Patriots' Keys to a Victory Review: Week 5
The New England Patriots went down to Washington and handled their business improving to 5-0 after handing the Washington Redskins 33-7 beat down.
The second half performance was much better than the first half and the win is all that matters, but did they respond to the three keys we talked about on Friday? Let’s break it down to find out.
1) Defensive Dominance
Other than a little hiccup when the McCourty twins both missed tackles on Steven Sims Jr’s 65-yard touchdown which resulted in the Redskins lone score of the day, the defense was dominant again. Colt McCoy looked like a guy who hasn’t started in ages and was on the run from the get-go.
New England forced two more turnovers with a fumble and an interception. Jamie Collins continues to be an agent of chaos for the Patriots defense, but Dont'a Hightower was a man possessed Sunday afternoon vs. Washington. It looked like he had fresh legs after missing last week vs Buffalo. He was the defensive MVP for the Patriots in Week 5.
2) Offensive Identity
Last week I talked about how New England's offense was predictable when Sony Michel and/or James White are on the field. Michel meant a run and White meant a pass. Today it seemed like there was a concerted effort early on from the first series when Tom Brady motioned out Michel wide on the first play, and then on the next play Brady and Michel connected on a 10-yard pass. Michel seemed more involved in the passing game than ever before.
While the offense was sluggish in the first and Brady threw an interception, the offense was great in the second. That run/pass balance was evident. Brady threw two touchdowns in the second half and was in control. I really liked how they spilt out fullback Jakob Johnson and then motioned him in. That was a wrinkle we haven’t seen so far this year. Michel finally got going and looked like the RB we all know and love with 91 yards on 16 carries and a touchdown vs. the Redskins.
If there is one concern on offense, however, it’s the play of the offensive tackles. Marcus Cannon and Marshall Newhouse played subpar and seemed to be responsible for every time Brady got hit and sacked. Newhouse seemed to blow an assignment and thus Brady rushed a throw in the red zone which resulted in an interception.
The offensive tackle play has to be better going forward.
3) Kicker
Oh, the kicking situation reared its ugly head very early on in Sunday's game. After the Patriots scored their first touchdown, newly signed veteran kicker Mike Nugent missed the PAT. Later on in the first half, New England chose to go for it on 4th-and-2 instead of kicking a 45+ yard field goal, and they got stuffed and that was a drive that resulted in zero points.
Nugent settled down and was able to knock down the rest of his kicks, but I believe we will see more of the Patriots going for it on 4th down this season. A new field goal kicker wasn’t the only kicking change we saw. Punter Jake Bailey handled the kickoff duties and he was good as he forced a touchback every time.
New England took care of business vs. Washington and were able to hit on all their keys to victory. Now they have a quick turnaround, as they play Thursday night vs. the New York Giants. Get your color rush jerseys ready.
