A 2nd quarter win for Pats over Redskins 20-13

To my aunt and cousins in Atlanta you all have my condolences.

Yes, the Pats claimed another preseason victory, but the biggest news of the night came out of Atlanta. QB Michael Vick broke his right leg after being dragged down from behind. It was a tackle during a scramble out of the pocket against the Baltimore Ravens.

The news sent shockwaves through the sports media clan, team sidelines, and to those of us who had Vick high on our fantasy league drafts. This one was almost as bad when QB Vinny Testerverde went down for the season a few years ago. I can still remember WR Keyshawn Johnson after the game as he cried and stormed off at the press conference.

(To those in the SFFL. Now you know why I don't hold the draft until after the third preseason game.)

Vick will be out six weeks, but the question now is how bad was the break, and will it affect his future game? Only time will tell.

Well after tonight, the Pats could help out the Falcons by releasing WB Damon Huard, thus letting him go back south to try and take the job from QB Doug Johnson. That would free up about 1.2 million for this year. I was also expecting P Ken Walter to be gone and free up some more money, but P Daniel Pope held on all three of K Adam Vinatieri's botched attempts. So that means he can't hold, the ball or the chemistry just isn't there.

Oh, one last fantasy league thought before I get into the Pats win. What is up with these guys and their four game suspensions? I can swallow injuries. But, when you mess up my draft because you want to drive under the influence of coke, like Panthers WR Jimmy Smith, I'm going to be upset.

Okay, on to the boys in blue.

The Pats went down to the nation's capital and took it to the Redskins for two quarters on both sides of the ball, and once again I have to mention the defense first.

This defense is supposed to be a 3-4 scheme, but they are not playing like a 3-4. This package has blitzes hidden throughout the formation. Opposing QB's looking for blitzes will be like an Easter egg hunt just to see who's getting a four step start before getting sacked. This is where the D does some serious damage. If the Pats D can break off two or more sacks in the first quarter you can be sure that most of the opposing QB's will develop happy feet and hopefully began to throw picks before the damage really happens. I mean just think, you are an offensive coordinator and you are trying to draw up a game plan. You have to worry about so many threats like Seymour, Colvin, Bruschi, possibly Klecko. There are even more worries going all the way back to the safeties. This whole D is fast, which means Colvin can drop back and then maybe Harrison blitzes, Milloy or whomever. It's just sick.

Against the Giants, the D shined by the play of those who were newly acquired or drafted, but last night was a night for the veterans of this team.

LB Ted Johnson (4T and 1 sack), LB Tedy Bruschi (3T), S Lawyer Milloy (3T), LB Roman Phifer (3.5T), DE Willie McGinest (2.5T), and DT Richard Seymour (2T and 1 sack) all contributed to the tackle pool last night, while LB's Don Davis, Rosevelt Colvin and DT Dan Klecko combined for (9.5T).

By the end of the half, I know the Redskins QB Patrick Ramsey was happy to get out of the game because the pressure seemed to have him puzzled.

As for stopping the run, the Pats allowed the Skins to rack up 131 yards on the ground, but the worries I had was the fact that they allowed them to convert on 4th and short situations without any type of middle coverage. The Pats also had some problems defending the pass allowing 233 yards. Most completed passes were to the middle zone, and at times, it was as if no one was watching, hence the reason for preseason games.

For 30 minutes, the offense showed what it can do if everyone is on the same page. We still have a great battle progressing at the RB position. Faulk (4 for 10) and Smith (7 for 33) are making this preseason so interesting that it could very well be filmed as an MTV reality show. Smith gained the upper hand with a rushing TD, but the props go to FB Fred McCrary's block on the play. FB Larry Centers may have scored on a second down run with two lead blockers, but G Joe Andruzzi missed a key block turning a "hooray" play into a "ho-hum."

QB Tom Brady had a nice night going 9-18 for 145 yards. He also finally had me jumping for joy when he launched an 85 yard TD pass to WR David Patten with no wobble on the ball. Brady did have some miscues though -- on one third down play, he forced an incomplete pass to a double covered WR Troy Brown while RB Kevin Faulk was WIDE open across the middle. QB Rohan Davey's night was a little tougher completing only one pass, and one fumble.

Special teams a shining moment when WR Bethal Johnson ran back a kickoff for a TD after he had fumbled twice on the previous kick return. K Adam Vinatieri had some problems missing two field goals 45 and 57 yards) and one-point after. On his missed attempts the holding duty was up to P Daniel Pope who missed a FG of his own, and lost some serious ground in his battle with P Ken Walter who averaged 42 yards per punt on four attempts.

Steve Spurrier and his Redskins have a lot more work as they made some crucial penalties, and dropped key passes. The WR corps for the Skins looks promising with WR Laveranues Coles, but at the RB position Chad Morton is no Stephen Davis.

Next week the Pats go into Philadelphia for the Eagles who are playing without RB Duce Staley because of a contract dispute. It should be a good way to get a feel for this team heading into the big cut day.

Comments? Email me at Sinista1@msn.com