Welcome to the colony: New England Patriots flog Washington Redskins 52-7
Top line: New England Patriots improved their 2007 regular season record to 8-0 by crushing the Washington Redskins 52-7 at home. New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady completed 29 of 38 passes for 306 yards and three touchdowns. He also ran for two scores. New England’s defense awoke from its recent semi-slumber to shut down Washington’s offense. Patriots outside linebacker Mike Vrabel had three sacks, all of which resulted in fumbles that were recovered by New England.
Offensive line: After an injury riddled start to the season the offensive line has remained stable for the past few weeks and Patriots fielded its first-string starting line against the Redskins: Left tackle Matt Light, left guard Logan Mankins, center Dan Koppen, right guard Stephen Neal, and right tackle Nick Kaczur. The line once again did a terrific job protecting Brady and also punched whole for the running game.
The line used a combination of blocking schemes to move the ball, mixing out-side zone-blocking stretch plays, straight ahead power blocking, traps and and pulling tackles.
Kaczur gave up a sack that resulted in a fumble (the Redskins were unable to capitalize). Mankins drew a false start penalty on a drive that ended with a touchdown anyway. Kopen drew a false start penalty on another drive that also ended with a touchdown. Mankins was probably the lineman who struggled the most blocking. He missed a block when pulling to his right near the goal line and he also missed a block on a screen left (that play still resulted in a first down, I’m just saying).
Late in the game back-up tackle O’Callaghan got to play right tackle and Russ Hochstein right guard while Kaczur got some snaps at left tackle. Billy Yates and Wesley Britt were inactive.
The Gist: Patriots methodically picked apart the Washington Redskins who attacked the underneath edges of Patriots’ defense, a dink-and-dunk strategy that often rolls up a lot of yards against New England but rarely many points. The ‘Skins probably didn’t have much of choice. It’s tough to run with sustained success on New England’s front seven and a young quarterback like Jason Campbell shouldn’t be asked to dissect an experienced multi-look defense like New England’s.
Patriots used a patient and punishing approach to break down Washington’s defense, which was ranked fifth in the league going into the game. Redskins managed to cover wide receiver Randy Moss throughout most of the game, but that was about all they managed. Runningback Laurence Maroney amassed 75 yards on 14 carries, including a really good one where he reversed field to pick up nine yards and a first down. He also caught a pass in the left flat that he took 25 yards after side stepping a desperately diving Redskins defensive back. Runningback Kevin Faulk had five rushes for 32 yards and seven receptions for 57 yards. Wide receiver Wes Welker snagged nine catches for 89 yards and one touchdown.
New England Patriots’ scoring plays:
1) On third and goal from Washington’s three yard line Brady couldn’t find an open receiver out of the shotgun as a defensive linemen dropped back to cover Faulk underneath. Brady stepped up in the pocket and then took off, diving over the goal line for the touchdown. Moss was open streaking along the end line but Brady decided to take it in himself for whatever reason. 7-0.
2) On second and goal from the three yard line Patriots sent in their goal-line clown formation with inside linebacker Junior Seau as fullback, fullback Heath Evans as tailback, and outside linebacker Mike Vrabel as tight end. Somehow the Redskins managed to not cover Vrabel who easily caught a play-action pass from Brady. 14-0.
3) Gostkowski kicked a 36-yard field goal. 17-0.
4) With 20 seconds remaining in the first half New England ran a fake-spike play and lofted an alley-oop to Moss for a touchdown. Moss got away with the slightest of push-offs on the cornerback, probably because there was mutual contact and because he didn’t extend his arms more than half-way when he did it. The officials generally allowed both receivers and defensive backs quite a bit of leeway when it came to contact. 24-0.
5) After two fruitless plays from the clown formation Patriots went to a spread formation on third and goal from Washington’s two-yard line and Brady scooted behind Neal into the endzone for his second touchdown run of the day. 31-0.
6) On third and nine Redskins Campbell lost the ball when he was sacked by Vrabel. Colvin scooped up the ball and rumbled into the endzone. 38-0.
7) Patriots eschewed their clown formation on second and goal from Washington’s two yard line and went straight to a three-receiver set. Welker ran a short out from slot left and Brady found him with a perfect strike. That was Brady’s 30th touchdown pass of the season. 45-0.
8) Back-up quarterback Matt Cassel scrambled around left end for a 15-yard touchdown. 52-0.
Mike Vrabel, playmaker: Vrabel did more than just score the tenth touchdown catch of his career, he also sacked the beleaguered Campbell three times, each time forcing a sack that was recovered by the Patriots (twice by defensive end Ty Warren, once by Rosevelt when he scored a touchdown).
It’s really amazing how poorly the Redskins protected their inexperienced quarterback (who himself did a poor job protecting the ball). Vrabel got his first sack by shoving aside fullback Mike Sellers, who was lined up as tight end.
He got his second by simply outrunning Sellers on the outside and then pushing runningback Clinton Portis into Campbell.
The third was a real beauty, one that demonstrates how superior the Patriots are to their competition. Redskins wisely blocked Vrabel with right tackle Todd Wade, with Portis standing by as insurance. But the Patriots out-schemed them badly: Vrabel rushed in a sort of meandering way while Seau unexpectedly blitzed from his inside linebacker position well off the line of scrimmage. Since neither Wade nor Portis were engaged with the slowly advancing Vrabel, both of them turned inside to pick up Seau, leaving Vrabel with a clear path to the quarterback (Wade apparently thought Vrabel was covering Portis). And that’s when Vrabel turned on the jets and chased down Campbell, forcing the fumble that Colvin recovered and returned for a touchdown.
I simply can’t imagine Kaczur and Faulk failing that miserably in pass protection. Heck, they routinely defeat way trickier pass rushes with ease. Like I said, it’s just another example of how good the Patriots are, specifically of how good the Patriots are at executing the basic stuff.
Vrabel usually lines up as left outside linebacker but the Patriots frequently have him and Colvin swap sides. All three sacks, however, came when Vrabel rushed from the left side.
Whacked by Welker: Patriots opened with a 14-play drive that made a mockery of the idea that perhaps Redskins’ talented secondary could put the hurt on Patriots’ wide receivers: Wide receivers Donte Stallworth, Randy Moss and most notably Wes Welker added a decisive edge to the running game by blocking Washington’s supposed game changing defensive back. On first down Welker blocked defensive back Pierson Prioleau, preventing him from cutting down runningback Laurence Maroney who picked up a first down running right up the middle. On second down Welker blocked linebacker London Fletcher on the left edge, allowing Maroney to turn the corner for 14 yards and a first down. Tight end Kyle Brady made the seal block on the line of scrimmage and Light pulled round him to absorb Prioleau. On the next first down Welker whiffed his block on Shawn Springs, limiting Stallworth to a gain of three on a quick screen right. A couple of plays later Welker hit Prioleau again as runningback Kevin Faulk ran over left guard. Prioleau made the tackle but only after Faulk had gained seven yards. Welker couldn’t get to his designated blockee on the following play, but a terrific inside trap by Mankins allowed Maroney to storm up the middle for an easy first down. The next play was pure humiliation. Out of the shotgun Brady faked a hand-off to Faulk. From his slot right position Welker ran at Prioleau as if he was going to block him. Prioleau bit hard on the fake and Welker wheeled back outside, a wide open target for Brady. The 19-yard completion underscored how utterly over matched and out classed the Redskins were. Brady scored the game’s first touchdown five plays later.
By and large the Patriots simply abused Prioleau.
Assorted plays and observations:
1) It’s hard to believe, but Patriots are playing without one of their most productive formations because of tight end Benjamin Watson’s injury. The two split-ends, two tight slots formation has basically been replaced with a three-receiver set where Welker plays Watson’s role in the underneath passing game.
2) Back-up tight end Marcellus Rivers got a lot of playing time in the second half, both run-blocking and pass protecting. He did a decent job, better than last week aginst Miami, in my opinion, but he also dropped a pass in the end zone. He dropped another pass on a short out.
3) Tight end Kyle Brady finally got his blocking back on track after a couple of underwhelming games. He also caught a 19 yard pass on the Patriots last drive of the first half.
4) Asante Samuel picked off deep pass by Campbell. He also made a great play on third down to stop Washington’s second drive. Redskins overloaded with receivers to the right, Samuel backed off, seemingly to cover deep, then attacked as the ball was snapped to break up a short pass to Santana Moss on a square out pattern. It was a very good play by Samuel.
5) Defensive end Richard Seymour’s return to action after seven weeks on the PUP wasn’t exactly highlight reel, but he did a solid job holding the right end of the line.
6) Vince Wilfork had another great game at left tackle. He, Warren and Seymour basically rendered Washington’s running game meaningless.
7) Patriots went with four wide receivers a number of times, giving Gaffney the chance to catch four passes for 39 yards. He also showed he can make passes over the middle. Like the other receivers, Gaffney was quite helpful blocking, in particular on Maroney’s 25 yard reception.
8) On the first drive in the second half, Patriots ran a quick screen right to split end Stallworth. Welker ran a square out from his slot-right position to block the cornerback over Stallworth while Kaczur flared downfield to throw a block. Stallworth picked up 22 yards on the play.
9) Rivers and Brady did a terrific job clearing the way for Faulk on a screen play in the second quarter,on the drive that ended with Vrabel’s touchdown. Brady and Rivers both lined up right. Brady threw a devastating cut block on the cornerback while Rivers blocked linebacker Randall Godfrey well enough to give Faulk room to pick up eleven yards and a first down.
Bottom Line: If the New England Patriots were drifting towards becoming one-dimensional, as I contemplated last week, then the Redskins are non-dimensional. The Redskins may be somebodies in the NFC, but they are plain doormats for the top-teams in the AFC. At 8-0, the Patriots are half-way to perfect and no team - no team - has been able to challenge them for four quarters. Their next opponent, the undefeated defending Super Bowl champions Indianapolis Colts, are likely to prove a most formidable challenge, perhaps an insurmountable one.
Links and Reactions:
Provincetown Journal’s ProJo Pat’s blog has Redskins locker room quotes.
Post-game uotes from the Patriots locker room at Patriots.com. Also game highlights.
Fletcher, quoted by the Washington Post:
“We got utterly embarrassed in every facet of the football game…This loss falls on everybody in this organization. I feel like we’ve got to let it simmer and stew, because I don’t ever want to have this feeling again. I don’t think you just move on. There’s a lot of stuff that happened on this football field today that has to be corrected if we’re going to get to our ultimate goal this year.”
His fellow linebacker Godfrey might be the first thing they need to fix. He reportedly was more fixated on Patriots scoring than on stopping Patriots from scoring:
“I said something to (Belichick) after the game,” Godfrey said to NBCSports.com. “I told him, ‘You need to show some respect for the game.’ You just don’t do that. I don’t care how bad it is. You’re up 35 points and you’re still throwing deep? That’s no respect.”
Tool.
Behold the Fellowship of Tools:
I am so going to be pulling for Indy next week. I’ve often said my second favorite team was whoever was playing Dallas. Now, I’ve got a new third favorite team; whoever’s playing the Patriots. We’ve got to teach America’s kids that cheaters don’t prosper.
In D.C. they ought to teach their kids to play football.
But I’m becoming increasingly disturbed on how Belichick seems to enjoy running up the score after the other team has no chance of coming back. There is little class rubbing a vanquished opponent’s nose in the dirt.
First of all, who’s to say the Redskins couldn’t come back? They’re pros, just like the Patriots. Second, from New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick’s perspective, his old NFC East nemesis Joe Gibbs probably deserved every bit that he got and then some.
The Patriots have made Benjamin Kepple’s list of most hated NFL teams:
So, why do the Patriots — a team to which I was formerly somewhat sympathetic — now find themselves on the outs with me? It’s simple. The Patriots were up 38-0 today: 38-0. They were faced with a fourth and one on the Redskins’ seven yard line. Not only was eerily good quarterback Tom Brady still in the game, they went for it — and that led to a sixth touchdown for the squad a little later.
Now to me, that’s sending the Redskins and the rest of the league a particular two-word message. My reaction to this is as one might expect: I love you too.
What can I say? The Patriots happen to have $750,000 worth of love to distribute to the league.
New England Patriots v. Washington Redskins 10/28 2007 game stats t NFL.com.
