New England Patriots Sloppy, but 8-0

After losing 27-10 to the New England Patriots Sunday, Redskins quarterback Kirk Cousins met Tom Brady at midfield, where the two appeared to exchange a nice moment.

In Sunday’s win over Washington, left tackle Sebastian Vollmer injured his head, so center Bryan Stork moved to right tackle and Cameron Fleming took Vollmer’s spot.

Thanks to Cousins’ interception and an onside kick following the Patriots’ first score, Washington (3-5) managed just 15 total yards in the first quarter – most of it, and their only first down, on a 9-yard pass on the final play of the quarter. The Patriots also lost a fumble at home for the first time since 2013 – and lost the coin toss, too, for just the seventh time in their last 26 games. He got his first Super Bowl ring last season, coming up huge against the Seahawks, and he’ll play a critical role again as New England looks to repeat. “We made a lot of mistakes and dropped a lot of balls”. The Redskins were limited to a single field goal in the second quarter before Jordan Reed completed a 3-yard touchdown with around 25 seconds left on the clock. Say what you will about the offense averaging just 2.5 yards per carry, but it’s hard for an offensive line to function at a high level when the offense as a whole becomes that one dimensional. One of the touchdown passes was an 8-yard pass to Edelman during the opening drive.

Rookie Mariota went for 371 yards and four touchdowns overall as the Titans hit back from a 21-10 deficit to claim just their second victory of the season. They have not lost a game since, a streak of 11 consecutive regular-season victories.

“We had a particular play called in and I wasn’t sure”, said Brady. The offense’s lack of effort to establish a running game proved costly in this as it allowed Tom Brady and the Patriots’ offense to return to the field in fairly short order.

In our preview and prediction post, I wrote that the Redskins’ best chance to beat the Patriots was to make the game a ground-and-pound contest.

Cousins was 22 for 40 for 217 yards, but he was hurt early by seven dropped passes. “All of our guys have good natural hands and have made a few really tough catches this year, so I don’t see this as a trend or a pattern, but more of an anomaly”, he said. “And possibly not knowing what’s gonna happen this week with Dion [Lewis] or [Sebastian Vollmer], it’s going to be a game”.

Vollmer’s injury hurt the New England Patriots on the line and yet, Blount was still able to rush for over 100 yards, even with a tight end, Michael Williams, blocking for him, according to FOX Sports.

I know the comeback win over the Buccaneers was great, but falling behind by 24 points to start a game is not a blueprint for success. We had the ball the first play and it bounced off our hands for an interception.

Notes: Patriots DE Chandler Jones had a sack, giving him 9.5 for the season.