The New England Patriots improved to 5-0 on the season with a 33-7 romping of the Washington Redskins Sunday afternoon at FedExField Stadium.
In a tale of two halves, the New England Patriots turned a close game into an expected blowout outscoring the Washington Redskins 24-0 following halftime.
It was really all about the Patriots’ offense in this won. Tom Brady and the offense looked much like they did against the Buffalo Bills. The offensive line struggled as the Redskins got consistent pressure on Brady.
The most frustrating stretch in the first half was when the Patriots’ defense gifted the offense with great field position following turnovers. The offense was only able to muster 3 points on those possessions as Tom Brady threw an interception deep in the red zone for the second consecutive game.
The Patriots went into the half with a 9-7 lead thanks to another stellar defensive performance. Take a way a 65-yard TD run by Redskins rookie wide receiver Steven Sims Jr. and Bill Belichick’s crew was as stingy as they have been all season.
Once the offense got going in the second half, the New England Patriots reverted back to their complete dominant selves with a total of 33 unanswered points led by Brady, Sony Michel and Julian Edelman.
In all, it was one of those games in which the Patriots did their best to keep the Redskins in the game but took control and dominated once their heads were in the game. It wasn’t perfect, obviously, but Belichick was overall happy with the road win. Here is what he had to say after the game, via Patriots.com:
"“Well, I thought they had a solid effort from all three phases today and that’s really what you need to win on the road. [We] ran the ball better. Scored 33-points. Played our kind of defense and had good field position. Good solid team effort. Proud of the way the guys prepared this week. Players went out there and really thought we improved our execution. It’s not perfect, we still have a long way to go but we’re making progress.”"
Here are five observations from the New England Patriots 33-7 romping of the Washington Redskins.
5. The offensive line needs some help
There is no doubt the play of the offensive line is what is plaguing the New England Patriots offense.
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Though they played much better as a whole in the second half of the game, left tackle Marshall Newhouse and right tackle Marcus Cannon were outplayed much of the first half.
Through much of the half, Tom Brady was either rushing throws or on his back as the Washington Redskins sacked the 42-year-old quarterback four times and had numerous pressures and hits on the quarterback.
Some of that was due to Brady standing in the pocket a bit long to push the ball down field, but still, if these tackles don’t play better, they are going to eventually get Brady killed back there.
Help is on the way when Isaiah Wynn does return from injured reserve, but one has to wonder if the team won’t be trying to pull a trade prior to the NFL trade deadline in an attempt to solidify the offensive line.
A positive in the second half was the team was able to get the running game going as Sony Michel awakened for some positive yardage on the ground.
4. Julian Edelman is one tough cookie
New England Patriots veteran wide receiver Julian Edelman had his most productive game of the season on Sunday, showing the toughness he has come to be defined by.
Battling an apparent rib injury, Edelman battled through to haul in 8 receptions for 110 yards and 1 touchdown. One of those receptions was this 31-yard catch and run that set the team up in great scoring position.
With the team losing Phillip Dorsett early in the game due to a hamstring injury, the gutsy performance by Julian Edelman really got the offense going and set the tune in the second half for the team offensively.
In all, the adjustment the coaches and players made in the second half can be attributed to the culture of the team and how practice and preparation pays off.
"“I mean, there’s a standard. People expect you to go out and work hard, practice hard, play hard and if you do those things good things happen,” Edelman said following the game, via Patriots.com. “That’s something we try to emphasize here. We go out and practice each week, and when we have good weeks of practice it usually carries over in a game.”"
It took a while, actually it took an entire half, but the New England Patriots offense got it together and put the game away. Of course, they were led by that Tom Brady and Julian Edelman connection.
3. More sacks, more sacks, more sacks
The New England Patriots defense certainly bounced back nicely after surrendering a 65-yard touchdown run to Washington Redskins rookie wide receiver Steven Sims Jr. on the second drive of the game.
Mostly a result of some miss tackling, the defensive unit got itself together limiting both the running and passing game the rest of the way. In fact, the Redskins didn’t spend much time in Patriots territory the rest of the way as the team forced a fumble, had an interception and had Colt McCoy scrambling and on his back much of the game.
Jamie Collins, Chase Winovich, Donta’ Hightower, Michael Bennett and a revived Danny Shelton were all in on the action as the team continues to lead the league in sacks.
It is also nice to see the pressure getting to opposing quarterbacks without much blitzing. That can be attributed to both scheme and the way the New England Patriots secondary causes quarterbacks to hold the ball a bit longer.
As a whole, Bill Belichick is still preaching that the defense needs to improve on some things, but that may be his strategy for keeping them motivated.
"“Well we have a lot of good players played hard, we hit the quarterback,” Belichick said, via Patriots.com “Played pretty well on third down. Still things we can work on and things we can do better, missed a couple opportunities. It’s a really good group that communicates well. Good effort and good awareness. Very fortunate that we have a lot of good players.”"
In all, it is that third-down pressure that has been really impressive thus far for the New England Patriots front seven. In past seasons, that has been the team’s Achilles heel.
2. Sony Michel finally got going
It was great to see Sony Michel getting touches both rushing the ball and catching the ball out of the backfield.
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Since being drafted by the New England Patriots, his ability to catch the ball has been something fans wanted to see the team utilize. They got a little bit of that on Sunday as Michel caught three passes for 32 yards.
While that was nice, it was an even greater sign to see him gaining some yards on the ground in the second half of the game.
Overall, he rushed for 91 yards and a touchdown in the game. He didn’t break the 100-yard plateau, but he looked like he did during the playoffs last year and that can only be a sign of good things to come for Sony Michel and the running game moving forward as long as they stay committed to it.
A highlight of the game for Michel was a 25-yard run down the sidelines just two plays prior to him getting to the end zone on another 10-plus yard run.
1. Tom Brady is only human
New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady has been looking every bit his age the last game and a half, but he got it going in the second half of the 33-7 beatdown of the Washington Redskins.
Ironically, when the team was more balanced in running the ball did Brady become more effective. Take away an over throw to Josh Gordon on the first drive of the game and an interception deep in the red zone and Brady looked like himself once he got time to throw.
In passing Brett Favre on the All-time NFL list of passing yards by a quarterback, Tom Brady threw for 348 yards and three touchdowns. Quite the bounce back from a week ago in which he passed for just 150 yards.
Though the New England Patriots certainly have an offensive line issue, the positive takeaway from the game is that Brady did get more of his offensive playmakers involved in this game.
There were passes to Sony Michel, Jakob Johnson as well as more targets to his tight ends. Ryan Izzo had a nice reception as well as a touchdown, but Matt LaCosse struggled a bit with throws targeted in his direction. He had a catch, but dropped a couple passes.