After deferring the first half kick off the Patriots forced the Cowboys to a fourth down and one yard situation at their own 34 yard-line in which Ezekiel Elliott was stopped. This hold gave the Patriots an incredible starting field for their first drive that they capped off with a quick touchdown.
Dak Prescott was dealing in the first half and went 18/24 on throws, but only one touchdown. The elite rushing attack that the Cowboys featured in Tony Pollard and Ezekiel Elliott was kept in check in the first half, only gaining around 40 yards on 19 carries. The Patriots seemed to commit to stopping the run and allowing their secondary to hold its own against a lethal passing attack.
The Patriots red zone defense was the highlight of the half. A tipped ball interception in the red zone by Kyle Duggar as well as a huge four play stand on the one yard-line that resulted in a fumble recovered were huge plays for the Patriots in limiting the Cowboys point total in the first half.
Mac Jones was good enough, throwing for a touchdown in the first half as well as a number of good throws to keep drives going. He lost a fumble on a play that back up right tackle Rodny Cajuste Blew his assignment and allowed the young quarterback to receive a massive hit. The Patriot’s one passing touchdown was thrown to Hunter Henry, his third straight game with a touchdown following a sub-par start to the season.
The third quarter was uneventful for the Patriots. After two scores in the first 10 minutes of the game, the team had gone scoreless since. A great drive by the cowboys with a mixture of rushing and passing plays gave them their first lead of the game at 17-14 halfway through the third. Once again the Patriots offense struggled to do anything special, playing a very conservative, safe game on that side of the ball up until this point.
After the Cowboys notched a field goal to start the fourth quarter, the Patriots offense engineered a seven minute drive to answer and retake the lead 21-20, leaving about six minutes to go. The remainder of the game was probably the most wild ending to an NFL game this season. The Cowboys oddly electing to kick a field goal on a fourth and one from the 33 yard-line resulted in a hook six feet left of the post, giving the Patriots a chance to pretty much seal the game with one first down.
Well on their way to taking down one of the league’s top teams with one final first down, Mac Jones was picked off by Trevon Diggs who returned it for a touchdown. A quick turnaround was needed as the Patriots got right back on the field on offense to try and score a touchdown to take the lead. One play, 75 yards to Kendrick Bourne through the air, was the lone play on the responding drive, giving the Patriots back the lead at 29-26 following a successful two-point conversion. On theme with an already back and forth final quarter, the Cowboys respond with a field goal to send the game into overtime.
Jones and the Patriots offense took the field possessing the ball first in the overtime period. On a third and three at the Patriots 46 yard-line Jones missed Nelson Agholar on a back shoulder throw that would have extended the drive with a first down. Agholar seemed to be interfered with by a face mask, but it went uncalled. Continuing with a conservative play style, the Patriots elected to punt the ball back to a buzzsaw of an offense that the Cowboys have. They marched down the field with ease and capped the game with a 35-yard touchdown throw to Ceedee Lamb.
This game was another tough, close loss for the Patriots in a big game. While the defense played well today and was a huge part of why the team was even in the game with a chance to win, they were called on a bit too often against such an elite opponent. In games like these against high scoring points, the Patriots need to be willing to go for it in high risk spots because otherwise their offense isn’t capable of conventionally creating enough to win.
Now 2-4 on the year, that record could easily be opposite and the team continues to suffer hard losses. Although encouraging efforts were shown in these games, the basic fact of the matter is that the team continues to come up short in big spots. This trend is close to ending any hope this team has of maybe making a wildcard game only six games into the season.
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