The Cowboys Patriots contest on Sunday was an absolute thriller for Cowboys fans. The Cowboys outplayed the Patriots on offense, defense, and on special teams and therefore should have won by a comfortable margin. Unfortunately, some poor officiating and some crucial mistakes by the Cowboys kept the game close. Still, the Cowboys managed to come away with the victory at New England, something they haven’t done since 1987. It was also the first time the Cowboys have ever beaten Bill Belichick who now owns a 1-5 record against the America’s Team. The Cowboys (5-1) have now won five straight, their longest winning streak since 2016.
The Cowboys were leading this game 17-14 entering into the fourth quarter, and that’s when all the fun started. The teams combined for five scores in the final period. Three of those scores took place in the final 2 1/2 minutes of regulation time. New England (2-4) was clinging to a 21-20 lead and had possession after Cowboys kicker Greg Zeurlein missed a 51 yard field goal attempt. The Cowboys were hoping to get the ball back when their sensational second year cornerback Trevon Diggs intercepted Patriots rookie QB Mac Jones and returned it 42 yards for a touchdown. It was Digg’s 7th pick and 2nd pick-six of the season and that put Dallas ahead 26-20 (following a failed 2 pt conversion attempt). That lead, however, was short lived because on the very next play from scrimmage, Mac Jones hit Kendrick Bourne for a 75-yard score. Jones then hooked up with Jakobi Meyers for the 2-point conversion that gave the Patriots a 29-26 lead with 2:11 left on the clock. Dak Prescott then led the Cowboys down the field on a 40 yard drive which was capped by a 49 yard game tying field goal by Greg Zeurlein which sent the game to overtime. In OT, Dallas ended the game on its first possession as Dak Prescott and the Cowboys marched 80 yards down the field on the game winning drive, sealed with a 35 yard TD pass to CeeDee Lamb.
Dak Prescott finished the day 35 of 51 for 445 yards, 3 touchdowns and an interception. It was another strong overall performance from Dak that was overshadowed somewhat after he suffered a calf strain on the game’s final play. Dak attended the post game press conference wearing a walking boot and he will be evaluated further on Monday. He said he will be fine, but Cowboy fans will all be anxious to find out the results of the MRI scheduled for Monday. CeeDee Lamb led all receivers with 9 catches for 149 yards and 2 scores.
Dak’s counterpart Mac Jones finished 15 of 21 for 229 yards, 2 touchdowns and that critical interception. Damien Harris led the Patriots ground attack as he rushed 18 times for 101 yards and a touchdown. The Patriots, who came in allowing 19.2 points per game, did a decent job keeping Dallas’ second-ranked offense at bay until Prescott broke through in the second half. The Patriots defense stopped the Cowboys twice on fourth down; once in Dallas’ territory and again on a goal line stand following a controversial call on third down where Dak had clearly broke the plane but was ruled down at the half yard line. The Pats negated one long Cowboys drive by picking off Dak Prescott in the endzone; And, they also limited the Cowboys to only 3 pts off of two crucial turnovers, a sack fumble by Randy Gregory and a blocked punt by Luke Gifford. It wasn’t until the second half that the Cowboys offense started to get rolling when Dak Prescott hit Lamb for a 1-yard touchdown in the corner of the end zone. That gave the Cowboys the lead for the first time in the game at 17-14. Dallas extended its lead on Greg Zuerlein‘s 45-yard field goal early in the fourth but New England responded immediately driving 75 yards down the field and capping off that drive with a 1 yard TD run by Rhamondre Stevenson.
It was an ugly victory for the Cowboys given how much they dominated in total yards and on time of possession. Bad penalties and costly turnovers kept the Patriots in the game. There were more than a few questionable calls against both teams but most of those did seem to go against the Cowboys in this one. Regardless, the Cowboys dug deep and found a way to win the game. It is never easy to win on the road nor is it easy to overcome tough calls. That the Cowboys were able to do both of those things is very encouraging going into the bye week. Now the focus turns to our starting quarterback. Cowboys Nation will all be collectively holding their breaths while we await any new developments concerning Dak Prescott’s ankle injury.
*Photo by Joe Glorioso; https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/legalcode
**All Data and statistics obtained and verified from https://www.pro-football-reference.com/