Cowboys Lose To Patriots
ARLINGTON, Texas — New England quarterback Tom Brady was shaken a bit in the first half Sunday afternoon, but not enough to knock the Patriots off their early-season ride.
Brady threw for two touchdowns and ran for another as the Patriots remained undefeated with a 30-6 win over the Dallas Cowboys 30-6 on Sunday afternoon at AT&T Stadium.
The Patriots (4-0) weren’t the same offensive juggernaut as in their first three games, but New England did more than enough coming off a bye week to wear down the undermanned Cowboys.
Brady and the Patriots came in averaging nearly 40 points in their first three wins. They won this one with defense, giving up a season-low point total.
Brady worked around five sacks — all in the first half — to complete 20 of 27 passes for 275 yards with no interceptions. The veteran has 11 touchdown passes this season and has yet to throw a pick.
“There were a lot of adjustments today,” Brady said. “I don’t think we practiced a lot of what they were doing, but I think our defense played great. They were just awesome.
“There were just a lot of clutch plays by our defense and special teams. Offense, we made a few plays, but we can play better than that.”
New England wide receiver Julian Edelman caught four passes for 120 yards and a
touchdown, his first 100-yard game of the season. Tight end Rob Gronkowski caught four balls for 67 yards. Running back LeGarrette Blount had 74 yards rushing.
Hitting the ground repeatedly in the first half didn’t change Brady’s approach. It was the first time he was sacked at least five times since 2001.
“Have you seen him play for the last 15 years?” Edelman said of his quarterback. “He’s pretty tough. I don’t think anyone underrates his toughness.”
The returns of linebacker Rolando McClain and defensive end Greg Hardy from suspension gave Dallas a look New England wasn’t ready for.
“We moved the ball OK, but it took a little while for us to adjust to it, get a handle on what they were doing,” Patriots coach Bill Belichick said. “I thought our players and coaches did a good job of making those adjustments during the game and throughout the game.
“It was definitely a different look. They obviously wanted to come out and get on us. That caused us some problems, but we scored 30 points, so we caused them some problems, too.”
The Cowboys (2-3) lost their third consecutive game as they continue on without quarterback Tony Romo and receiver Dez Bryant. Those injuries are hampering an offense that can’t stretch the field or mount a consistent rushing attack.
Dallas quarterback Brandon Weeden didn’t do much more than dink and dump underneath against a New England defense that often kept eight men in the box.
Weeden passed for only 188 yards, completing 26 of 39 with one interception.
Speculation surfaced after the game that Dallas may turn to backup quarterback Matt Cassel after the next week’s bye. The Cowboys are at the New York Giants on Oct. 25.
“I don’t want to talk about it,” Weeden said of his possible demotion. “I’ll let my play do the talking.”
No matter what they might want, the benching talk is just starting to heat up.
“I don’t want to get into that,” Cowboys owner Jerry Jones said.
Dallas went 4-for-14 on third-down conversions and was held to 264 yards, its lowest output of the season.
The Cowboys, though, were hardly putting all the blame on Weeden.
“We have to be better on first and second down to make him better on third down,” receiver Terrance Williams said. “We all take part in it. It’s not just him, we’re a team. The whole crew is going to ride with him from the receivers to the coaching staff.”
Brady engineered an 80-yard touchdown drive to open the second half for a 20-3 lead. Running back Dion Lewis capped the march with a 10-yard catch on a Brady pass.
A 59-yard catch-and-run from Brady to Edelman early in the fourth quarter put the game away.
The Patriots went into the locker room up 13-3 on Brady’s rushing touchdown and two field goals by kicker Stephen Gostkowski, including a 57-yarder at the end of the first half.
New England wasn’t able to do much with the ball in the first half as Brady was constantly under pressure.
McClain and Hardy sacked Brady on each of New England’s first two drives.
McClain’s sack knocked the Patriots out of the field-goal range on their first drive. Hardy’s tackle forced New England to settle for Gostkowski’s 49-yard kick.
The Cowboys tied it at 3-3 with a 50-yard field goal from kicker Dan Bailey late in the first quarter.
New England scored the game’s first touchdown on Brady’s sneak from the 1-yard line with 3:39 left until halftime to make it 10-3.
As much as the Patriots struggled, the Cowboys were worse. Dallas managed just 59 total yards through two quarters.
