The story catching everyone’s attention from Sunday’s Patriots Redskins showdown wasn’t tight end Rob Gronkowski breaking the NFL record for most touchdown receptions by a tight end. It wasn’t how the Patriots barely escaped Washington with a victory, or how the defense managed to do just enough to win the game despite surrendering 463 yards.

It was how Tom Brady and offensive coordinator Bill O’Brien had a screaming match on the side line after Brady threw an interception. The Patriots were up by 7, and Brady tried to sneak one into Tiguan Underwood, but was picked off with just over 6 minutes to go in the game.

The Redskins got the ball and started marching down the field trying to send things to overtime as Brady and O’Brien were engaged in a screaming match. ”I threw a pretty bad interception, so he wasn’t happy about it,” said Brady, ”And there was probably a long line of coaches and players that were pretty (upset) at me after that, but Billy got to me first. He let me have it; I deserved it.”

Brady finished 22 of 37 for 357 yards three touchdowns and his first interception in over a month. He also passed Warren Moon for sixth on the all time touchdown list and crossed the 4000 yard mark for the fourth time in his illustrious career. Gronkowski had quite the day catching six passes for 160 yards and two touchdowns propelling him past Antonio Gates and Vernon Davis for most touchdowns by a tight end ever.

The Patriots hardly won an easy one, needing a penalty and a tipped pass to save the day. Santana Moss made a catch for the score, but it was negated by a pass interference call on Moss. On another play, Moss tipped a pass right into the hands of Jerod Mayo to seal the deal for the Patriots who have the worst defense in football.

Rex Grossman finished 19 of 32 for 252 yards with two touchdowns and the one interception. Roy Helu had another big day rushing for 126 yards on 27 carries. ”You kind of don’t want to give up those yards in the first place,” Patriots safety James Ihedigbo said. “But at the same time, we’re going to bow our necks once we get down there, and say, ‘Hey, they’re not getting in the end zone.’”

The Redskins had a great day despite missing both left and right tackles and tight end Fred Davis. The loss was bad, but the officiating really had the Redskins upset after the game. There was the flag on Moss late in the game, but another call where linebacker London Fletcher was flagged for hitting a sliding Brady with a forearm to the head. Replay showed that he clearly hit him in the chest. Coach Mike Shanahan said the call was “horrible.”

“We don’t get no calls around here, man,” Moss said. “You guys have been covering us for a long time. Y’all see what goes on out there. We blow our breath on one of the doggone guys over there and it’s a penalty. Our quarterback gets killed — and you just almost hit somebody that’s a quarterback and we get flagged. So a lot of stuff goes on. But I guess we’ve got to play against a team and the ref.”

New England continues their quest for the best seed in the AFC with a trip to Denver to face Tebow-mania and then back home to finish against the Dolphins and Bills. Washington, looking to finish the season strong heads to New York to try to play spoilers against the Giants, then home to play Minnesota and finish up their season at Philadelphia.

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Don’t let the score fool you; this game was closer than it appears on paper. For the second straight week, the New York Jets played three quarters of mediocre football and picked things up to win the game in the fourth quarter. Led by Shonn Greene’s three touchdowns, the Jets managed to win another close game to put them right into the thick of the AFC Wildcard race.

It took a big play from Aaron Maybin to spark the team when he sacked Rex Grossman, and forced a fumble that set up one of Greene’s two touchdowns. The other big play came on the series before when Mark Sanchez found Santonio Holmes for a 30-yard touchdown pass to put the Jets ahead for good with just under five minutes to play.

With the Jets needing to win out to make the playoffs, Sanchez again came up big when it mattered most. The win keeps the Jets in the hunt for the last wildcard spot as they got some help with Oakland and Cincinnati losing. ”It tells us we have to get better,” Rex Ryan said. “Sometimes, you don’t like it to come down to that.”

Getting better is an understatement, as the Jets only had 168 total yards after three quarters against the Redskins, a team that has lost seven of eight games. Sanchez only had 165 yards on 19 of 32 passing and one touchdown, but didn’t throw an interception for the first time in five games. For the second straight week, the offensive line didn’t allow a sack.

Greene contributed with 88 yards on 22 carries and saw much of the workload despite LaDainian Tomlinson returning after missing two weeks with a knee injury. ”It was rough the first half,” Greene said. “But we just kept together and kept plugging away.” Grossman ran 19 of 46 for 221 yards, and had one interception and afumble that halted any chance of Washington mounting a comeback.

The fumble was recovered by Calvin Pace, and Greene turned it into six with a nine-yard run out of the wildcat. ”That was just one of those situations where we knew as a defense it was crunch time,” said Maybin, “We’ve been in those situations.” The Jets were trailing 16-13 with just under eight minutes to go, but a hit-or-miss kickoff was returned to midfield.That’s when Sanchez scrambled to avoid the sack, and completed a pass on third and four to Greene for 10 yards. Two plays later, he found Holmes wide open for the long score.

A bright spot for the Redskins, Fred Davis, who has been having a great season, had six catches for 99 yards. After the game, news broke that both he and left tackle, Trent Williams, are going to be suspended for the rest of the season for breaking the NFL’s substance abuse policy.

Rookie running back Roy Helu also had a good game rushing for 100 yards and a touchdown on 23 carries. His score came at the beginning of the game to put Washington up 7-0. The Jets came right back with a 17 play, 74-yard drive to score the tying score. With this second late surge in a row, Ryan thinks the Jets are on their way to their third straight playoff appearance.

“We know where we think we’re going,” he said. “More confident than 100 percent? I don’t know about that.”

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A 39-yard field goal off the boot of Dan Bailey helped secure the victory in overtime for the Dallas Cowboys, beating the Washington Redskins 27-24 on Sunday.

Tony Romo was another key factor to the comeback victory, throwing for 292 yards on 23 completed passes for three touchdowns. Recievers Jason Witten, Dez Bryant, and Laurent Robinson caught one touchdown pass apiece, making 10 receptions altogether for a grand total of 187 yards.

Redskins quarterback Rex Grossman also played very well throughout the game, throwing for 289 yards on 25 completed passes for two touchdowns and one interception. Receiver Jabar Gaffney was his main target, collecting 115 yards on seven receptions for one touchdown. Donte Stallworth also caught a touchdown pass, along with 51 yards on four receptions.

Running back Demarco Murray helped the Cowboys move the ball down the field, collecting 73 yards on 25 rushing attempts. Redskins’ running back Roy Helu only had eight rushing attempts, averaging four yards per carry.

After a slow start for both teams, the Cowboys were first to take the lead with a 22-yard pass from Romo to Bryant halfway through the first quarter. Bailey gave the Cowboys a 10-point lead with 10 minutes left in the second quarter after kicking a 37-yard field goal.

The Redskins got their first points of the night thanks to a four-yard rushing touchdown by Grossman with four minutes to go before halftime. Grossman then was able to hit Gaffney with a 16-yard touchdown pass in the final minute of the quarter, making the score 10-14 going into halftime.

The only action in the third quarter happened in the first five minutes, when Graham Gano kicked a 40-yard field goal to give the Redskins an eight-point lead going into the final quarter.

Romo shined in the fourth quarter, making a 7-yard touchdown pass to Robinson on the first drive of the quarter, then throwing a huge 59-yard pass to Witten later on to take the lead at 24-17. However, the Redskins were able to get a touchdown in the final minute of the fourth quarter, a 4-yard pass from Grossman to Stallworth, to tie the game up and bring them into overtime.

Both teams battled strong in extra time, but the Cowboys were able to defend a lead given by a 39-yard field goal from Bailey until the final whistle blew with the Cowboys winning 27-24.

The Dallas Cowboys (6-4) travel back home to face the Miami Dolphins on Thursday, while the Redskins (3-7) travel to Washington to face the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday.

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What is something that the Miami Dolphins have that John Beck doesn’t? A victory. Beck is still looking for that ever elusive first win as a starter as the Redskins travel to Miami looking to avoid losing five straight.

Beck, who was a second round pick of the Dolphins back in 2007, played in five games with four starts and failed to record a win. He was released after the 2008 season and hasn’t gotten a chance to start until last month when coach Mike Shanahan benched Rex Grossman during a game against Philadelphia. He’s now 0-3 as a starter after throwing for 254 yards, a touchdown, and an interception last week against the 49ers.

“When you’re the quarterback and the team hasn’t been winning games, you want to step up to the plate,” Beck told the Redskins’ official website. “You want to win games. I think in the league, week-in and week-out you see it — the desire to win, the feel for the need to win a game. It’s always there.

“There’s always pressure every week regardless of who you’re playing or the situation you’re in. Even when you’re winning all your games or you’re not — there’s always pressure to win.” During this four game losing streak the Redskins have been outscored 95-44, which includes a 23-0 shutout against the Bills in Toronto.

“If we come out and get some points on the board early, maybe the game would be different,” receiver Jabar Gaffney said. “But these last four games, we’ve fallen behind in all of them and, it’s like, as soon as the other team scores, it’s not the same feeling on the sideline. People aren’t looking the same, aren’t playing the same.”

The Redskins will likely look to rookie running back Roy Helu again this Sunday with Tim Hightower lost for the season with a torn ACL and backup Ryan Torian struggling. He got his first start last weekend rushing for 41 yards on 10 carries, but sparked the team by setting a franchise record with 14 receptions for 105 yards.

“Helu has the speed to make some big plays,” Shanahan said. “I think you can see he is a pretty good all-around back. He made some plays. I think he’d like to have that fumble back.” Miami is coming off their first win of the season after taking out seven games worth of anger on the Kansas City Chiefs winning 31-3. Matt Moore threw for 244 yards and three touchdowns.

“It was absolutely great to get a little reward for all the work we’ve put in, just to have that feeling of getting a win under your belt,” Moore said. “I think guys now understand that, ‘Yeah we can do this,’ and they’re hungry and we’re going to enjoy this one and get ready for Washington.”

The Dolphins look to turn their luck around at home. They’ve lost seven straight at Sun Life Stadium. The defense should get a boost, as corner back Vontae Davis is expected to play after being held out of last weeks’ game after showing up late to practice. Reggie Bush who had another solid game last week rushing for 92 yards on 13 carries and a score will look to continue that against the 21^st ranked rush defense. Washington is giving up 122.6 yards per game.

John Beck will try to one up his old team as he takes on one of the worst passing defenses in football. Miami is ranked 27^th giving up 265.3 yards per game. He will have to look to tight end Fred Davis with wide receiver Santana Moss being out for the season.

With Miami coming off their first victory, they are riding some momentum. John Beck won’t get his first win against his former team as Miami should get their first win at home this season and make it two in a row. Final Prediction: Washington 10 Miami 21

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