Patriots vs. Redskins-The Apprentice's Take

Here at the Experience, we admire passion. Passion in the way you root for your teams, passion in the way you go about your life, passion about everything. Passion about writing, for example. And let me tell you, I've stumbled across someone with a passion for this sports writing gig that's reminiscent of a young Jake Levin.

I'd like to introduce the first ever "Apprentice" we've allowed on the site, Matt Constantine. For those who don't know Matt is a fellow Hingham alum who took his talents to South Beach and joined the Miami Hurricanes ("The U", as it's more commonly known). He's inquired on occasion over the past year or so to join the Experience as a staff writer, as have several other people, but I've told them all the same thing each time: it's nothing personal, this is just a small blog I plan on using as a resume-builder some day. It's not that I didn't think these people weren't good enough writers, I just wanted to keep it my own endeavor.

And that remains true. But I couldn't overlook the passion of Constantine any longer. For the remainder of the Patriots season he'll be giving us his takes on the game. Is it a long term move here? Who knows. But I'm more than happy to help him get word out of his writing by starting at an established presence like the Experience. So without further ado, here is Matt's debut piece....

By Matt Constantine

On a chilly 40-degree day at Fed Ex Field in Washington, DC, the New England Patriots escaped with an ugly 34-27 victory over the Washington Redskins. New England showed once again that they would have to beat teams by outscoring them after another atrocious game by the 32^nd ranked defense in the league. After gaining some momentum from an Andre Carter strip-sack in the end zone that led to an early touchdown, the injuries and ineptness of the defense started to show through.

Playing against a Redskins team that came into Sunday averaging less than 17 points per game, this seemed like a game that could be on its way to a blow out. An up-and-down first half that saw Redskins quarterback Rex Grossman throw two touchdowns and lead his team inside the red zone three times, just a week after going 19 for 46 passing the ball, was one of the worst performances we have seen from the Patriots defense this year.

A bright spot in the first half came offensively, however, when mammoth tight end Rob Gronkowski broke the single season record for touchdown receptions in a season with his 14^th of the year, which came with 5:39, left in the first quarter. The year this young man is having cannot be overlooked, as he also became only the 29^th tight end in NFL history to reach 1,000 yards receiving in a season.

The second half looked like it could be a repeat of the first with a score coming on the first three drives, but after that both defenses tightened up and forced a few punts. With a lead late in the 4^th quarter and inside the Washington five yard line, Tom Brady threw what looked to be a costly interception, his first in his last 200 attempts.

With 0:20 remaining Grossman was picked off by New England linebacker Jerod Mayo at the Patriots 7-yard line, ending a sloppy game in which there was 12 penalties for 120 yards between the two teams.

This was a game many expected the Patriots to win handily but it proved that they have a lot of work to do in order to be a successful team in the playoffs. This defense has its strong spots, red zone defense and turnovers, but if they expect to compete with the other likely playoff teams in the AFC such as the Baltimore Ravens, Pittsburgh Steelers, and the Houston Texans, they will need to be better in all phases. I believe that this defense can make plays when it counts, but it must be able to get off the field, win the time of possession battle, and be better in third-down situations, as well as late in games to make another run at the Super Bowl.

Up next for the Pats, the Denver Broncos and sophomore sensation Tim Tebow at Mile High Stadium.