Washington Redskins' Memorable Wins Against the New England Patriots
The Washington Redskins need a little encouragement this week. After all, they are facing the 7-0 defending Super Bowl champions on the road. The New England Patriots have the best offense in the NFL, which is complemented by a versatile and creative defense spearheaded by a fearsome front seven.
Then there's the 3-4 Burgundy and Gold. Rebuilding after just seven wins in the previous two seasons, the 2015 Redskins are hampered by a soft run defense, an anemic rushing attack and turnovers in the passing game.
So where's the hope that Week 9 won't be a three- to-four-hour assault on the will to live?
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Well, maybe some optimism lies in the past.
History can teach these Redskins that things haven't always been brutal against the Patriots. In fact, three wins in particular, two in New England, stand out from the series.
It's a series Washington leads 6-3, according to the Pats' official team site. Half of those wins have produced some unusual anomalies, especially among the coaches.
Patriots 17-20 Redskins, 2003: Steve Spurrier Beats Bill Belichick
Steve Spurrier beating Bill Belichick. It doesn't look right on the page. But back in Week 4 of the 2003 NFL season, it looked right on the field.
Spurrier bested arguably the greatest coach in league history thanks to a pared-down offense and a turnover-binging defensive effort. Plus, he got a little help from a few former members of the New York Jets.
Two of those players sparked Washington's opening scoring drive. Quarterback Patrick Ramsey hit running back/kick returner Chad Morton for a 30-yard gain, before connecting with wide receiver Laveranues Coles for 16 yards.
But the drive was halted by some creative blitzing from the Patriots. Belichick and defensive coordinator Romeo Crennel moved players such as rush end Willie McGinest around and brought safeties through the middle. Kicker John Hall, another ex-Jet, made sure the Redskins got on the board.
The Pats' sophisticated pressure schemes had a lot of success wrecking Washington's protection and rattling Ramsey. He'd finish with just 10 completions on 22 pass attempts.
New England's effective blitzing was a precursor for what the Philadelphia Eagles and late, great pressure guru Jim Johnson would do to Spurrier's fun-and-gun offense.
Yet, the defining aspect of this game was how Spurrier reined in his fondness for spread sets and wide-open aerial pyrotechnics. Instead, he kept things on the ground. At that point, Ramsey's 22 passes were "the fewest in Steve Spurrier's year-and-a-quarter as coach," according to ESPN.com.
Washington rushed for 119 yards, with Trung Canidate and Ladell Betts sharing 23 carries. Betts and Rock Cartwright recorded rushing touchdowns as the Redskins built a 20-3 lead in the third quarter.
Spurrier outwitted Belichick by exploiting the weakness created by New England's focus on Ramsey, per Coles in the ESPN.com story: "He gave us the run. Coach Spurrier was taking advantage of whatever he gave us, and that's what we're about. Matching wits with a guy like that, Coach did that and came out on top."
A pair of second-quarter interceptions by Ifeanyi Ohalete and Champ Bailey kept Tom Brady and the Pats frustrated. Bailey also forced a decisive fumble that safety Matt Bowen dove on to set up Betts' score in the third quarter.
But in typical fashion, Brady stormed back during the final period, throwing touchdowns to David Givens and former Redskins catch-machine Larry Centers.
Brady survived another pick to lead the Pats' comeback bid. He consistently hit Centers and tight end Daniel Graham against linebackers Jessie Armstead and Jeremiah Trotter.
He had the chance to tie it, but Belichick turned down a 55-yard field-goal attempt in favor of the win. Washington swatted away Brady's final heave to the end zone.
The odd thing about this game, aside from the winner of the coaching battle of wits, was how it gave Washington a 3-1 start. But Spurrier's men went just 2-10 the rest of the way, as opponents found out his schemes on offense and the team was hamstrung by a lack of talent under center.
Ironically, that season's offensive coordinator, Hue Jackson, is currently calling the third-best scoring offense in football for the Cincinnati Bengals. That's proof that early adversity is often an essential part of any coach's journey.
Back in '03, though, Jackson and the Redskins finished 5-11, and Spurrier was fired. But his exit did at least pave the way for the return of Joe Gibbs.
Still, a win over Belichick's Patriots was a worthy high point for Spurrier's tenure.
The way he exploited what the Pats were willing to give him is a lesson for this season's Redskins. If today's Patriots shut down tight end Jordan Reed and the running game, present head coach Jay Gruden has to be brave enough to emphasize his other weapons.
Redskins 27-22 Patriots, 1996: Norv Turner Beats Bill Parcells
As coaching mismatches go, Norv Turner vs. Bill Parcells appears every bit as one-sided as Spurrier vs. Belichick. But this series threw a curveball in Week 7 of the 1996 season when Turner's Redskins beat Parcells' Pats on the road.
Washington arrived at Foxboro Stadium 4-1 but faced a Patriots team with more talent, despite its 3-2 record. New England boasted a youthful contingent of explosive playmakers led by quarterback Drew Bledsoe, running back Curtis Martin, tight end Ben Coates and rookie wide receiver Terry Glenn.
But the Redskins had veteran wideout Henry Ellard, a weapon the Patriots just couldn't cover on the day.
Faced with Turner's run-heavy ode to the Air Coryell offense, Parcells and defensive assistants Belichick and Al Groh went after workhorse running back Terry Allen. Their stacked 4-3 front, featuring edge-setters such as McGinest and linebacker Chris Slade, limited Allen to just 71 yards on 26 tough carries.
Turner's counter was to unleash Ellard. An AP report from the Los Angeles Times detailed how effective the veteran big-play technician was, particularly on the decisive drive: "Ellard had eight catches for 152 yards, including three for 65 on the key drive that led to a field goal after the Patriots had closed within two points with 5:33 left in the game."
Afterward, Turner didn't hold back with his praise for the veteran receiver: "He's the best route-runner I've ever seen and he had a big day."
Those skills were certainly on display late in the fourth quarter when the Redskins clung onto their slender advantage. Ellard hauled in a 40-yard catch to spark the march and then kept it alive with a 10-yard grab on 2nd-and-8. His 15-yard reception put Washington in field-goal range. Scott Blanton duly obliged to ice the game.
The Redskins earned the chance to open their decisive five-point lead thanks to safety Darryl Morrison. He played a key role in neutralizing clutch target Coates, as noted by Dave Sell of the Washington Post:
"Strong safety Darryl Morrison—who was a starter in 1994, a backup in 1995, and a starter again in 1996—did a masterful job on New England tight end Ben Coates and then made the key defensive play, disrupting a two-point conversion attempt after the Patriots had moved within 24-22 with 5½ minutes remaining.
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Without the safety valve provided by Coates, Bledsoe struggled to stay efficient. Disturbed by pressure from gifted outside pass-rusher Ken Harvey, Bledsoe missed on 25 of this 48 throws.
It was good thing 1993's No. 1 overall pick was off target because Martin rushed for 164 yards and a pair of touchdowns. One of his runs, a 57-yarder in the third period that seemed for all the world destined to end in a touchdown, featured 36-year-old cornerback Darrell Green turning the clock back to his rookie year, according to Michael Wilbon of the Washington Post:
"Green chased down a kid 13 years his junior. Chased him down like the Road Runner pulling up on Wile E. Coyote. Beep! Beep! Every other Redskin was smelling Martin’s fumes. It was just like the time a rookie cornerback out of Texas A&I caught Tony Dorsett from behind, something Dorsett finds amazing even now.
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Green's tackle to deny the man who was the Patriots offense on this day proved to be a crucial moment, as the battle of one-sided offenses would belong to the Burgundy and Gold.
Gus Frerotte tossed a 14-yard score to Ellard and a 13-yarder to tight end Jamie Asher. Meanwhile, Turner got creative to generate a ground attack, with wideout Leslie Shepherd scoring on a 32-yard reverse.
Most of the Turner years, aside from 1999, were marked by disappointment. Nevertheless, 1996 stood out as a particularly painful season.
The offense was balanced, while the defense was miserly in the red zone. But these 5-1 Redskins still tumbled to a 9-7 finish. A dreadful run defense was at the root of the losing. Yielding 266 rushing yards on the road to the Buffalo Bills in Week 10, when both Darick Holmes and Thurman Thomas topped 100 yards, was a particular low point.
Despite its first winning record since 1992, Washington still missed the playoffs. Some gloss was provided by thumping the Dallas Cowboys 37-10 in the season finale to close legendary RFK Stadium in style.
As for the Pats, they still ended up in the Super Bowl, just as they did in 2003. What is it about losing to Washington that inspires a title run for the men from Boston?
Redskins 25-10 Patriots, 1990: Earnest Byner Runs Wild
Many of the games in this series may have been precursors to title-winning seasons. But at the time, there was nothing about Washington trampling over the 1-12 Pats in 1990 that suggested the Redskins would be Super Bowl champs at the end of the next season.
At the time, the Redskins were simply recovering from being a national punch line following the infamous "Body Bag" game against NFC East rival, the Philadelphia Eagles. By this point, Washington had gotten healthy.
But it wasn't a physical defense waiting for the team in New England. Instead, it was dire East Coast weather. Heavy (heavy) rain and freezing conditions turned the game into a sloppy cycle of mistakes.
Safety Todd Bowles, now in charge of the New York Jets, offered this vivid description of the hostile conditions, as noted by Vito Stellino of the Baltimore Sun: "Oh, man, it was cold. It was wet. It was hard. It was a cross between freezing and ice skating."
That fitted the hapless Patriots. Head coach Rod Rust had been an outstanding defensive coordinator for the team in the mid-'80s. But his one-year tenure as top man was a nadir moment for the franchise.
A botched snap scooped up by Kurt Gouveia, Washington's middle linebacker in passing situations, and returned for six, was typical of these calamitous Pats. So was the safety surrendered from another bad snap.
The first time his offense got the ball, Gibbs wisely gave it to Earnest Byner. It was the start of an epic day's work for the running back. He lugged the rock a mammoth 39 times for 149 yards and a touchdown.
By contrast, quarterback Mark Rypien could have phoned it in. He threw just 11 times, completing five passes for 100 yards.
Washington's ground attack was best illustrated by a marathon march that bridged the opening two quarters, per Stellino: "The only real drive the Redskins had in the game was a 12-play, 68-yard effort that included two of Rypien's five completions—a pair of 17-yard passes to Art Monk and Ricky Sanders. The other 10 plays were Byner runs, including a five-yard touchdown run on the fourth play of the second period."
By the end, Byner had run the Redskins into the playoffs. There they would gain revenge over the brash Eagles with a fine 20-6 road win, keyed by a smothering defense that shackled dual-threat quarterback Randall Cunningham.
Things were better still in 1991. Arguably Gibbs' best team, if still his least charismatic, Washington strolled to a third Super Bowl win.
A big part of the success was the O-line that consistently ploughed open holes for Byner on a wet, windy and freezing day at Foxboro.
A quarter of a century on it seems likely the Redskins will try a similar approach. As ESPN.com's Kevin Seifert points out, stopping the run has been a problem for these Patriots: "Opponents have run well on the Patriots, and the 4.2 yards they have allowed per carry ranks No. 21."
But as Real Redskins blogger Rich Tandler has noted, Washington hasn't run the ball well in the last three games. In fact, things have been historically woeful: "In that span, the Redskins have 135 yards on the ground. That is the third-fewest rushing yards over a three-game stretch in team history. Only in September-October of 1994 (127) and November of 1944 (104) have they gained fewer over three games."
In a league this cyclical, there are always invaluable lessons to be learned from the past. Two successful encounters against Belichick-coached defenses can prove especially relevant.
New England's entire defensive philosophy revolves around shutting down an opponent's best weapon and the signature plays that help it thrive. It's a smart mentality that challenges coaches and players to abandon what's comfortable and punishes those who stick rigidly to particular schemes.
But such a narrow focus naturally leaves holes elsewhere to be exploited. Turner did it. So did Spurrier. Now Gruden and his staff have to prove they can do the same.
All in-game statistics and historical data via Pro-Football-Reference.com.
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