Quarter by 1/4: Crushing win, complete

OK, the game’s not quite in the books yet, but both third-string quarterback Matt Guttierez and 86th-string running back Kyle Eckel are both on the field at the same time, which as far as we can tell is the visual equivalent of taking a knee. So we’re calling it at 52-7.

Tedy Bruschi cast a Halloweenish figure on the field yesterday in another Pats whitewash.

Now, 52-7 is the biggest rout yet. Against the team that was supposed to put up the second-toughest test yet. Does that mean the Patriots are getting better? Quite possibly.

No matter what it does, it shows that they’re getting more diverse. Randy Moss only caught two passes, but the Pats rolled. Tom Brady threw three touchdowns, again, and ran for two. With the Redskins clearly keying on Moss, Laurence Maroney looked terrific.

Then there was the defense, which didn’t allow points until the game was well out of hand, already up 52-0. Tedy Bruschi forced three, count them, three, fumbles (Editor’s note: It was actually Mike Vrabel who forced all three fumbles, not Bruschi as alleged here, with an assist to an alert commenter for pointing it out). Rosevelt Colvin returned one for a touchdown. And the entire time, Bill Belichick stood on the sideline looking slightly smug and unfulfilled, which is the exact thing that will keep the team moving forward.

For what it’s worth, not that it matters at all - period - in the win-loss column, here’s the final heat-check board:

Tom Brady: 29-for-38, 356 yards passing, 3 TD’s through the air, 2 rushing TD’s

Wes Welker: 9 receptions, 89 yards, 1 TD

Randy Moss: 3 receptions, 47 yards, 1 TD

Donte’ Stallworth: 4 receptions, 44 yards

Jabar Gaffney (remember him!): 4 receptions, 39 yards

Laurence Maroney: 14 carries, 75 yards, 2 receptions, 37 yards

At a certain point, even video game offenses get completely out of hand. And when you consider the fact that New England backup Matt Cassel was nearly as effective as the Washington offense was all day, if not more so, this qualifies as one of those games.

After all, the final score is all you need to see to know how ridiculous it was.

– Cameron Smith