touchback. Only two punters in recorded history have finished a season without booting at least one of their kicks into the end zone. Sav Rocca punted 84 times without a touchback in 2013 for the Redskins and Ryan Quigley saw all 71 of his kicks stay out of the end zone. Way is on pace to just narrowly fall short of Rocca’s record (83 punts).
Tress Way is the biggest Pro Bowl snub nobody outside of the DMV is talking about. This is even more proof of just how much of a joke the voting system is for this “honor.”
Dustin Hopkins- Dustin Hopkins was perfect on Sunday. He connected on his lone extra point and hit on field goals from 46, 33 and 36 yards out. The 36-yarder sealed the victory for the Skins as time expired. This was just the second game-winning field goal Hop had ever made in his six-year career (Week 3 of 2016 vs. Giants).
He led all kickers in Week 15 with a 75.9 PFF grade.
Three of his four kickoffs went for touchbacks. The Jags lone return came on the opening kickoff.
Kick Coverage- Tommy Bohanon returned that kickoff 25 yards before Zach Vigil took him down at the 34-yard line. Vigil has made a specials tackle in each of the last three games and ranks second on the team in total ST takedowns (7).
The Skins’ leader in teams tackles, Deshazor Everett (8), made a solo stop to shut down a Dede Westbrook punt return at the Jacksonville 33 after a gain of 8. Adonis Alexander recorded the first special teams tackle of his career when he limited Westbrook to a 1-yard return that ended at the Jags’ 12-yard line.
Jehu Chesson downed a partially blocked punt at the Washington 46 and Danny Johnson was there to pick up a punt at the Jacksonville 2-yard line. Chesson and Johnson also missed tackles on Westbrook’s aforementioned 9-yard return.
If only that had been the former Biletnikoff Award winner’s longest punt return of the day, but alas, he torched the coverage team for a 74-yard return touchdown on the penultimate play of the first half.
It was the first punt return touchdown the Redskins have given up since Week 13 of last year (at Cowboys). Perhaps, the Jaguars wouldn’t have scored on the return and simply settled for a field goal if Byron Marshall made an attempt to tackle the ball carrier, Westbrook, instead of one of his blockers. We’ll never know because the Marshall inexplicably lunged at the blocker, as opposed to taking an open shot at taking down the returner.
Punt Returns- Mo Harris must have gotten punt return tips from Greg Stroman prior to the game, because he struggled as the team’s primary returner.
Harris gained 5 yards on his first return before being tackled at Washington’s 36-yard line. He tried to chase down his next return before muffing it and allowing the ball to roll back another 10 yards before he made the recovery. Mo gained 6 yards on his final return before being shut down at the 18. Both of his fair catches were made inside the Redskins’ 20-yard line.
Don’t worry, Washington is still on pace to finish the season with the third-fewest punt returns in franchise history.
Kickoff Returns- Like the Redskins, the Jaguars also kicked off four times in the game. Two went for touchbacks and Byron Marshall returned the other two for 8 and 23 yards.
The 8-yard return was taken out to Jacksonville’s 35, but there was no time left for the Skins to do anything on offense, because the Jags kicked off with four seconds left in the half. The second kick was returned 23 yards to the Washington 27, but a Jacksonville illegal formation penalty gave the Redskins an extra 5 yards and set the offense up at the 32.
Danny Johnson did not return any kicks for the second time in the last six weeks, but he was lined up as the primary return man on three of the four kickoffs.
The Redskins currently rank 23rd in KO return yards (487 yards) and 28th in return average (19.5).
*All statistics are courtesy of ESPN, The Football Database, NBC Sports, NFL.com, NFL Gamebooks, Pro Football Focus, Pro Football Reference, Redskins.com, Team Rankings and The Washington Post*
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