FOXBOROUGH, Mass. (AP) -- Tom Brady started the rout and the

Patriots defense finished it.

The winless Redskins were woeful all game long.

"I hope it looks as good in the regular season as it did

tonight," Brady said after New England's 41-0 win over Washington

on Saturday night.

He completed 17 of 30 passes for 231 yards and a touchdown

before leaving after the first series of the third quarter. The

Patriots (2-1) recorded seven sacks while allowing eight first

downs and extending their streak to nine quarters without giving up

a touchdown.

"It should do something as a morale boost," cornerback Ellis

Hobbs said, "but, at the same time, let's put it in perspective.

It is preseason."

That didn't make the lopsided loss easy to take for the

Redskins, who fell to 0-3 and gave up three times as many yards

(464) as they gained (154). Both teams are coming off seasons in

which they fell one win short of playing for their conference

championships.

"We are going through a real tough time," Redskins coach Joe

Gibbs said. "I think when you go through tests like this, you find

out what you are made of."

Washington reached the New England 12-yard line with 46 seconds

left but couldn't score on its remaining four plays.

Tight end Benjamin Watson, who caught just 31 passes in his

first two seasons, had eight receptions -- seven in the first half --

for 97 yards and a 6-yard touchdown that put the Patriots ahead

17-0 midway through the second quarter. He was helped by

Washington's formation of two deep safeties.

"I was open a lot. The scheme they played allowed me to catch a

lot of balls," he said. "Tom did a good job of finding me."

In three exhibition games, Brady is 35-for-54 for 404 yards, one

touchdown and no interceptions. Washington's Mark Brunell, who

hasn't led a scoring drive in any of his 11 preseason possessions,

including seven Saturday, went 7-for-16 for 51 yards and three

sacks. Backups Todd Collins and Jason Campbell also struggled.

"They got a little bit of the blitz, particularly at the end,"

Brunell said of the Patriots defense, "but for the most part, it

wasn't overly complicated."

The Patriots got impressive performances from two rookies.

First-round pick Laurence Maroney scored the first touchdown on

a 5-yard run. Stephen Gostkowski, who beat out veteran Martin

Gramatica after Adam Vinatieri joined Indianapolis as a free agent,

was perfect on two field goal attempts and five extra points and is

6-for-6 on field goals and 9-for-9 on extra points.

"I've missed before in college and high school," Gostkowski

said. "If you miss, you figure out what went wrong and kick the

next one."

The Redskins defended the pass as poorly as they did the run a

week earlier when they allowed 145 yards rushing in the first half

of a 27-14 loss to the New York Jets. Against the Patriots, they

gave up 193 yards passing in the first half.

That bodes poorly for the regular season since first-stringers

usually get their most playing time in the next to last exhibition

game. Washington faces Baltimore on Thursday night and opens the

season against Minnesota on Sept. 11.

"If we don't take care of the little things, this thing is

going to snowball," Redskins defensive tackle Joe Salave'a said.

The Patriots got catches from just two wide receivers in the

first three quarters on Deion Branch's 30th day as a holdout. The

team has given its best receiver until next Friday to seek a trade

and negotiate with another team.

New England scored on its first two possessions on Gostkowski's

23-yard field goal and Maroney's run.

Five minutes into the second quarter, John Hall's 43-yard field

goal attempt for Washington was blocked by Richard Seymour before

Watson scored on the next series. Another 23-yarder by Gostkowski

made it 20-0 at halftime. Heath Evans scored on a 1-yard run in the

third quarter and Patrick Cobbs scored on two 1-yard runs in the

fourth.

Game notes

ILB Junior Seau, in his ninth day with the Patriots,

started in place of Monty Beisel. SS Rodney Harrison and DE Seymour

saw their first preseason action. ... Washington RB Clinton Portis

missed his second game with a shoulder injury but should be ready

for the opener. ... Patriots RB Corey Dillon didn't return after

being poked in the eye in the first quarter. ... T.J. Duckett had 8

yards on four carries three days after being traded from Atlanta to

Washington.