The Patriots had tremendous field position in the first half — three of their seven drives started on the 40 or better, and another one on the 38 — yet they only had 13 points to show for it. A drive that started on the Cowboys’ 45-yard line ended in an un-Patriot-like field goal, and four of their drives stalled with punts.
Bill Belichick explained that the Cowboys gave the Patriots “a look we hadn’t seen them do before” — a 3-2-6 defense that smothered the Patriots’ receivers and forced the quick-triggered Tom Brady to hold onto the football longer than usual.
This alignment caused the Patriots problems for several reasons:
■ With the Cowboys defensive backs playing press-man coverage, the Patriots receivers had a tough time getting off the line of scrimmage, disrupting Brady’s timing. Brady kept patting the ball, waiting for his receivers to get open, and he took five sacks in the first half, after taking just six in the first three games.
■ The Cowboys knew Brady would try to get the ball out of his hands even quicker, and hoped it would affect his accuracy. That’s where having six defensive backs really helped — lots of athletic bodies all over the field, ready to knock down the pass or make a quick tackle.
■ Playing only a three-man front also allowed defensive coordinator Rod Marinelli to get creative with his blitzes, and the Patriots didn’t block it well. Linebacker Rolando McClain and defensive tackles Tyrone Crawford and Jack Crawford each had sacks up the middle against the Patriots’ four young offensive linemen — third-year pro Josh Kline and rookies David Andrews, Shaq Mason, and Tre’ Jackson.
■ And the Cowboys brought great speed off the edges with Greg Hardy, Demarcus Lawrence, and Jeremy Mincey. Hardy, playing in his first game back from a four-game suspension, embarrassed left tackle Nate Solder repeatedly, blowing past him for two sacks, a forced fumble, and a bone-rattling quarterback hit in the first half. Hardy had two more quarterback hits in the second half, when Marcus Cannon replaced Solder, who injured his elbow. Overall, Brady was sacked five times and hit eight times.
■ The Cowboys definitely showed that the Patriots can be stopped. You need speedy pass rushers coming around the edge, a dominant nose tackle that can handle a triple team (Tyrone Crawford said he took on three offensive linemen for much of the game), athletic linebackers that can drop into coverage, a deep secondary that can roll six or seven deep, and a big defensive back who can hang with Gronkowski, as rookie Byron Jones did Sunday. Jones, listed at 6 feet and 205 pounds, was the first defender to slow down Gronkowski this season, holding Gronk to a pedestrian four catches for 67 yards by using the Patriots’ favorite tactic — unpredictability. “Just tried to use my hands, and tried to switch it up a little bit — play him on, play him off,” Jones said. “Just try to give him a different look every play.”
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