Could The Redskins Be A 'Trap Game' For The Patriots?
By Matt Dolloff (@mattdolloff)
BOSTON (CBS) -- Tom Brady is locked in and has looked unstoppable this season, working with a full complement of weapons to the tune of 2,410 passing yards, 20 touchdowns and 1 interception (that wasn't his fault) in just 7 games. Even with the the Cowboys, Jets and Dolphins giving the Patriots trouble in the trenches in the past three weeks, Brady has overcome virtually every defensive obstacle in his way to this point in the season. There may not be a defense in the league who can hold this incarnation of the Patriots offense to under 30 points.
But even the Patriots are prone to the occasional hiccup, the proverbial "trap game" that has become something of a cliché but still manifests itself on the field somewhere virtually every Sunday. And while Brady and the Patriots almost always beat teams that they should beat, sometimes they do not - or at least have to work harder than expected to eke out the victory. For the Patriots, a trap game is a win that wasn't as one-sided as expected and might expose their flaws.
Last season's trap game for the Patriots came against the Oakland Raiders in Foxboro. Khalil Mack, Justin Tuck and the Raiders defensive front gave Brady an unexpected amount of pressure that day, and TB12 could only muster 234 yards and a touchdown, pedestrian numbers by his standards. Oakland had a chance to tie the game with under a minute remaining, before an interception by Vince Wilfork (!) preserved the 16-9 win.
And as you may remember, that game wasn't exactly built up to be a nail-biter. In fact it wasn't built up at all - it was the kind of game where hosts and pundits barely mention the opponent because to them it's clearly going to be a Patriots blowout that is not worth discussing. That same narrative is unfolding with this week's Patriots opponent, the Washington Redskins.
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Now I'm not here to say the Patriots will lose to the 'Skins on Sunday - although I can't wait to see how many people only read the headline and skip to the comments to accuse me of doing that. There is very little chance of Kirk Cousins & Co. going into Foxboro and leaving with a W...but if you're a pessimist or a cynic this game feels like it could end up being an annoyingly gut-wrenching, oh-my-god-they-might-actually-lose battle to the bitter end.
Again, this is not to say the Patriots will lose. Even when they've fallen into traps in recent years they have found a way to escape with the win, and it typically comes down to having Brady & Bill Belichick versus whatever clown shoes the opponents have cartwheeling up and down the sidelines.
In 2013 the Patriots' trap game was against the Cleveland Browns in Foxboro, the game where Rob Gronkowski tore his ACL. And you can't blame the Patriots' struggles that day on Gronk's injury; they were down 12-0 at that point in the game. They trailed 26-14 with 2:35 left, scored a touchdown then recovered an onside kick before scoring another TD to squeeze out the 27-26 win.
Obviously, Brady's greatness willed the Patriots to those TDs and the Patriots' superior special teams and coaching staff played a major role in the recovered onside kick. Ultimately, the Patriots won a game they should have won. But the fact that it took that minor miracle for the Patriots to edge out the lowly Browns at home shows that even the Patriots are not invincible.
The Redskins are tied for 17th in the NFL in total yards allowed per game with 360.4 and 16th in points allowed per game with 24, as middle-of-the-road as it gets. But they have put up respectable battles in their road games this season, most notably taking Atlanta to overtime in Week 5. I have no legit stats to back up the idea of the Redskins showing up and giving the Pats a game, I'm just saying that it tends to happen with a perceived cakewalk at least once a year and this game is a prime candidate.
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I can't stress enough that the Redskins have just about zero chance to win on Sunday. But I do give them a chance to make the game more entertaining than expected and give you a reason to watch the fourth quarter. Even the last meeting between the Redskins and Patriots was an unexpected slobberknocker, a 34-27 win that Brady almost gave away with a fourth-quarter interception and Jerod Mayo saved with a red-zone interception of his own.
Before you sharpen those pitchforks and light those torches, just understand that I am not predicting anything. If the Patriots lay another 52-7 whipping on the Redskins like they did in 2007, it would not surprise me or anyone else in New England.
When I say "trap game", I essentially mean the Patriots might get an annoyingly strong effort from the Redskins and have to prevail with the "We're Belichick & Brady and You're Not" strategy late in the fourth quarter. The Redskins could give the Patriots a Super Bowl-caliber effort and B&B will still find a way to rip their hearts out at the end, as they've done to pretty much everyone over the course of their careers.
Maybe that's just what I am hoping for. No, I don't want the Patriots to lose; in fact unlike Jim Murray I want them to go for 19-0 again. But I just want to have an entertaining 60 minutes on Sunday. Patriots blowouts are fun for New England too, but as ridiculous as it sounds they have gotten boring. I just want to feel a little bit better about the rest of the NFL and convince myself that the canyon between them and the Patriots isn't as grand as it seems right now.
There are only two possible outcomes on Sunday: Either the Patriots blow the Redskins off the Gillette Stadium field, or Brady gets to the fourth quarter winning by less than a touchdown and simply says "Sorry guys I can't let you win" and takes over. For the sake of entertainment, I'm hoping for the latter.
Matt Dolloff is a writer for CBSBostonSports.com. His opinions do not necessarily reflect that of CBS or 98.5 The Sports Hub. Read more from Matt here. Follow him on Twitter @mattdolloff and email him at mdolloff@985thesportshub.com.
