Proving a Negative with Brady and Belichick

They say you can't prove a negative, but Washington's 23-7 preseason win over New England on Thursday night may be as close as you can come. With Tom Brady most certainly sitting out the entire game, and Coach Bill Belichick apparently sitting this one out as well as he stood mostly stone-faced on the sideline, the Redskins dominated the game from start to finish.

Without Brady's quick release and surgical precision from the pocket, and Belichick's innovative defensive schemes that so often limit the attack options of the opposition, a SuperBowl contender like the Patriots didn't evening look ordinary in this preseason affair -- they looked completely over-matched.

Washington dominated the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball, piling up nearly 200 yards rushing. Unlike what would unfold in a regular season match-up, the Patriots played the Redskins powerful rushing attach straight up, without any Belichick-inspired wrinkles or blitzes to disrupt their rhythm. The result was being the Redskins moved the ball steadily, accumulating 26 first downs to only 15 for the Patriots, while punting only once over the course of the game.

Instead of employing any strategic changes to bolster his team, Belichick seemed content to watch basic one-on-one match ups play out, even as his second and third units weren't showing much of an ability to win these "games within the game."

And while it is certainly true that several key starters on offense, including Brady sat out the entire game, the first quarter struggles of starting left tackle Nate Solder, demonstrated clearly how much difference Brady makes with his sharp decision-making and quick release.

On several running plays to Solder's side of the Patriot line, Solder and his mates were completely overwhelming by the aggressive charge of the Redskins linebackers. For the game, the Patriots were only able to manage a total of 63 rushing yards. Brady's ability to get out of doomed plays at the lien of scrimmage and audible to take advantage of an aggressive opponent was no where in sight.

But it was two first quarter pass plays that demonstrated how much Solder and the Patriots really rely on Brady's savvy. On the first play, outside linebacker Brian Orakpo faked an outside move, then ducked inside to pressure backup quarterback Ryan Mallett. Instead of sensing the rush and drifting to his left to create a better angle for Solder, as Brady has done hundreds of times throughout his 15 year career, Mallett, stood focused only on his receivers, leaving Solder with the option of hauling Orakpo down from behind, which he did for an obvious holding penalty, or letting Mallett get crushed.

On the next series, Mallett felt some pressure from a hard charge by left linebacker Ryan Kerrigan as he reached the top of his drop -- even though Kerrigan was being effectively blocked. Still, Mallett reacted by taking several quick steps forward in the pocket, right into the awaiting grasp of Orakpo with Solder positioned to keep Orakpo away from the original drop spot but not from the re-positioned Mallett.

With Brady in command of the offense, neither the hold nor the sack would have likely taken place, and the game announcers wouldn't have been spending so much of their commentary pointing out what a tough first quarter it was for Nate Solder.

And with a typical attacking Belichick defense, the post game talk of the depth of the Redskins backfield, featuring six running backs who all ripped off chunk plays either on the ground or through the air, wouldn't have been a major post-game storyline either.