This Week
The New England Patriots host the Washington Redskins in an interconference match up on Sunday afternoon at 4:15 p.m. at Gillette Stadium in Foxboro MA. The Patriots are 3-0 at home and 1-0 against the NFC this season. The Redskins are 1-1 on the road and 1-0 against the AFC.
Here are the rosters for the Redskins and Patriots.
The Line/Prediction
As of Thursday the line on the game from Yahoo Sports is Patriots -16.5. The over/under is 47.5.
My prediction is Patriots 41, Redskins, 14. Give the points and take the over. I am 7-0 against the spread and have called the over/under six out of seven times.
Tickets
The game is reported as a sell out.
Tickets to the game, if available, may be purchased through Ticketmaster. You can check ticket availability here. Many times tickets are released in the last 48 hours prior to the game.
Getting To The Game
If you’re lucky enough to be going to the game make sure you check out the links.
Here is the up to date weather forecast for the game from the American Weather Service.
Click for stadium directions, parking information, parking map, specific MBTA train times for this game and a Gillette Stadium seating chart.
BROADCAST INFORMATION
Television
FOX is televising the game, it is a regional broadcast. The play-by-play duties will be handled Kenny Albert with Troy Aikman doing game analysis. You can check here to see if you are getting the game from FOX and look for your local FOX Station.
Radio
The Patriots Rock Radio Network broadcasts the game from flagship station WBCN-FM 104.1 in Boston. Gil Santos handles the play-by-play and former Patriot Gino Cappelletti does the color.It all starts with Gary Tanguay, Scott Zolak and Andy Gresch and the pregame show at 1 p.m. along the network.
The post game starts after the final gun and continues for three hours.
Check this out for the low down on the Patriots Rock Radio Network and stations in your area.
If you are outside of the broadcast area of the stations on the Patriots Rock Radio Network you can purchase NFL Field Pass which allows you to listen to any NFL game live. You can also pick which teams broadcasters you want to listen to.
All NFL games are also available on Sirius Satellite Radio. The Patriots radio call is available on Channel 130, the Redskins radio call is available on Channel 107.
The game will also be broadcast nationally by Sports USA Radio Network. Eli Gold will call the play-by-play and Tim Pernetti will handle the analyis of the game.
Last Week
The Patriots improved to 7-0 with a 49-28 win on the road over AFC East rival Miami Dolphins. The Redskins edged the Arizona Cardinals at home 21-19 to improve to 4-2.
History
This is the 8th meeting between the two teams but only the third since 1990. The Redskins hold a 6-1 series lead having won the last 6 games.
The last meeting between the teams was on September 28, 2003 and the Redskins won 20-17 at FedEx Field in Landover MD. The Patriots then went on to win a NFL record 21 consecutive games.
This is Washington’s first ever visit to Gillette Stadium. The last time they played in Foxboro was in 1996 at Foxboro Stadium in a game they won, 27-22.
Despite the two teams not seeing much of each other in the regular season, the Redskins are the Patriots most frequent preseason opponent. They have 19 times in the preseason.
The Patriots last defeated Washington in 1972. The six game losing streak is the longest current streak to any opponent.
Connections
- Patriots Head Coach Bill Belichick was raised in Annapolis, Md.
- Redskins wide receiver Reche Caldwell spent the 2006 season with the Patriots before being released prior to this year’s training camp. He was the Patriots’ leading receiver in 2006 with 61 receptions for 760 yards and four touchdowns. Caldwell attended the University of Florida with current Patriots wide receiver Jabar Gaffney.
- Patriots fullback Kyle Eckel attended the Naval Academy in Annapolis, Md.
- Redskins quarterback Todd Collins is originally from Walpole, Ma. and currently lives in North Quincy, Ma. Collins, who grew up an avid Patriots fan, participated in an executive education program at the Harvard Business School in 2005.
- Patriots linebacker Mike Vrabel and Redskins cornerback Shawn Springs spent four years on the same Ohio State defense.
- Patriots tackle Ryan O’Callaghan and Redskins defensive tackle Lorenzo Alexander were on the same University of California team from 2002-03.
- Patriots defensive back Eugene Wilson and Redskins wide receiver Brandon Lloyd were four-year teammates at Illinois.
Other News
This is the link to head coach Bill Belichick’s Wednesday press conference on the Redskins. You can also see what Redskins head coach Joe Gibbs had to say about the game in a conference call with the New England media.
New England linebacker Junior Seau, a San Diego native, has been affected by the Southern California wildfires as he had one his homes “damaged” and the restaurant he owns is being used as a shelter for the families of his employees. Seau went to San Diego on Tuesday to move his family to his oceanfront home, which is out of the danger zone of the fires.
The Patriots are 7-0 for the first time in team history.
Since 2003, the Patriots are 18-3 in October.
The Patriots are the first team in NFL history to win it’s first seven games by 17 or more.
This is Tom Brady’s 101st consecutive regular season start. It is the third longest streak among NFL quarterbacks behind only Peyton Manning and Brett Favre.
The Redskins are the only team in which Brady does not have a victory against having lost his only start against them in 2003. If Peyton Manning beats Carolina and Brett Favre defeats Kansas City and the Patriots win all three future hall of fame members would be the first quarterbacks in NFL history to have beaten every NFL team except their own. It’d be very fitting for all three to accomplish the feat on the same day.
The Patriots defensive end Richard Seymour started practicing this week it is unknown at this time if he will be activated from the PUP list. Seymour along with wide receiver Chad Jackson and wide receiver Troy Brown are on the PUP List. They are eligible to practice for the next three weeks and can be activated during that time but after Week 9 must either be activated or placed on the IR for the season. Here is the injury list for the game.
The Patriots hold a 21-4 record over first time opponents at Gillette Stadium and have won 17 of the last 18 games against first time opponents.
After this week only five teams have yet to play at the Razor. They are Arizona, Atlanta, Carolina, Philadelphia and St. Louis.
News from this weeks opponent:
Washington LB London Fletcher was named GMC NFL Defensive Player of the Week.
Because of all the defensive looks the Patriots give teams Redskins TE Chris Cooley figures to be covered by a linebacker or a safety and had this to say:
“They’re a very smart defense, but eventually they have to end up what they are going to play,” Cooley said. “It takes a little more film study to figure out where they’ll be. They’re very complicated on third-down situations”.
The Redskins secondry is dinged up but cornerbacks Fred Smoot and Carlos Rogers expect to play Sunday in Foxboro. They’ll be needed especially with the Patriots aerial attack.
Joe Gibbs is 3-0 vs. the Patriots.
For the 3rd time in the last four games the Redskins will face the NFL’s top ranked passing offense.
Safety Sean Taylor has 5 INT’s this year, 3 in the last two games against former MVP’s Kurt Warner and Brett Favre. The five picks lead the NFL.
The Redskins defense is ranked 5th in the NFL.
Next Week
The Patriots travel to Indianapolis to face the Colts at 4:15 p.m. in the RCA Dome.
