Patriots Grumble Thread – Week 5

by
Steve MacDonald

Hardy Sacks Brady

After their by-week the New England Patriots rolled in to AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas prepared for a defense the Cowboy’s didn’t bring. Instead of their traditional 4-3 they switched up to a  3-2, a defense the Patriots had not practiced for; they suffered for it through most of the first-half. Brady was sacked 5 times in the first quarter. But they worked it out. The half ended with New England up 13-3 thanks to changes that added some late second quarter breathing room as the offense began to adapt to what the Dallas defense was doing.

In the second half the Patriots outscored the Cowboys 17-3 securing a 30-6 victory, thanks to a New England defense that did yeoman’s work in the first half, limiting Dallas to just 3 first downs and 3 points while the New England offense found its legs.

No blowout statistics, not really. Brady only threw 275 yards and two touchdown’s, running for a third himself with a quarterback sneak. Julian Edelman had four catches for 120 yards, most of that mileage coming on a single play for a touchdown after a 59-yard catch and run in the fourth quarter.

All in all it was an exercise in adapting to a good defense that showed them a new look. The Patriots, being the Patriots, found ways to score 24 more points than their opponent.

The one game point that did surprise me was the Dallas offensive line. This group is often heralded as one of the best in the league but there wasn’t much evidence of that Sunday. The Cowboy offense was silenced in the first half, with only three first downs and more three-and-outs than you can shake a pom-pom at. They are missing Romo and Bryant, yes, but in that circumstance the offensive line needs to be even better as back-ups take the extra seconds to get open or make a pass to advance down the field.

That didn’t happen all game while the Patriots offensive line, considered a weak spot at the tart of the season, again adapted well.

The second half wasn’t much better for the Dallas offense, with a few signs of life, but two turnovers by Dallas sucked the life out of whatever momentum they had begun to build.

The Patriots play the Colts next week. You don’t need to go out on any limbs to guess the outcome of that game. New England will be business like as always, freight train business.

The Pats have put up over 40 points against the Colts the last three times they have met. Fifty points or more from New England would not surprise me this go-around, not that they’d have any reason to make a statement.

Author

  • Steve MacDonald

    Steve is a long-time New Hampshire resident, blogger, and a member of the Board of directors of The 603 Alliance. He is the owner of Grok Media LLC and the Managing Editor of GraniteGrok.com, a former board member of the Republican Liberty Caucus of New Hampshire, and a past contributor to the Franklin Center for Public Policy.

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