Hello New England Fans

One of the things I like about Texas...

blueberryicedcoffee said:

I am a Dallas Cowboys fan (that's the part where you scoff, roll your eyes, or express some other emotion of disgust, pity and contempt). I come mostly in peace, caffeine and confusion, but those last two are normal. Now, I use peace loosely. I probably won't bite, but if I do I have rabies and that's a 100% mortality rate so get those shots if that happens.

I am hoping for a win. I am praying for a win. We need a win, guys. Please, can you guys lose this one? Perhaps the football gods took Lance Dunbar from us the other night as a blood sacrifice because they're giving us this game. Right? RIGHT?!?!?!?! I'll go with that. Cowboys 51 - Pats 50 confirmed. Brandon Weeden 97/108, 219 yards, 1 TD.

In all seriousness, this is the game I was looking forward to most before the season started. It would be an awesome game of Romo and Dez + defensive additions were playing. But alas, that dream has slipped and faded, rudely awoken by the sounds of cracking bones and snapping ACLs.

Speaking of ACLs, you guys don't happen to have a few of those laying around, do you? Or some clavicles?

So this will be an interesting game, I have no doubt. Blowouts are interesting. Us actually winning would be really interesting, surprising and unlikely.

We are already more injured right now than all the combined injuries of last season. It really sucks. Elite QB, #1 WR, #1 CB, Top 3 DEs on the depth chart, and LG have all missed time. It's bad.

I have no idea how the offense will look. Weeden looked much more comfortable in the empty set and that opens up some nice 1 on 1 for WRs like Beasley who will have to have a good game. I predict Bease will get most of the targets. Dunbar was Weeden's favorite target, but he's done for the year now (of course) so I assume WR Lucky Whitehead will take his role on the little screens and routes Gangsta Garrett had Dunbar run.

Defense. That thing. Ugh. It's not bad, it's just injured. We get Hardy and McClain back this week. That is huge. Darth Belichick will exploit the fact that our FS is actually a SS pretending to be a FS. I do not have a clue about how we will stop Gronk. Byron Jones is certainly athletic enough, but leaving a rookie DB on Gronk is not a great idea.

Another thing that's good for you to know is Brandon Weeden cannot throw to the left side of the field. I literally do not think it is possible.

So what about the Patriots do I not already know? What players should I watch out for?

Good Luck guys. Here's to an entertaining, legendary game. I know that there will be plenty of drinking involved, in celebration and in sorrow.

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Thanks for coming by this board. I've always liked the Dallas Cowboys, or at least, I've never really understood all the hate. I remember growing up and watching those annihilation teams of the 90s. That was during the time I was just getting into football, so fond memories here.

Honestly, very sorry to see so many injuries. My brother-in-law is a huge fan of the Cowboys, so I half-root for them unless the Pats are involved. It's been tough; I don't think any team could really overcome this. Imagine the Pats losing Brady, Gronkowski, and a bunch of other solid starters. I hope Romo and Dez return soon and they can still take the NFC East. It seemed the Pats were the most snakebitten team in the league from 2012-13 because they would lose the most important guys at the worst times, but over the last year plus, we've been extremely lucky (just knocked on wood) and have had a very healthy squad. I, too, wish this were a battle against two full-strength teams. I had pondered going to Dallas for this one but bailed out of any plans after Romo went down.

And finally, I doubt that many fellow Pats fans agree with me, but this is one game where I would not be upset at all and almost be glad with a loss. In 2001, 2003, and 2014, the Patriots were at one time in the first month of the season completely written off by the media, who piled on and kicked them, proclaiming them to be dead, before they won 3 of their championships in all those seasons. I'm not saying I'm rooting for them to lose, but it seems that every year they are front runners, they end up getting run down in the end by a team that was down early on like them...I guess like horse racing in some ways. I've heard a lot of pats on the back from the team and fan base over this bye week, and it concerns me that this team is not going to be gritty and tough enough when they need to be. Maybe I'm just paranoid, but again, I'm just looking at their past and thinking that if they are going to lose, which isn't a bad thing in the long run, might as well be to a non-conference team. Plus, it helps keep the Giants out of the playoffs, who won eight years ago and four years ago and seem to be guided by some kind of voodoo every four years.

I don't believe the Patriots are unbeatable, but it will certainly take the Cowboys A game for it to happen with all the injuries to overcome. In terms of things you might not know about the Patriots:

-Dion Lewis is an emerging star at running back, which you may know if you are following Fantasy Football. The Patriots have had a history of solid third-down backs like Kevin Faulk, Danny Woodhead, and Shane Vereen. This year Vereen went to the Giants and the Patriots picked up Lewis as a FA who hasn't played a meaningful game in a couple of years due to injuries. The early returns are that he looks like a stud; extremely quick and fluid as both a running back and receiver. Many on this forum believe he is playing at a higher level than Vereen.

-The Patriots front 7 is the most underrated in the league and is easily top 5...missing only a stud defensive tackle to make them #1. They don't get enough credit because they aren't as aggressive in blitzing like other teams and they don't have 15+ sack guys that make big headlines. Their linebacker corps of Dont'e Hightower, Jerod Mayo, and Jamie Collins, is fantastic. I believe Collins will be in the conversation for All-Pro this season and possibly DPOY. He does so many things well, as he can cover, rush, and stop the run. The Pats also have a strong pass rush with Chandler Jones, Jabaal Sheard, and Rob Ninkovich leading the charge from the edge; they can also get interior pressure. As you've probably heard, the secondary has some question marks, but Devin McCourty is among the best in the business at FS and Malcolm Butler (Super Bowl hero) is playing like a #1 CB. Pats play a ton of nickel and dime and are rarely in base. Pats are notorious for giving up a ton of yards and long drives but having personnel well suited for the red zone. This has been going on for many years and is well documented by statistics.

All that said, the Patriots lost Darrelle Revis and all of their CBs from last year, and there is a lot of anxiety around here, having seen this team get bounced from the playoffs several times in recent years because their CBs were just not talented enough, and scheme can only take you so far.

-Pats have three rookies on the interior of their offensive line, as several players are out. Brady has been getting the ball out in about two seconds on average. This definitely a death by a thousand paper cuts offense. Gronkowski and Edelman are obviously the guys that cause favorable matchups everywhere on the field and are two of the toughest guys to cover - because doubling them doesn't always work - and the Pats have a laundry list of capable players who are burning defenses as third and fourth options/ afterthoughts.

i hate the cowboys.

We know what it's like to see a season's hopes drain away under an onslaught of injuries. I see on your boards that many are advocating, as does Chiuba above, that you treat this as a preseason game 4 and coast into your bye week. Go for that. Heal up. Then pound the rest of the AFCE on your schedule.

I used to be a Cowboys fan back in the days of Jethro Pugh, Bob Lilly, Dandy Don and that crowd. Got turned off by the relentless marketing of later teams as "America's Team". Now follow the Houston Ex-Patriots.

It's a damn shame how injured the Cowboys are right now. I had them going to the NFC Championship this year, and possibly the Super Bowl - until they got injured. I had this game as our biggest challenge all year (ahead of @Denver) and was really looking forward to a great game.

Here are some things to look out for/things that might surprise you about our team this year:

Defense:

• Watch out for A gap blitzes from Jamie Collins and Hightower. Weeden is not a mobile quarterback, which means we will be more apt to blitz, rather than contain using a 4 man rush. Us Pats fans view both of these linebackers as having All-Pro talent - especially Collins (there's even a thread going on right now where a respected poster is making the argument that Jamie could end up being better than Lawrence Taylor, which I respectfully disagree with).
• Super Bowl hero Malcolm Butler is starting to look like a bona fide top 15 cornerback (probably not there just yet, however). The few times he's had a play made on him he's been literally inches away from breaking the play up, and is generally looking very confident and fundamentally sound. His SB performance was no fluke.
• The strength of our defense: the front 7. Last year Chandler Jones and Ninkovich played an absurd amount of snaps - close to 95%. This year, Jabaal Sheard was acquired and is looking like the real deal, and is keeping that rotation fresh all game long. Last year's 1st round pick - Dominique Easley - returned last week from a minor injury suffered in the first series of the season and most of us have high hopes for him as well. He was injured most of his rookie year as well. His ceiling is somewhere around a Geno Atkins-type. Homer-haters will hate me for saying that, however. But I have a lot of expectations for the kid. Jarod Mayo - ex All Pro LB - is playing around 20% of the snaps so far, but look for a lot more of him this week as our main focus will be to neutralize the Dallas run game.

Offense:

• The most interesting thing here will be the rotating (but effective) offensive line. BB is utilizing different combinations on the line for several reasons. Some of them include: giving rookies valuable playing time rather than sitting on the pine; matchup advantages; situational football; and excess talent. I'm sure he has other reasons that most of us aren't picking up on as well. It's been very interesting to watch.
• Dion Lewis is bringing back memories of Danny Woodhead, except he looks like a slightly improved version of Woodhead. He's been the surprise of the offense so far, and is making moving on from Vereen very easy. Only concern here is fumbling, which we're all hoping he can overcome and stop doing for a sustained amount of time.
• Gronk/Edelmen/Brady. What more can I say - they're incredible to watch. We're so f****** lucky.

I wish you luck, Cowboys fan, but not this week. I'll be rooting for you until the NFC Championship, but I won't root for you over Green Bay. I pray every night for a Rodgers-Brady Super Bowl showdown.

Would have been a great game with Romo and Dez but I'm not going to complain, every team gets hit by the injury bug sooner or later. Lotsa boys fans in my town since one of our own played his whole career with the Cowboys and has flashed his super bowl ring around town to anyone who wanted to see it. Tiny compared to the Pats latest ring. Enjoy the game Sunday.

Nobody really understands the full story, but of late Belichick has been stockpiling DE's and DT's like they were going out of style. Some have speculated that this relates to the Dallas game and stopping the run.

Some of the early-game statistics on run-defense are somewhat misleading. Pats often played with a light box and encouraged the run - some of the time because we were ahead and wanted to slow the game down some.

The Pats have three massive tight-ends, two of which are significant threats to catch as well as block. The third is a converted tackle. So at some point it will be pick-your-poison for defences - match them with a nickel and get run on, or match them in base and get passed on. But maybe they will be holding some of their new ideas back for some later game.

blueberryicedcoffee said:

Cowboys 51 - Pats 50 confirmed. Brandon Weeden 97/108, 219 yards, 1 TD.

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According to my math that is 2.25 yards a completion. LOL.

I might be on of the few that think Weeden isn't as bad as everyone thinks he is. He will complete some passes. Your 'Boys will score some points. 17-21 is my guesstimate.

The problem is.....

There isn't a defense on this earth that is holding this offense under 40 points. I know that is arrogant but its the truth. They are playing with a pissed-off Cobra-Kai attitude. They will humiliate you. They will sweep legs and they will steal your chick. I think its gonna be the same kind of game it was in 2007 ..48-27 ish....

I want to know about Gregory, Lee and Hardy's availability. That's a lot of playmaking talent right there.

SlowGettingUp said:

Nobody really understands the full story, but of late Belichick has been stockpiling DE's and DT's like they were going out of style. Some have speculated that this relates to the Dallas game and stopping the run.

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It comes from spotty run defense and a weak pass rush up the middle.

I think we're going with 8 DLs up front and Collins, Hightower, and Butler will man the backfield.

Howdy Blueberry,

Welcome and thank you for a good opening post. Always great to see opposing football fans on here with a little insight into the upcoming festivities.

The cowboys look pretty solid on offense to me. McFadden and Randle are good running backs and Weeden is cooking along at 9.3 yards per completion. The offensive line is reportedly the best in the NFL. A ball control game by the Cowboys makes great sense, especially without Dez Bryant. Can Weeden sustain long drives and keep Brady off the field?

I agree with a previous poster that the Cowboys can't settle for field goals. The Patriots will finish their drives.

On defense, good luck. The Patriots will come at you from all over the place - Edelman, Amendola, Gronk, and Chandler catching passes. Lewis and LeGarrette Blount make for a tricky backfield that you can't let get going by being sloppy in your gaps. Belichick and McDaniels have had two weeks to prepare, so look for things you've not seen yet coming your way.

Tell your fans to leave the "cheater" signs at home. It's not wise to piss off Brady more than he already is.

Best wishes for no injuries this week to all.

Dallas sometimes shows up for games, so while I do expect a 40-17 kind of game, it wouldn't overly surprise me if somehow, the Cowboys make it interesting.

I think what you need to know about the Pats has been pretty well covered, but this much bears repeating; the Cowboys had better find a way to cover Gronk. At the very least, they should try. The Steelers forgot to. It's not a winning strategy.

Good opening post, btw. One of the better ones.

Don't know much about the cowboys except that whenever i watch them, they seem to find a way to snatch defeat from the jaws of victoy by doing something like fumbling at the goalline, throwing a pick or some other creative way to give the game away.

Hey man, I like your style, you sound like an awesome Cowboy's fan, you are welcome here anytime. I like Romo, he's a warrior and I like Dez, amazing receiver with passion. My condolences to you for the injuries to both, I wish our Pats were playing against a healthy Cowboy's team. But alas, unfortunately that is not the case. We've been in the same boat in years past, having lost Gronk several times, Jerod Mayo 2 years in a row. Even lost Brady for a full season once. So I feel your pain (pardon the pun).

I'm hoping for a good, clean game with no injuries or key bad ref calls ruining the game (it happens). Best of luck to you and your team, especially AFTER Sunday .

Hello from DC, where there almost as many Cowboy fans as there are in Dallas.

If you've been watching the Pats' moves in the bye week, the active roster will shake out something like this:

20 offensive players
20 DT
6 other defensive players


So you can expect the space between your OT's to be pretty crowded, and on passing downs, pretty crushed.

blueberryicedcoffee said:

I do not have a clue about how we will stop Gronk. Byron Jones is certainly athletic enough, but leaving a rookie DB on Gronk is not a great idea.

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Unless that rookie DB is a porn star wearing a bandolier stuffed with Zywiec Bock and rohypnols. I don't think anyone's tried that yet.

Welcome. My favorite Patriot-Cowboy highlight of all-time....

Pat-s-Cowboys have squared off 11 times. Dallas won the first 7, NE the last 4. Last time Brady was in Dallas was 2007 and he hit 31-46 for 388 yards and 5 TD's while NE won 48-27.

Agree with robertweathers, think this will be somewhere in that neighborhood. It's not anyone's fault blueberry, you just happen to have been scheduled in the path of the scorched-earth-policy step-on-your-throat 2015 Tom Brady eff-you tour.

Sorry about that. Get healthy and take out SEA and GB and we'll see you in Santa Clara.

PatsWSB47 said:

Hey blueberry... I welcome you as a fan but I hate your team's owner

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Of course, we're a little mezza mezza on our OWN owner... but only when he's conceding draft picks with no proof of guilt.

captain insano said:

i hate the cowboys.

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I like certain Cowboys... Roger Staubach comes to mind.

Ice_Ice_Brady said:

Thanks for coming by this board. I've always liked the Dallas Cowboys, or at least, I've never really understood all the hate. I remember growing up and watching those annihilation teams of the 90s. That was during the time I was just getting into football, so fond memories here.

Honestly, very sorry to see so many injuries. My brother-in-law is a huge fan of the Cowboys, so I half-root for them unless the Pats are involved. It's been tough; I don't think any team could really overcome this. Imagine the Pats losing Brady, Gronkowski, and a bunch of other solid starters. I hope Romo and Dez return soon and they can still take the NFC East. It seemed the Pats were the most snakebitten team in the league from 2012-13 because they would lose the most important guys at the worst times, but over the last year plus, we've been extremely lucky (just knocked on wood) and have had a very healthy squad. I, too, wish this were a battle against two full-strength teams. I had pondered going to Dallas for this one but bailed out of any plans after Romo went down.

And finally, I doubt that many fellow Pats fans agree with me, but this is one game where I would not be upset at all and almost be glad with a loss. In 2001, 2003, and 2014, the Patriots were at one time in the first month of the season completely written off by the media, who piled on and kicked them, proclaiming them to be dead, before they won 3 of their championships in all those seasons. I'm not saying I'm rooting for them to lose, but it seems that every year they are front runners, they end up getting run down in the end by a team that was down early on like them...I guess like horse racing in some ways. I've heard a lot of pats on the back from the team and fan base over this bye week, and it concerns me that this team is not going to be gritty and tough enough when they need to be. Maybe I'm just paranoid, but again, I'm just looking at their past and thinking that if they are going to lose, which isn't a bad thing in the long run, might as well be to a non-conference team. Plus, it helps keep the Giants out of the playoffs, who won eight years ago and four years ago and seem to be guided by some kind of voodoo every four years.

I don't believe the Patriots are unbeatable, but it will certainly take the Cowboys A game for it to happen with all the injuries to overcome. In terms of things you might not know about the Patriots:

-Dion Lewis is an emerging star at running back, which you may know if you are following Fantasy Football. The Patriots have had a history of solid third-down backs like Kevin Faulk, Danny Woodhead, and Shane Vereen. This year Vereen went to the Giants and the Patriots picked up Lewis as a FA who hasn't played a meaningful game in a couple of years due to injuries. The early returns are that he looks like a stud; extremely quick and fluid as both a running back and receiver. Many on this forum believe he is playing at a higher level than Vereen.

-The Patriots front 7 is the most underrated in the league and is easily top 5...missing only a stud defensive tackle to make them #1. They don't get enough credit because they aren't as aggressive in blitzing like other teams and they don't have 15+ sack guys that make big headlines. Their linebacker corps of Dont'e Hightower, Jerod Mayo, and Jamie Collins, is fantastic. I believe Collins will be in the conversation for All-Pro this season and possibly DPOY. He does so many things well, as he can cover, rush, and stop the run. The Pats also have a strong pass rush with Chandler Jones, Jabaal Sheard, and Rob Ninkovich leading the charge from the edge; they can also get interior pressure. As you've probably heard, the secondary has some question marks, but Devin McCourty is among the best in the business at FS and Malcolm Butler (Super Bowl hero) is playing like a #1 CB. Pats play a ton of nickel and dime and are rarely in base. Pats are notorious for giving up a ton of yards and long drives but having personnel well suited for the red zone. This has been going on for many years and is well documented by statistics.

All that said, the Patriots lost Darrelle Revis and all of their CBs from last year, and there is a lot of anxiety around here, having seen this team get bounced from the playoffs several times in recent years because their CBs were just not talented enough, and scheme can only take you so far.

-Pats have three rookies on the interior of their offensive line, as several players are out. Brady has been getting the ball out in about two seconds on average. This definitely a death by a thousand paper cuts offense. Gronkowski and Edelman are obviously the guys that cause favorable matchups everywhere on the field and are two of the toughest guys to cover - because doubling them doesn't always work - and the Pats have a laundry list of capable players who are burning defenses as third and fourth options/ afterthoughts.

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Really good information there.

I have watched a couple Patriots games this seasoned I'm really impressed with Collins. He is a fantastic player. I am a huge fan of McCourty, and we have a similar player in Byron Jones.

Let me ask, based on what you've seen so far (albeit it being a small sample size), what do you think of Malcolm Brown? Can he become that dominant DT you're looking for? I know a lot of Dallas fans were upset with us passing him up for Byron Jones. While we are not particularly strong at DT, a lot of that has to do with UT fans wanting to see him wear the star. I am originally from London, so I never adopted a college football team. I love it that way and I watch plenty of games, but when draft time rolls around I can watch tape and research players without bias.

Another player to watch out for is our 3-Tech Tyrone Crawford. He is a severely underrated player who constantly gets pressure and I expect him to benefit from Hardy's return, because Greg will demand attention.