Tom Brady – While the hit Brady took from Washington DT Albert Haynesworth looked bad, by how Brady was moving his arm on the sideline makes me believe his shoulder truly is just sore. I really would had liked to see how Tom bounced back after taking that hit, but can understand why the coaches pulled him from the game. Brady overall did play well. He even moved around in the pocket to buy time a couple of times.
Open, but not Ready – Of Brady’s 12 completions, six went to Randy Moss, three were to Laurence Maroney, and the remaining three to Joey Galloway. Greg Lewis and Fred Taylor were targeted twice with no results. The new guys still aren’t in-sync with the rest of the offense.
More Mac-aroney, please – Maroney ran pretty well, but Laurence as a receiver looked natural catching passes and making plays in space. It’s a part of his game he might expand on this year and it looks promising.
Red Zone – Washington was 50 percent in the red zone. It bodes well that New England’s defense forced a field goal and Jonathan Wilhite picked off a pass and returned it for a score. There is room for improvement, though. Darius Butler’s pass interference set up the Redskins’ first touchdown. It was a costly 23-yard penalty.
Kevin O’Cut Him – Kevin O’Connell had another chance to establish himself as the unquestioned number two quarterback and failed miserably. He was jittery all night and threw two interceptions. Unless the team knows something about him that we don’t, similar to Matt Cassell last year, I don’t expect O’Connell to make the team.
Now or Slater? – Matt Slater has been responsible for some bone-headed penalties and is a poor kickoff returner. But on coverage he’s always around the ball and he makes tackles. Are the benefits worth the drawbacks that come with the total package?
Extra Point – We finally saw why Pat Chung wants the chance to return punts. That 33-yard punt return to set up the game-winning field goal was nice. That made up for the muffed one against Cincinnati. He has one more game to make plays as a punt returner.
Questions? Comments? Send to talktome@randolphc.com.
