All it took was six plays for the New England Patriots to find themselves in a hole. On the Washington Redskins’ sixth offensive play of the game early Sunday afternoon, Steven Sims ran for a 65-yard touchdown. It marked the first time this season that New England found themselves trailing.
Despite the ugly start, the defense rose to the occasion once more and shut-out the Redskins for the remainder of the game to help New England stay undefeated at 5-0 with a 33-7 victory at FedEx Field.
Here are three lessons that were learned during Sunday’s win.
‘The Boogeymen’ cast is deep and scary in the eyes of opposing offenses.
Dont’a Hightower made a dominant return to the Patriots linebacking unit Sunday, anchoring the defense with eight total tackles. Fellow linebackers Ja’Whaun Bentley and Elandon Roberts recorded four tackles a piece, and rookie linebacker Chase Winovich finished with a sack.
Simply put, the New England linebacking unit impressed once again. They are a big reason why the Patriots’ defense has been on a historic run to start the season, recording 24 sacks and allowing a mere 20 points to be scored.
The linebacking unit has been so impressive that they have rightfully earned a nickname; ‘The Boogeymen.’
‘The Boogeymen’ look to keep up its terrorizing ways in Week 6 when the New York Giants come to town for a Thursday Night Football contest.
Despite the 33 points, the offense shows some vulnerability.
The connection and chemistry between Brady and no. 1 wide receiver Julian Edelman is well-known around the league. The duo is one of the most reliable quarterback-receiver pairings in the league, and they proved it once again Sunday, as Edelman finished with eight receptions, 110 yards and a touchdown, his second of the season.
Josh Gordon and James White combined for 11 catches and 105 yards, a decent showing for the two.
Outside of Edelman, Gordon, and White, however, Brady seemed like he was out of dependable targets, forcing throws to a group of unknown, unreliable receivers.
During the Patriots opening drive of the game, Brady targeted the trio of Matt LaCosse, Sony Michel, and Jakob Johnson. It was a sign of things to come for Brady in the first half, struggling to find rhythm with any of his receivers outside of Edelman. At the 5:24 mark of the second quarter, Brady forced a pass to White, who was heavily covered, near the end zone but the pass was intercepted. On that same play it appeared as if Brady refused to look in the direction of wide receiver Jakobi Meyers, who was open on the right side of the field.
The second half was a bit of a different story for Brady, as he rifled touchdown passes to Brandon Bolden and Ryan Izzo.
Jake Bailey shines in his kickoff-duty debut
With veteran kicker Stephen Gostkowski being placed on the injured reserve last week, it meant more than New England having to find a replacement to kick extra-points and field goals. It also meant the team was going to have to find a replacement who could handle kickoffs.
The Patriots didn’t have to look far, as they assigned rookie punter Jake Bailey as the kickoff specialist.
Bailey, who had a masterful first month of his career, earning AFC special teams player of the month honors for September, once again proved why he was warranted a fifth-round selection in this year’s NFL Draft. In his debut, Bailey went a perfect 7-for-7 with all his kickoffs ending in touchbacks.
