Diametric opposites: 4-0 Pats vs. 0-4 ’Skins
McCoy steps in on Washington QB carousel
LANDOVER, Md. — One of these NFL franchises is not like the other. At all. On one side, there’s the New England Patriots: Led by Bill Belichick’s defense and Tom Brady at quarterback, they’re the reigning Super Bowl champs and just so happen to be 4-0 this season.
On the other? The Washington Redskins are 0-4, have a coach, Jay Gruden, that everyone assumes will be gone at the end of this season, if not sooner, and a starting QB spot that keeps shuffling.
No wonder New England is favored by about two touchdowns on the road Sunday.
Not until Gruden announced his pick Friday, no one knew for sure whether it would be Colt McCoy, Dwayne Haskins or Case Keenum taking snaps this weekend. Turns out, it will be McCoy, making him the third QB to play for Washington this season.
Redskins running back Chris Thompson made the case that such uncertainty at the sport’s most important position was not a big deal.
“That’s not something we think about. We’ve gone through OTAs and training camp. You get used to everybody. There’s not a player in here that hasn’t caught a pass from all three quarterbacks,” Thompson said. “Right now, it doesn’t affect anything. I don’t think it affects the morale of the team, the players, or anything like that.”
That’s certainly possible. Still, it’s hardly the ideal way to prepare for Sunday’s game against the visiting Patriots and a defense that ranks No. 1 overall in the NFL, No. 2 against the run and No. 2 against the pass, and has allowed a grand total of one TD all season.
“We just got to keep staying hungry,” said Patriots linebacker Kyle Van Noy, the AFC Defensive Player of the Week after eight tackles, two sacks and two forced fumbles in a 16-10 win at Buffalo.
Their defense also leads the league with 10 interceptions — twice as many as any other club — and has 18 sacks, tied for the league lead.
New England is allowing 6.8 points per game, the fewest among the 32 teams. Washington, meanwhile, is giving up the second-most, 29.5.
“Everything that they do is different than any other team in the league. They can roll with seven DBs on one play, and then they’ll have five linebackers out there next. You just never know,” Thompson said about New England’s defense. “With them, it’s never situational. It’s never like, O`h, it’s third-and-5, they’re going to put all their DBs out there.’ They might do it on second down, just for the heck of it. And everything they do, they’re sound and disciplined. It’s a big challenge, for sure. And the fact is, our offense hasn’t been the best, especially the last two weeks.”
Washington puts up 16.5 points per game, keeps handing the ball to the opponent and has neither run nor passed effectively. Plays are there to be made, thanks to Gruden, but they’re seldom being made.