LONDON — The Redskins offense is on a tear, piling up 546 yards against the Bengals on Sunday,after racking up 413 the previous week against the Lions, though both efforts failed to produce a win.
The offensive explosion in London was historic: the fourth-most in team history according to records dating back to 1950, and the most since a 559-yard effort vs. Atlanta on Nov. 10, 1991.
That 1991 game featured a career performance from Redskins quarterback Mark Rypien, who threw for six touchdowns and 442 yards on just 16 completions. Redskins fans will likely remember some of the names on the receiving end for Rypien that day: Gary Clark had three touchdowns, Art Monk had two and Terry Orr, one.
It was the 15th time the Redskins have had at least 500 yards of offense since the 1970 merger — and they’re now 10-4-1 in those contests.
Quarterback Kirk Cousins set records of his own Sunday with a career-best 458 yards on 38-of-56 passes — second-most yards in a single game in team history behind only Brad Johnson’s 471-yard performance on Dec. 26, 1999. Cousins’ 38 completions were the most in team history, as were his 56 attempts.
Kelley steps in at RB
Running back Robert Kelley finished with 21 carries for 87 rushing yards, including a 4-yard touchdown run in the first quarter.
Kelley was making his first career start with Matt Jones ruled out on Friday because of an unspecified knee injury.
“This made me feel good to know I can go out there and play with those guys,” said Kelley, an undrafted rookie out of Tulane. “It’s the NFL. It’s the elite of the elite.”
Chris Thompson continued as the Redskins’ third-down back, finishing with seven carries for 14 yards and five catches for 27 yards. Mack Brown, signed off the practice squad on Friday, played only on special teams.
Another Redskins concussion
Strong safety Duke Ihenacho was diagnosed with a concussion after taking a knee to the head while trying to tackle Bengals running back Giovani Bernard in overtime.
Ihenacho tried to take Bernard down low on what ended up being a 14-yard reception with 11:28 remaining. He remained on the ground for several minutes before immediately being taken by the team’s medical staff for evaluation.
Wide receiver DeSean Jackson also did not return after taking a helmet-to-helmet hit from Bengals strong safety George Iloka at the end of a 38-yard reception late in the third quarter.
“The contact, yeah, I felt it,” Jackson said. “My head was like ringing so, I took another hit earlier in the game that had me a little bit feeling it too, but I came in, there weren’t any concussion symptoms, so just kind of felt with the ring that I had got the second time it wasn’t really good for me to go back out there and play, since I didn’t like that feeling.”
Free safety Will Blackmon broke a thumb, right tackle Morgan Moses sprained his left ankle, tight end Niles Paul sprained his right shoulder and cornerback Bashaud Breeland experienced cramps, Redskins coach Jay Gruden said.
Lanier’s first action
Defensive end Anthony Lanier, who made his debut after being inactive for each of the Redskins’ first seven games, recovered a fumble forced by defensive end Chris Baker with 1:11 remaining. “That feels good,” Baker said. “I was happy there to force the fumble and he was happy to grab it.” … In addition to Jones, left guard Arie Kouandjio, right tackle Vinston Painter, cornerback Dashaun Phillips, wide receiver Rashad Ross, nose tackle Matt Ioannidis and third quarterback Nate Sudfeld were inactive.
Playing to packed house
Manchester United midfielder Paul Pogba, who signed a world-record transfer fee over the summer, was among the record crowd of 84,488 in attendance, as well as French soccer legend Thierry Henry and Michael Vaughan, a former captain of the English national cricket team. The game was the NFL’s 17th regular season contest played in London since the start of the NFL International Series in 2007, and the first appearance of the Redskins in the series.
Another huge day for Crowder
Second-year wideout continues his breakout year: Crowder caught a career-high nine receptions for 107 yards with one touchdown, his third career 100-yard receiving game. Crowder is the first Redskins receiver with consecutive 100-yard receiving games since DeSean Jackson in Weeks 8-9 of the 2014 season.
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