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CLICK HERE to Register for a free account and login for a smoother ad-free experience. It's easy, and only takes a few moments.Thank you for the explanation (and i'm not being a wise ass) I know what a mullet is, i thought during one of the close up of the Head coach thats what i thought i saw, my mistakeNot to get technical here, but he doesn't have a mullet. A mullet is short on the sides and long in the back. He just has all around long, flowing locks.
Apparently, he grows it out and then cuts it off for Locks of Love, which is tough to hate on him for.
Ugh, I've just defended a Ryan. I'll kick my own ass out the door, thanks.
Sometimes I really believe that people don't watch games but just look at the stats and draw conclusions. While the Cowboys defense certainly played well and limited the Pats to 13 points with 4 minutes to go, a look at the drives doesn't paint a defensive masterpiece story:
1) 31 yd FG
2) Pick on deflected ball
Quick aside...have you ever seen so many deflected passes find their way directly to defenders? 4 in just 6 games is insane.
3) 26 yd FG
4) TD
5) Punt after 6 plays (nice sack to kill drive)
6) Fumble after 66 yard drive ends in red zone
7) Pick after 42 yard drive
8) 3-and-out (after a terrible play call on 2nd and 1)
9) TD
9 drives. 2 TDs. 2 FGs that needed red zone stops. 2 turnovers after Pats got in FG range. 1 turnover on a deflected ball. 2 punts.
If the Pats didn't play uncharacteristically sloppy, the Pats could have (and likely should have) been into the 30's once again. Good for the Cowboys for being opportunistic, particularly in the red zone. Solid team. Good plan. Great effort. Add in an off day for the Pats offense and the result is a game the Cowboys should have won. That is impressive enough. No need to turn it into a "blueprint" game.
If ifs and buts were candy and nuts, we’d all have a merry Christmas”.....Don MeredethThe Ryan thing is waaaay overplayed, in fact I think NE would've scored about 30 points had they ran the ball more.
The Patriots offense did play stupidly and sloppish through the whole game except the last drive.
* I wasn't keeping track of the amount of penalties the offense had called on them, but it seemed like they were penalized for false starts on nearly every drive.
* Hernandez drops a TD pass into the hands of a cowboy.
* Hernandez fumbles a ball
* Special Teams fumbles a ball
* Branch drops what should've been a TD pass instead of a FG
* Brady throws a very stupid INT instead of just taking the sack
* Dallas' reciever I thought fumbled the ball and I was shocked Belichick didn't challenge that one.
Dallas D played very well and I give them some credit. But the reason for the little amount of points and the near lost is all on the Pats offense. They were playing terrible.
The defense for the Cowboys is excellent. Their alignments varied a lot and they tackle very well.
Look at your summary. It's not that the Patriots were sloppy so much as they ran into a very tough defense that stoned them until they were totally gassed at the end on the road.
The turnovers were caused by a tipped ball (good defense), Brady getting hammered as he threw (good defense), and a tremendous strip on Hernandez (good defense).
Coverage was good all night until the final drive and the sacks were good players beating other good players. There were no dumb mistakes up front, just really tough matchups. It was impressive seeing Mankins get beat in the first half on an overload scheme that got him turned sideways as the rush came. Good coaching and great execution.
Here is how I would assess those plays:
- Tipped pick: Good play by Coleman to get his hand up. Poor coverage as Branch was wide open. Tremendous luck as ball flew like a heat-seeking missile directly to Newman.
- Lee pick: Great pressure by Spears (I think). Poor decision by Brady, though Branch (I think) was wide open deep behind the coverage. Again amazing luck that the ball went right to Lee.
- Hernandez fumble: James was lost on the play and Hernandez was lonely for a couple of seconds but Brady didn't see him. The strip by James was a good play as he got a hand on the ball but Hernandez lost ball focus (as he seems to do) just before he hit the ground.
So good defense on all the plays but nothing exceptional. Bad luck and/or bad play caused the situations to become turnovers. Again, not an indictment of the Cowboys but no reason to overplay what actually happened.
We mostly agree, except I give credit to the Dallas defense for all of those turnovers and remove "luck" from the equation. The tipped ball, the strip by James and the hit on Brady by Victor Butler (see photo) were just good plays by defenders. All three were Dallas takeaways, not unforced errors.
Were the key plays a result of Rob Ryan's scheming? My feeling is that coaches put players in a position to be successful at what they do best. So, yeah, as DC, Rob Ryan had a good night keeping the Patriots under control. Holding the Patriots to 20 points is all you can ask of your defense at Gillette, I think.
The key to this loss for the Cowboys rests with the their lack of confidence in their QB and their failure to get a first down or two on their second to last possession. It was almost as dramatic as the Kevin Faulk 4th and 2 in Indianapolis, and could very well be the drive or lack thereof that determines the Cowboys' season.