I guess this is as good a thread as any to post my post-game thoughts.
* As much as this was a good, old fashioned butt kicking, I'm still not conviced that WR is not going to be a problem for this team. I actually feel even more concerned now than I was before the game, if that makes any sense. It just seemed early on that Washington flooded the middle of the field and dared NE's WRs to make 'em pay. Other than the immortal Troy Brown, nobody stepped up. Not only that, but because the defense was so condensed, it seemed to hamper the running game a little. The big plays are great, but I remain concerned that NE will have difficulty generating a slow, methodical drive against a good D.
* That said, Watson looked unbelievable. I am amazed that he was still getting wide open after he caught a few balls. Either he is even better than I thought, or Washington's D needs some serious work.. Maybe a little of both.
* Does anyone else think that Maroney is going to be unleashed onto the league sooner rather than later? He just looks a lot smoother than Dillon right now. The past two games, Dillon hasn't looked a whole lot different than he looked last year.
* Cobbs looked awesome, but I'm still not sure how he fits onto the roster. If Pass stays on the PUP, that could give him a few more weeks to audition, but Evans has looked good too. And Evans is the only power back on the roster if Dillon gets hurt. I would never have thought this two weeks ago, but I think Evans has a very good shot at making this team.
* I knew this defense would be much better than people thought. While I still have some long-term concerns over the LB position, I am have no short-term issues with any area of this defense. I still wonder what all the fretting over the secondary was about this offseason. This team is going to be a top 5 D. I am sure of it. Singling out anyone is almost unfair to everyone else, but it was nice to see Colvin terrorizing the Skins.
* Mike Wright is very impressive for a guy who wasn't even drafted last year.
* It was not a good sign for my boy Willie (Andrews) that Faulk was returning punts to begin the game. He did have a very confident fair catch in traffic later, though, which was his biggest issue last week.
* An addition to the first note, the OL pass-blocked wonderfully today. Even on plays where Washinton rushed an extra man, no one got near Brady on several plays. Many of these times there wasn't even a RB helping out. The extra time that Brady got was crucial on several of the successful plays. This is another reason why I am still a little concerned over the WRs; too many plays were Brady needed 5-6 seconds before anyone got open. I still hold out some hope that Chad Jackson can help in this area.
I think that is it.
Edited to add that I was very glad that Caldwell was back in there during the scrub time. He needs a little work in the offense and it seemed to push him a little. Yes, he was playing scrubs, so I can't give too much credit for getting open, but he made two nice catches.
