The Patriots will have little trouble with the Redskins
This is what a mismatch looks like, folks.
Welcome to Season 8, Episode 5 of the Unconventional Preview, a serious-yet-lighthearted, nostalgia-tinted look at the Patriots’ weekly matchup.
The Patriots have Bill Belichick and Tom Brady, the greatest coach and quarterback in NFL history. The Redskins have Jay Gruden, the lesser of the coaching Grudens, who has been engulfed by rumors he will be fired as coach soon, and a quarterback situation that . . . well, the clearly defeated Gruden probably put it best earlier this week when he said, “We don’t have one right now.’’
The Patriots are 4-0 and have outscored opponents, 122-27. The Redskins are 0-4 and have been outscored, 118-66. While last week’s hard-fought win over the Bills left the Patriots with some questions, including whether they have enough talent surrounding Brady, they’re still a favorite to reach the Super Bowl because of perhaps the most well-rounded defense they’ve ever had.
The Redskins, owned by Daniel Snyder, the NFL version of James Dolan, are in their usual state of haplessness and disarray. They might as well change their name to the Washington NFC Dolphins at this point. This is what a mismatch looks like, folks.
Kick it off, Gost . . . er, Nugent or Bailey, and let’s get this one started . . .
Three players I’ll be watching not named Tom Brady
Kyle Van Noy was named AFC Defensive Player of the Week after making 8 tackles — including 2 sacks — last Sunday against the Bills.
Kyle Van Noy — The Patriots’ defense has been phenomenal, allowing one touchdown through four games, and there is plenty of acclaim and accolades to go around. Devin McCourty (an interception in four straight games) was the Defensive Player of the Month for September, while the rejuvenated Jamie Collins, as crazy-athletic as ever and perhaps a little more appreciative of life as a Patriot this time around, is on pace for 14 sacks, 92 tackles, 12 interceptions, and 16 passes defense — in other words, he’s probably the Defensive Player of the First Quarter of the Season. But one player whose contributions I’ve too often overlooked is Van Noy, who has been playing at an extremely high level for a long time. He was a quiet star of the Patriots’ Super Bowl shutdown of the potent Rams, finishing with three QB hits and a highlight-reel sack in which he made a beeline from about 15 yards away to bury Jared Goff on third down when the Patriots led just, 3-0, late in the second quarter. And that wasn’t even his best performance of the playoffs — he had 10 tackles and 2 sacks in the AFC Championship game against Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs. He’s carried over the exceptional play to his season, and is the reigning Defensive Player of the Week after making 8 tackles — including 2 sacks — last Sunday against the Bills. Not bad for a player who was acquired along with a seventh-round pick for a sixth-rounder in an October 2016 trade with the Lions.
Mike Nugent — You’re going to miss him. Yeah, Stephen Gostkowski missed an occasional important kick through the years, most painfully in the 2015 AFC Championship game loss to the Broncos and the Super Bowl LII loss to the Eagles two years later. He also made his share of big ones — most notably the 41-yarder with 1 minute, 12 seconds left that all but clinched last season’s Super Bowl — but rarely got enduring credit for them. He’s been an excellent kicker — a four-time Pro Bowl selection and two-time All-Pro — for the Patriots since he was chosen in the fourth round of the 2006 draft and charged with the thankless mandate of replacing the greatest ever to do it, Adam Vinatieri. Gostkowski has done as well as any kicker could in being held to the impossible standard set by his predecessor. He was having a brutal 2019 season, with more missed extra points (4) than he had in any other full season of his career, and now we have at least a partial explanation: He was hurt. Now that he’s on injured reserve, the Patriots, who have essentially had two kickers since Vinatieri took over for Matt Bahr (now 63 years old) in 1996, are about to find out what it’s like to lack security at the position. Nugent, 37, has had a decent career since the Jets took him in the second round out of Ohio State in 2005, but there’s a reason he’s a journeyman (seven teams, most recently the Raiders last year). He has never played on a team that has won a playoff game and is just 13 of 30 from 50 yards and beyond in his career. Nugent should be adequate enough to prevent Patriots fans from longing for the days of Jason Staurovsky, but make no mistake, losing Gostkowski is a downgrade that could end up hurting the Patriots at an inopportune time.
Benjamin Watson — Who would have thought when Watson left for the Browns in free agency after the ’09 season that he’d return to the Patriots a full decade later, essentially bookending Rob Gronkowski’s extraordinary career. (Who knows, maybe they’ll be teammates someday. How does Week 12 sound?) Watson was a talented, hard-working but inconsistent young tight end for six seasons with the Patriots after being a first-round pick in 2004, one whose best season with the franchise was his 49 catches for 641 yards in 2006, the year Brady had to rely on the likes of Reche Caldwell at receiver. Watson, who turns 39 in December, had his best success after he left the Patriots, catching 74 passes for the Saints in 2015. Last year, he had 35 catches for 400 yards for New Orleans, then retired at season’s end. The Patriots came calling after Gronkowski retired, and Watson had to sit out the season’s first four games after violating the league’s PED policy while trying to recover from injuries during his brief retirement. He looks like a go for Sunday — the Patriots had a roster exemption for him this week but cleared a spot on the 53-man roster by releasing lineman Caleb Benenoch on Tuesday. Even if there’s some rust to shake off, Watson should be able to help a Patriots passing game that has been inconsistent over the last two weeks and has just four receptions from the tight end position this season. It’s nice to have a player we remember from his inconsistent youth return as a wise old pro who still has something to offer.
Grievance of the week
Colt McCoy is one option for the Redskins at quarterback.
Hearing Colt McCoy’s name punted around as a potential starter at quarterback for the Redskins this week brought three immediate thoughts:
1. Colt McCoy would have been a good name for a character on “Friday Night Lights.’’
2. Colt McCoy is still in the league? Are we sure it’s not his nephew or something?
3. How in the heck did Colt McCoy pull that off against the Patriots all those years ago?
If you’re not relatively new to following this long-running dynasty, you know exactly what I mean. On Nov. 7, 2010, the Patriots (6-1) traveled to Cleveland to face the Browns (2-5). The Browns, coached by former Patriots assistant Eric Mangini, had beaten the Saints, 30-17, the previous week, but being the Browns and all, they were still perceived as an easy opponent. The Patriots were coming off a 28-18 win over the Vikings and were in full juggernaut form.
So, what happened? The Browns handed the Patriots one of the most surprising losses of the Brady/Belichick era, and they did it without an ounce of suspense, jumping out to 10-0 and 27-7 leads en route to a 34-14 victory.
McCoy was the Browns’ quarterback that day, and he was good, completing 14 of 19 passes for 174 yards, without a touchdown or interception. He also had a weaving 16-yard touchdown run. The true star of the day for the Browns was journeyman running back Peyton Hillis, who ran for 184 yards and two scores while punishing Patriots defenders like he was channeling Jim Brown.
It wasn’t the best performance of McCoy’s career — in November 2014, he completed 31 of 47 passes for 392 yards and three touchdowns in a Redskins loss to the Colts. But it had to be the most unexpected performance from a quarterback who is 7-20 in his career as a starter.
This isn’t so much a grievance as a lingering bewilderment. But for Patriots fans it was as annoying as it was stunning when it happened. I still have no idea why the Patriots no-showed that day.
Key matchup
Patriots wide receiver Josh Gordon vs. assorted Redskins defensive backs
After the Patriots’ offense struggled in last Sunday’s 16-10 win over the Bills, totaling just 224 yards, and 150 in the air, offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels acknowledged he needed to do a better job of getting Gordon the ball.
While Gordon is dealing with injuries — he injured a couple of fingers against the Jets and has been on the injury report this week because of a knee issue — Sunday should provide a good opportunity for him to continue to build consistency and an even stronger rapport with Brady.
Gordon had just three catches for 46 yards on seven targets against the Bills, despite being on the field for 58 snaps. Gordon was much more involved a week earlier against the Jets, with six catches (including two sure to make the season-end highlight reel) for 83 yards, but even that required an inefficient 11 targets.
The Patriots are moving Gordon around much more in the offense this year, his second with team, including occasionally lining him up in the slot.
The Redskins are coming off an encouraging defensive performance in their loss to the Giants — cornerback Quinton Dunbar had two interceptions and two passes defended against rookie quarterback Daniel Jones, while safety Landon Collins had nine tackles. They forced four turnovers overall.
Presumably, the Redskins would have high-priced cornerback Josh Norman assigned to cover Gordon, but he’s been dealing with a knee injury and missed practice Thursday after limited participation the day before.
Brady should have time that he lacked against the Bills — the Redskins have just five sacks all season, or as many as the Patriots had last Sunday alone. And Brady with time is nearly unstoppable. Look for him to make sure to get Gordon going, no matter which Redskins are charged with coverage.
Prediction, or this Redskins offense definitely isn’t the second coming of the “fun bunch”
File this one under minutiae you probably didn’t need to know but I’m going to tell you anyway, because it’s more interesting than trying to pretend the outcome of this game isn’t already certain. Did you know the Redskins’ coaching staff includes two former Patriots quarterbacks? The offensive coordinator is Kevin O’Connell, who was chosen in the third round of the 2008 draft by the Patriots and washed out of the league in a hurry, playing just two games in a career that ended in 2012. The Patriots cut him in 2009 training camp, when he was beaten out by rookie free agent Brian Hoyer. The high point of O’Connell’s career was probably when Jets coach/troll Rex Ryan named him a captain in a September 2009 game against the Patriots. O’Connell is well-regarded as an assistant coach, though he doesn’t call the plays and is getting no favors from the Redskins’ offense, which is 28th in the league in points. The other ex-Patriots QB on the Redskins staff is Matt Cavanaugh, who holds the title of senior offensive assistant. Cavanaugh, a second-round pick in ’78, played four seasons for the Patriots, and not well. In eight starts in 1981, he threw five touchdown passes and 13 picks while the Patriots went 1-7. In other words, he played quite a bit like the current Redskins quarterbacks. The Patriot defense’s touchdowns allowed total shall remain at one.
Patriots 36, Redskins 6
