Patriots Trounce Redskins 33-7, drop Washington to 0-5 for the season

Six minutes into Sunday’s 33-7 defeat to the New England Patriots, wide receiver Steven Sims took a handoff 65 yards for Washington’s first and only points of the day.

From there, it was all downhill. New England responded just two minutes and 17 seconds later with a Tom Brady touchdown pass, though new kicker Mike Nugent missed the point after touchdown, so the Redskins held onto a narrow 7-6 lead and a sliver of hope.

Four punts and two turnovers later, Washington was in a 12-7 halftime hole against an uncharacteristically sloppy Patriots team. New England gave the Redskins chance after chance, but head coach Jay Gruden’s team couldn’t take advantage. By game’s end, New England would have double Washington’s total yards.

In quarterback Colt McCoy’s first start for Washington since breaking his leg in Week 13 of 2018, he managed just 119 yards and 4.4 per pass with one interception. He was sacked six times, losing 44 yards in the process. Meanwhile, the Redskins managed 145 rushing yards and 7.3 per rush. Without Sims’ breakaway score, that would’ve been 80 yards and 4.2 per rush.

Brady had a field day against Washington as he threw for 348 yards, three touchdowns, and one interception. The Redskins got great pressure on the future Hall of Famer throughout the game and sacked him four times, but it wasn’t enough to slow down New England in the second half. In the game’s final 30 minutes, Washington was outscored 21-0.

New England outperformed Washington in first downs (23 to 11), third-down conversion rate (5-for-15 to 1-to-11), total yards (442 to 220), and time of possession (31:52 to 28:08).

With the loss, the Redskins dropped to 0-5 while the Patriots advanced to 5-0. Washington travels to face the Miami Dolphins (0-4) coming off a bye in a battle between what’s widely considered to be two of the worst — if not the two worst — teams in football.

A win could keep Gruden around for a few more weeks, and a loss could better position Washington for the No. 1 pick in the 2020 NFL Draft.