Game Recap – Washington Commander at New England Patriots – Week 9

November 6, 2023

By Noonefromtampa

Washington Ends Losing Streak Against New England 20-17

First Quarter

Patriots won the coin toss and elected to defer until the second half. After Antonio Gibson returned the opening kickoff 37 yards to give Washington good starting field position, the Commanders opened with a short pass from Sam Howell to Brian Robinson for four yards. Robinson followed that up with a four yard run on second down. Jahan Dotson then dropped a first down catch on third down, forcing a Tress Way punt.

The Patriots started on offense with Mac Jones at quarterback. They opened with a slant to Demario Douglas, who picked up 11 yards. The Patriots converted several third downs on the drive, including a 13 yard completion to Rhamondre Stevenson and 6 yard catch by Hunter Henry. The Patriots moved the ball down to the Washington 39 on a 7 yard pass to Tyquan Thornton; however, on fourth down New England went for it on fourth down and failed to convert.

On the next drive, the Commanders quickly moved the ball into the Patriots’ territory behind a 5 yard run by Robinson and a 19 yard slant to Dyami Brown. Howell went 5 for 5 in the drive, with completed passes to Gibson, Terry McLaurin and Jamison Crowder. However, a high snap messed up a play on third and short to set up a 37 yard field goal by Joey Slye. Commanders 3, Patriots 0.

The Washington defense tightened up on the next drive and force a three and out behind two incompletions by Jones and a 5 yard catch by Ezekiel Elliott.

Washington’s next drive was jump started by a horrible throw back to the middle of the field by Howell, who was chased out of the pocket; however, the pass was somehow caught by Byron Pringle and ran up the field for 26 yards. Gibson then picked up another 10 yards on a screen. Jabril Peppers broke up a pass to McLaurin at the goal line. Dotson picked up 9 yards on a pass to right to set up a third and short.

Second Quarter

This time the snap was good, and Gibson picked up 9 yards on a screen to the left. Howell ran 5 yards on a scramble up the middle and Robinson gained 6 yards and the first down on the next play. Dotson caught a three yard comeback route at the Patriots 9 yard line. Robinson ran around the right end and McLaurin sealed the run with a nice block, allowing Robinson to reach the end zone untouched. Slye converted the extra point. Commanders 10, Patriots 0.

The Patriots came out throwing on their next drive, but only completed one pass for 6 yards to Douglas. They went three and out and were forced to punt again.

After the punt, Robinson rushed twice for 11 yards but fumbled the second carry when the ball was punched out by Jahlani Tavai. Starting at Washington’s 25, Elliot rushed for 11 yards on two plays and then Jones hit Henry for a 14 yard touchdown. Commanders 10, Patriots 7.

Washington was able to pick up one first on the next drive with a 24 yard completion to Dotson on third down. However, on the second third down play, there was some sort of miscommunication between Crowder and Howell which resulted in an incompletion.

At this point, the momentum shifted to the Patriots. JuJu Smith-Schuster caught a short pass and ran for 20 yards on first down. On second down, Stevenson took the ball to the house on a 64 yard touchdown run, beating a run blitz by the Commanders defense. Patriots 14, Commanders 10.

Washington’s next drive started with a 5 yard completion to Crowder and then a 5 yard loss on a tight end to John Bates. On third down, a scrambling Howell hit Pringle for 13 yards. Gibson then ran for 4 yards and caught a 6 yard pass. After an incompletion, Howell hit Brown in traffic for 14 yards. After both teams were called for 5-yard penalties on successive plays, Christian Barmore batted down a pass attempt by Howell. Howell was then sacked for a 13 yard loss. Howell scrambled for 24 yards on third and 23, breaking a tackle to make the first down. Thomas caught an 11 yard pass to put the ball just outside the red zone. After successive incompletions in the end zone, Howell connected with Pringle again on third down for a 16 yard completion. Howell made a terrible decision on the next play and forced the ball into Dotson despite being tripled covered. The throw was intercepted in the end zone by Kyle Dugger, who returned it out to Patriots 14 yard line. The Patriots ran off the last nine seconds in the half.

Third Quarter

The Patriots opened the second half with completions to Jalen Reagor for 11 yards and 9 yards to Douglas. New England picked up two more first downs behind short runs and throws. The Patriots then got into a third and 10, and K.J. Henry sacked Jones for a 9 yard loss.  However, the officials called it roughing the passer. The penalty call baffled Washington fans and the TV announcers as well. This led to a Patriots field goal of 43 yards after the Commanders defense held New England to negative one yard on three straight plays.

After the kickoff, Washington went on a 7 play, 75 yard scoring drive. Robinson and Gibson both ran the ball well gaining 23 yards, Thomas caught a 7 yard pass and Gibson caught one for 12 yards. With the ball on the Patriots 33 yard line, Howell completed a deep throw over the middle to Dotson for a touchdown. Slye converted the extra point. Commanders 17, Patriots 17.

New England picked up 1 first down on their next series before coming up short on a third and nine when Smith-Schuster only gained 4 yards. Crowder returned the punt 14 yards.

Washington ended up in third and long on their next drive. Howell hit McLaurin for 26 yards, and then McLaurin ran a slant on the next play for 36 yards. After short run by Robinson, Howell missed two straight throws into the end zone. Slye drove a 30 yard field goal through the middle of the uprights to give Washington the lead again. Commanders 20, Patriots 17.

Stevenson started the next drive with an 8 yard reception and 7 yard run. Smith-Schuster caught a 7 yard pass to set up a third and three.

Fourth Quarter

Henry got called for offensive pass interference on a poorly executed rub play on a third down incompletion, which forced a punt.

After the touchback, Washington gained a first down behind Robinson running and Crowder catching a 5 yard pass. However, Thomas came up 1 yard short on a third and 11 to go reception. Way had a booming punt and Chris Rodriguez tackled Douglas for 2 yard loss at the 5 yard line on the return.

Douglas made up for that by picking up 11 yards on a fingertip catch to get them away from their own goal line. After a 4 yard run by Stevenson, Douglas caught a 22 yard reception. James Smith-Williams was injured on the play giving Washington time to challenge the call. The challenge was upheld, and the Patriots were put into a third and six situation. Jamin Davis was able to use his speed and break up the wheel route throw to Stevenson.

After a 14 yard punt return by Crowder, Washington went three and out, gaining only 1 yard after a third down sack of Howell. On Tress Way’s punt, the Patriots got backed up to the 10 yard line by a facemask penalty. Douglas was able to catch and run for 18 yards on second and six to move the ball away from the goal line. The Patriots only gained three more yards before having to punt the ball away.

Washington was able to pick up one first down on a McLaurin catch and run for 7 yards on third down. On the next third down, Crowder came up two yards short of the first down, but the Patriots were called for offside on the punt to givethe Commanders another three down. After two short runs by Robinson, Eric Bieniemy called a go route on third down to Brown which was incomplete.

On the punt, the Patriots were called for holding, backing them up to their 10 yard line. Stevenson caught a 15 yard reception over the middle against David Mayo. New England got two receptions on next two plays, one to Henry for an 8 yard catch and one to Smith-Schuster for  a 13 yard reception. Smith-Schuster also extended the drive with a fourth down catch for 6 yards. After a short scramble by Jones, the next throw went through Smith-Schuster’s hands and was intercepted by Jartavius Martin.

Washington then ran out the clock for the win.

Thoughts

The offensive play calling for the Commanders was excellent at times and puzzling at other times.

At the end of the first half, the Commanders could have used a timeout and stressed the importance to Howell to protect the ball and pick up at least a field goal.

The defense did miss Montez Sweat and Chase Young, with one hurry/hit and no sacks. The one sack they did have was called off for roughing the passer in a questionable call. This needs to be fixed with the games coming up against better teams.