(Adam Richins/Boston Sports Journal)

Patriots

Final: Patriots overcome first-half deficit, post 26-17 win over Redskins

By Christopher Price

Aug 9, 2018 • 5:31 pm

FOXBOROUGH -- After a sluggish start, a solid finish allowed the Patriots to erase a 17-point deficit and come away with a 26-17 win over Washington in the preseason opener for both teams Thursday night at Gillette Stadium.

With Tom Brady and Rob Gronkowski on the sidelines, Brian Hoyer got the start for New England, and ended up going 17-for-25 for 144 yards. Jeremy Hill (11 carries, 51 yards, one touchdown), Mike Gillislee (14 carries, 43 yards) and Ralph Webb (14 carries, 46 yards, two touchdowns) led a solid second-half ground attack. Meanwhile, Devin Lucien had four catches for 71 yards in the win.

It was rough for the Patriots out of the gate. The Patriots managed next to no offense over the first two quarters — New England had just 100 net yards at halftime, with 56 of those yards coming on a drive just before the end of the half that ended with a 52-yard field goal from Stephen Gostkowski right before halftime. The Redskins put 17 on the board in the first two quarters, with Colt McCoy tossing a pair of touchdowns against an occasionally ragged New England defense.

The third quarter was a different story for the Patriots, who assembled an impressive 19-play, 84-yard drive that took 10:16 and ended with a one-yard run from Hill to make it 17-10 late in the third quarter. It was more of the same story in the fourth, when Hoyer engineered a drive that included a nice 19-yard connection to Cordarrelle Patterson down the sidelines, and ended with an 8-yard dash around right end from Webb to draw New England to within one, 17-16, with 9:05 left in regulation. Webb tacked on the two-pointer immediately after that, and New England had the lead for the first time all night.

Shortly after that, a late fumble from the Redskins was scooped up by Geneo Grissom, who took it all the way down to the 1-yard line. Webb finished off the drive with his second touchdown of the night, giving the Patriots a 26-17 lead and finishing the scoring for the evening.

A few interesting personnel notes: We didn’t see first-round pick Isaiah Wynn or cornerback Jason McCourty all evening. Not sure what it means — there were a handful of guys who didn’t play because they were in various states of rehab. But those two were healthy (as far as we knew) heading into Thursday’s game. The following guys were not spotted in uniform: Sony Michel, Rex Burkhead, Harvey Langi, Marcus Cannon, Brian Schwenke, Jason King and Kenny Britt. In addition, we only saw new receiver Eric Decker for a handful of plays in the first half.

GAME UPDATES:

10:38 p.m.: That's that. Patriots win. 26-17.

10:33 p.m.: 56-yard field goal attempt was no good. Pats still up 26-17 with 1:55 left.

10:31 p.m.: Two-minute warning...

Just three guys standing around complaining about how hard it is to be so goddamn good looking. pic.twitter.com/DBv7wnUDYM

— Will Brinson (@WillBrinson) August 10, 2018

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Coach Belichick breaks down the first half. #WASvsNE pic.twitter.com/2ycZFwvWZK

— New England Patriots (@Patriots) August 10, 2018

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Patriots cornerback Ryan Lewis closing on a pass off the fingertips of Redskins rookie wideout Trey Quinn. pic.twitter.com/xNLL6Fj94a

— Oliver Thomas (@OliverBThomas) August 10, 2018

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Here's the Byron Marshall TD. Gets matched up in man vs a Pats LB, should win, does win and then runs away from him. #Redskins pic.twitter.com/dj2FGNVjCw

— Mark Bullock (@MarkBullockNFL) August 9, 2018

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