Patriots Remain Unbeaten, But 17-Point Win Came At A Price
By Michael Hurley, CBS Boston
FOXBORO (CBS) -- The New England Patriots are a vastly superior football team to the Washington Redskins, from the top right on down. In terms of the owner, the head coach, the quarterback and all the way to the third-string defensive lineman, the Patriots are better than the Redskins.
This much was made painfully clear over the course of three hours at Gillette Stadium on Sunday, as the Patriots casually rolled to a 17-point victory over their visitors from D.C. In fact, it was obvious after just two plays, when Dion Lewis took handoffs from Tom Brady and saw Red Sea-sized gaps in the defense, through which he ran for nine yards on first down and eight yards on second down. The two runs kicked off a 13-play drive on which the Patriots gained yardage on all but two snaps -- and one of those came when Lewis dropped a touchdown pass that hit him in the chest.
From the very moment this game began, it was clear that the Redskins were not equipped to hang with the Patriots.
Yet, this particular football game was certainly not necessary to prove that point. And what's troubling for the home team is that the contest featured more injuries to a team that can ill afford to lose any more players.
Dion Lewis, who's averaged 7.3 yards per touch this season as a dynamic threat out of the backfield, went down with a left knee injury on a non-contact play in the second half. It would seem as though his outlook is not very positive, the Patriots are hoping for the best.
Sebastian Vollmer, the right tackle forced into action on the left side of the line after Nate Solder's season ended early, suffered a "head injury" -- which sounds like a more pleasant way to say "concussion" -- in the first half.
The Patriots managed to Duct Tape their way through the rest of the game, with Bryan Stork playing out of position in two different spots in his first game of the season, and with Cameron Fleming -- who was on the practice squad just a few weeks ago -- manning the left tackle spot. With Tre' Jackson out with a knee injury, with Marcus Cannon still out with a toe injury, with Solder done for the year, with Vollmer potentially out for a few weeks ("head injuries" are unpredictable, after all), with Shaq Mason just coming back from a knee injury of his own, with Ryan Wendell now on injured reserve, and with center David Andrews limping out of the locker room, the picture of the Patriots' offensive line is not all that pretty.
Again, it was fine against Washington, as the Patriots racked up 161 rushing yards and kept Washington from sacking Tom Brady. But the Redskins entered Sunday rank second-to-last in rush yards allowed per attempt, and they ranked 30th in rush yards allowed per game. Things might not be so easy at the Broncos or at the Jets or even against Buffalo, Philadelphia or Miami in the upcoming two months, unless that group manages to somehow get healthy -- and fast.
As far as Lewis goes, the Patriots offense can survive. So long as Rob Gronkowski remains upright, and so long as Julian Edelman keeps himself safe over the middle, Brady's offense will remain versatile and talented enough to put up points. But Edelman did take a helmet-to-helmet hit early on Sunday, and Gronkowski did absorb a number of hits to his legs from safeties and cornerbacks who had little interest in contacting the hulking tight end above the waist. Both players survived, but each time they took another hit in this lopsided affair, the home crowd held its collective breath.
After an early rush of excitement, that home crowd spent much of the afternoon in a bit of a malaise. Yes, the Patriots won by 17, but they didn't play their best. Brady threw an interception. Edelman fumbled. The offense went 38 minutes without a touchdown, twice getting stuffed on the goal line, settling for field goals. And if not for a series of dropped passes from Washington receivers, the game could have easily been a bit tighter than it ultimately was.
Of course, any win in the NFL is difficult to earn, especially ones decided by 17 points. The "ifs" and drops don't count. There's certainly no reason to feel down on the Patriots, but Sunday's affair presented no new reasons to feel particularly enthused.
It says as much about the rest of the league than anything else that the Patriots can play arguably their two worst games of the year in consecutive weeks and yet win both by a combined 46 points. Perhaps, after all, there's little reason to worry about this group, so long as the coach and quarterback take the field every Sunday.
The Patriots are 8-0 and can still lay claim to being the best team in the NFL. It just felt like in dominating an inferior team on Sunday, they lost a little more than they gained.
Read more from Michael Hurley by clicking here. You can email him or find him on Twitter @michaelFhurley.