The New England Patriots (8-0) defeated the (3-5) Washington Redskins 27-10 on Sunday afternoon at Gillette Stadium. “When someone goes down, everyone has to step up and step in”.
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Vollmer, normally a right tackle, switched over to the left side when Nate Solder went down for the season with torn biceps October 11. “It wasn’t giving me a lot of pain like it usually does”, said LaFell, who missed the Patriots’ first five games with a foot injury. Bryan Stork, last year’s starting center, made his first appearance of the season and played both guard and right tackle. Cameron Fleming moved to left tackle, also for the first time.
Washington’s offense will get a boost from the expected return of speedy wide receiver DeSean Jackson, who has been sidelined by a hamstring injury since the opening week of the season. The Redskins will most likely be without Ryan Kerrigan and Keenan Robinson so it should be tough for them to get pressure as well as cover the Patriots running backs in the passing game.
Brady is the quickest thrower in the National Football League, meaning he makes his reads and is releasing the ball faster than anyone. They steamrolled yet another defense, and if it weren’t for the late run-heavy play calling, the score would’ve been even higher. So you just hope for the best, and then obviously with “Seabass” [Sebastian Vollmer] going down, it puts a lot of strain on those guys. On the other hand, Zimmer is getting the most out of second-year quarterback Teddy Bridgewater, and running back Adrian Peterson continues to be one of the very best at his position.
“We had a particular play called in and I wasn’t sure”, said Brady. Blount ran 5 yards for another score.
New England is 7-0 and well on its way to another AFC East title.
Those facts could suggest the Redskins need a radical game plan to have a shot Sunday, a notion coach Jay Gruden suggested would be a mistake to follow, especially for his quarterback. New England (8-0) took the ball and marched 84 yards in 13 plays for a touchdown. Everyone knew it would not be easy, but Washington was more primed for an upset this year relative to their atrocious performance against worse teams last year. “We didn’t make enough plays, we turned the ball over”. I’ve practiced it. We worked on rotating just in case something happened.
The Patriots would lead 17-3 at the half and add a field goal and Brandon Bolden touchdown catch in the second to cruise to a victory. On Washington’s first play from scrimmage, Cousins hit Pierre Garcon near midfield, but Garcon tipped it toward the sky. It wouldn’t shock me to see Brady with around 325 yards and 4 touchdowns.
Cousins was 22-for-40 for 217 yards, but he was hurt early by seven dropped passes.
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NOTES: The Patriots scored in all four quarters Sunday and have scored in an NFL-record-tying 31 straight quarters since being blanked in the first quarter of the opener…. While pulling off a win against the Patriots at home is extremely unlikely, it is important for the Redskins to keep up with them. The Redskins were missing NT Terrance Knighton, who stayed behind because of migraines and suffered what appeared to be a few minor injuries during the game…. Takeaways from this game focus on the New England offense, injuries, and a comparison to a similar 2007 season.
