I’ve been dying to say this. New Orleans TE Jimmy Graham is better my ass. Rob Gronkowski proved once again why he is the best young tight end in the game today. I’m not even talking about records, I’m talking pure all out effort.
All you had to do today was look at two of his six catches. The first was the one were he got up off the ground and dragged/ran over nearly half of the Washington defense as he turned a 5 yard pass into a 50 yard pass. The second was the on a touchdown pass when he shed a linebacker like he was a kindergarten student and went to the end zone.
Vernon Davis, Tony Gonzalez, Kellen Winslow Sr., Antonio Gates, Jason Witten, Mike Ditka all good players in their time, and some are still active, but we may have never seen the likes of Gronk. 6 grabs, 160 yards 2 more TD catches and bodies once again left in his wake. He is turning into a one man wrecking crew that no one can defend. He is the mismatch of mismatches.
I want to see what he can do on defense.
Most of the rest of the team was merely average as the defense was well the defense giving up the occasional big play, getting shredded between the numbers but coming up big when they had to.
No one came up bigger of the defense today than LB Jerod Mayo who’s INT of Washington QB Rex Grossman with 0:22 seconds left sealed a victory. Mayo was able to get his hands on a deflected pass as he fell to the ground cradling it as if it was a baby thrown to him from a burning building.
And no one came up larger on defense than the big guy himself NT Vince Wilfork. Wilfork is proving to a beast in the middle, especially against the run. And when DE Andre Carter hit his former team mate Grossman causing a fumble in the end zone, it was Wilfork who recovered it for a TD.
For those counting this season Big Vince has 2 INT’s and a fumble recovery for a TD and one very proud wife, who he presented with his bounty after the score. I want to know when E! or VH-1 are giving the Wilfork’s their own TV series. Gronk could be their crazy neighbor.
Well as coach would say, it wasn’t pretty and the Patriots made one more play than the Redskins did and that’s why they won. Now it’s off to Denver to face the mighty Tebow’s who have won 6 consecutive games.
Patriots at Redskins Gamebook. This includes the box score, all the stats, play by play, drive charts and more.
Patriots at Redskins Game Recap
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Turning Point(s) of the Game
New England LB Jerod Mayo intercepted a deflected Rex Grossman pass with 0:22 seconds remaining in the game to seal the win.
Offensive Player(s) of the Game
Patriots TE Rob Gronkowski had 6 catches for 160 yards and 2 TD’s to set a NFL record for most TD catches by a TE in a season.
Defensive Player(s) of the Game
Patriots LB Jerod Mayo had 9 tackles (6 solo), 1 quarterback hit, 1 pass defensed and 1 INT.
Game Notes
Starters for the Patriots were:
On Offense:
LT Light
LG Mankins
C McDonald
RG Waters
RT Solder
TE Hernandez
TE Gronkowski
WR Branch
WR Welker
QB Brady
RB Woodhead
On Defense:
DE Anderson
DT Wilfork
DT Love
DE Carter
LB Ninkovich
LB Mayo
LB Fletcher
CB McCourty
CB Arrington
S Ihedigbo
S Slater
Inactives for the Game:
Patriots
1. S Patrick Chung (foot)
2. C Dan Connolly (groin)
3. LB Brandon Spikes (MCL)
4. RB Shane Vereen (hamstring)
5. T Sebastian Vollmer (foot)
6. DE Gerard Warren
7. QB Ryan Mallett
Redskins
1. WR Terrance Austin (hamstring)
2. S LaRon Landry (groin)
3. RB Ryan Torain
4. DL Chris Baker (quad)
5. DE Kentwan Balmer
6. LB Markus White
7. OL Erik Cook
The spread (Patriots minus 9 1/2) WAS NOT covered. The over/under (48) WAS COVERED. I GAVE the points and took the OVER. I am now 7-5-1 vs. the spread and 9 of 13 calling the under/over.
The Redskins lead the overall series vs. the Patriots 6-3.
Prior to this game, New England had never won in Washington. They are now 1-1 at FedEx Field.
New England has now won a road game in every NFL city.
This was the first of a two game road swing (they play at Denver Week 15) the second two game road swing of the season (at Buffalo Week 2 and at Oakland Week 3) for the Patriots.
New England has won 5 consecutive games after a two game losing streak. It is their longest win streak of the season.
New England is 38-5 in December games since 2001. That’s the best in the NFL in that time period.
Since 2002 the Patriots are 10-2 vs. the NFC East in the regular season. The losing at Washington in 2003 and to the New York Giants at home this year.
Overall the Patriots are 18-24 against NFC East teams including Super Bowls.
Since 2000 have the Patriots the best road record in the NFL at 62-33.
Bill Belichick is 2-2 vs. the Redskins in his career. He is 2-1 against them as the head coach in New England.
Belichick’s 187 wins are good for 9th all-time. Chuck Knox, who coached the Rams, Redskins and Seahawks, is 8th all-time with 193.
Tom Brady is 2-1 vs. the Redskins in his career.
Brady has 121 career wins he is 6th all-time. Fran Tarkenton is 5th with 124.
Brady has now never beaten New Orleans and San Francisco on the road.
Brady’s 3 TD passes give 33 on the year and 294 TD passes in his career and he is now 6th all-time. John Elway is 5th all-time with 300.
After the game Brady said the sideline faceoff with offensive coordinator Bill O’Brien was on him.
WR Wes Welker now has catches in 95 consecutive games including playoffs, 78 as a Patriot. The last time Welker did not have a catch in a game was 12/24/05 as a Dolphin.
TE Rob Gronkowski has 15 TD catches in 2011. He set the NFL record for TD’s by a tight end in a season with 2 TD catches against Washington breaking the previous record of 13 TD catches held by Vernon Davis (San Francisco – 2009) and Antonio Gates (San Diego –2004).
New England is now plus 9 in turnover differential.
The Patriots were 5 of 11 on 3rd down conversions good for 45%, while the Redskins were 7 of 14 good for 50%.
Neither team attempted a fourth down conversion.
The Patriots allowed their first 100-yard rusher all season as RB Roy Helu ran for 126 yards on 27 carries.
New England was 1 for 4 in the red zone efficiency (1 TD, 2FG’s, 1 INT).
Washington is 2-1 all-time in series as the home team.
The Redskins are the Patriots second least frequent opponent as the teams met for just the 9th time. Only Tampa Bay (7 times) has played New England less.
Washington head coach Mike Shanahan is 10-4 vs. New England in his career.
This was Shanahan’s first game against New England coaching a team other than Denver. The Raiders never played New England when he coached in Los Angeles.
Redskins QB Rex Grossman is 0-2 in his career vs. New England. His previous start came in 2006 with Chicago.
Jeff Triplett was the game referee. The temp at kickoff was 40 and it was sunny.
Game Attendance – 77,825 at FedEx Field – Landover MD
Pro Bowl voting is open until December 19th, cast your votes for deserving players.
Post Game Interviews
Patriots head coach Bill Belichick and Patriots QB Tom Brady post game press conferences via patriots.com
This Week in the AFC East
San Diego routed Buffalo, 37-10
NY Jets beat Kansas City, 37-10
Philadelphia downed Miami, 26-10
AFC East Standings
Patriots 10-3/3-1
Jets 8-5/3-2
Bills 5-8/1-3
Dolphins 4-9/1-2
Next Game
The Patriots visit the Denver Broncos at Sports Authority Stadium at Mile High in Denver CO on Sunday. Kick off is at 4:15 p.m. on CBS.
Follow Steve on Twitter @djstevem
Photo credit: AP Photo
