Patriots-Redskins Game Observations
A few observations from watching the TV copy of the game:
- The Patriots again used the hardcount shift on defense at the goal line, and again it worked to draw a false start penalty. It seems like a useful tool at the goalline or in short yardage situations which has resulted in a high amount of false starts. The drive resulted in a field goal.
- LB Dane Fletcher had a good first half, drawing a holding penalty and being influential on a key goal-line stop. Fletcher seemed to tire into the second half.
- Three red zone stands by the Redskins in this game, which is uncharacteristic for the Pats to not come up with the TD (who have a high red zone efficiency).
- When S James Ihedigbo was injured early in the third quarter, it looked like S Sergio Brown ran on to the field, whether he thought he was next in the safety rotation or was just keen to get onto the field. However, before the next snap, he was replaced by S Matthew Slater, showing the coaching staff’s hesitance to use Brown except on special teams.
- More of a theory than an observation, but perhaps a part of the argument between QB Tom Brady and OC Billy O’Brien stems from the fact Brady ‘likes’ Tiquan Underwood, and O’Brien was thought to ‘like’ Taylor Price, and O’Brien may’ve been pointing out that Price wouldn’t have made a better play on the ball than Underwood did on the interception. Earlier in the year it was observed Price was not invited when Brady worked out in the offseason with his receivers, and O’Brien mentioned during the season how he wanted to get Price more involved.
- The Patriots had three dropped passes in the game, from Rob Gronkowski, Aaron Hernandez and Wes Welker. There were also plenty of incomplete passes due to wrong routes or bad reads.
