Photo: Maddie Meyer/Getty Images
Sunday’s regular season home game against the Cowboys may have been one of the most entertaining games at Gillette Stadium in quite some time, but in the end, it will go down in history as a historically bad performance for the defense.
Sure, the unit made some huge stops – particularly inside the red zone and even in goal-to-go situations – but it also gave up 567 yards to Dak Prescott and the Cowboys offense in an excruciating 35-29 overtime loss. The offensive output by Dallas (5-1) was the most a Patriots team has ever given up it was only the sixth time in franchise history the team has given up over 500 yards. The last time of course, was against Philadelphia in the Super Bowl.
The Patriots offense and Mac Jones showed some resilience, but also made some key errors at inopportune times. Perhaps the most glaring stat of all is the fact that the Cowboys had 12 penalties for 115 yards and still won the game. That simply doesn’t happen against Bill Belichick-coached teams, which speaks to just how quickly things have changed in New England. An old coach that used to go by “Tuna” once said you are what your record says you are. Right now, the Patriots are a 2-4 football team and simply might not be that good this year.
“It was a tough one to lose tonight,” said head coach Bill Belichick. “It was a good football team, give Dallas credit. They’re a good team. They’re well-coached. I know we just came up a little bit short. Thought that we went toe to toe with them for 60 minutes and we just couldn’t – they just made a few more plays than we did, so give them credit for that. We’ll move on.”
This one had it all. Blocked punts, missed field goals, big-play touchdowns, turnovers, bad coaching decisions and play calling on both sides, a playoff atmosphere, it was truly one of the most memorable games in recent Patriots history. Unfortunately, Dak Prescott capped off a ridiculous day (36-51, 445, 3 TD, 1 INT) with a 35-yard touchdown pass to CeeDee Lamb with 3:52 left in overtime to end it. Lamb was also virtually impossible to cover on Sunday as well, putting up 149 yards on nine catches with two touchdowns.
“Just got to keep fighting. There’s nothing to say tonight, it’s disappointing,” said Devin McCourty. “We played our heart out there, guys fought. To fall on the other side, to lose the game is just tough. I think everybody needs to just go, get away tonight and when we come back in here, have a mindset ready to go. There’s nothing we can do about it but tonight hurt, tonight’s disappointing. A back-and-forth game, we wanted to win that and we played well enough, we just didn’t make enough plays at the end to win it. That’s just disappointing.”
A Greg Zuerlein 45-yard field goal with 13:13 left in the game made it 20-14 Cowboys. Damien Harris had a big day (18/101/1 TD) and helped matriculate the ball downfield on the ensuing drive. The 13-play, 75-yard march was capped off with a 1-yard TD run for Rhamondre Stevenson, putting the Pats up 21-20 with 6:23 to go.
Zuerlein missed a 51-yard field goal six plays later and the Patriots were in control with 2:42 left. Stunningly, two plays later Jones was picked off by his old Alabama teammate Trevon Diggs after a throw bounced off Kendrick Bourne’s hands. Diggs took it back to the house 42 yards but the two-point attempt failed, leaving the score at 26-21 Cowboys. One Play after the kick off, Jones hit Bourne for a wild 75-yard touchdown and just like that it was New England back in front. Jakobi Meyers caught the two-point attempt for the 29-26 lead.
“Just trying to keep my head in the game. It was a crazy play, crazy sequence,” said Bourne. “I was just trying to keep my head in the game and not point fingers. I blame myself [for the interception]. I looked at it as what I could have done better? We still had plenty of time for another chance and I’m just grateful we had another chance.”
If there’s any indication of just how different things are these days, the New England defense gave up 24 yards on a 3rd-and-25 as Dallas was driving to tie the game. The near-conversion allowed Zeurlein to hit a 49-yard field goal to send the game to overtime.
The Patriots won the coin toss but had to punt on the first possession. Seven plays and 80 yards later the Cowboys celebrated their win in the end zone as Lamb mockingly waved good bye to Jalen Mills and the rest of the Patriots secondary.
Belichick couldn’t have asked for a better start as his team opened the game perfectly, getting a turnover on downs with a 4th-and-1 stop on the first possession. Just three plays later Harris punched in a four yard touchdown for a quick 7-0 lead less than five minutes in. Dallas answered with an impressive drive and Prescott hit tight end Blake Jarwin for a short TD to tie the game. The Pats responded in just four plays and Jones put the Patriots back up by seven with a 20-yard touchdown to Hunter Henry. Dallas cut it to 14-10 and then blocked a punt on the next Patriots possession, setting up Prescott and the offense at the New England 17 with 4:34 left in the half.
With 1:30 to go on 4th-and-goal from the half-yard line, Prescott tried to leap and extend the ball but it was punched out on a fantastic play from Ja’Whuan Bentley and the Pats escaped with a 14-10 halftime lead. A one yard TD catch for Lamb late in the third made it 17-14 Dallas before Zeurlein’s field goal early in the fourth set up the wild finish.
The offensive line continues to be a huge problem as Jones was nearly killed several times on Sunday. That, the lack of true weapons he has around him, the defense’s inability to stop anyone when it matters right now and the realization that there just isn’t much talent on the roster when you go up against a star-studded team like Dallas is making for one giant mess at 1 Patriot Place.
There’s a long way to go in this season still, but 2-4 is 2-4 and right now the Patriots are simply one of the bad teams in the league. Gillette Stadium was also once a house of horrors for opponents, now, New England is 0-4 at home and creating a lot of “first time since’s” that don’t lead to winning football.
“That’s football. That’s playing a good football team. That’s what games are like. It sucks. It sucks,” said center David Andrews. “I thought we battled and did some things really well and had some good drives and responded well to some things and showed some mental toughness and then, a few plays here or there, but that’s how it goes in this league. There’s not a big margin for error.”