Cowboys dominate Belichick, Patriots

The Cowboys got multiple touchdowns from its offense and defense, as they routed New England 38-3 on Sunday afternoon at AT&T Stadium in Arlington. Behind touchdowns from four different players, the Cowboys (3-1) improved to 2-0 against the AFC East this season, while the Patriots (1-3) remain at the bottom of their division.

DEFENSE RESTORES SHINE

All it took was a visit from quarterback Mac Jones for the Cowboys defense to get right.

He was responsible for a pair Cowboys touchdowns on three turnovers, as the defense came to life and swarmed New England from its opening possession.

It started with a strip sack fumble for the Cowboys defense in the first quarter and ended with Jones on the bench in favor of Bailey Zappe before the third quarter was over.

On that first Jones turnover, Dante Fowler, who had lined up at left defensive end, came all the way across the field to catch a scrambling Jones from behind at the Patriots 8-yard line and knocked the ball free with a one-arm slash. The ball bounced three yards forward before Vander Esch scooped it up and went untouched for the score and an 18-3 lead – after the Cowboys faked the extra point and threw a pass to defensive end Chauncey Golston that he rumbled 15-yards for the two points.

Jones followed that up in the final seconds of the first half, when DaRon Bland stepped in front of Kendrick Bourne, picked off the pass and returned it 52 yards for the Cowboys second defensive touchdown of the day. Bland picked off Jones on the first drive of the second half, when he tried to hit JuJu Smith-Schuster on fourth and two from the Dallas 40 but missed short. That took the air out of any thoughts of a comeback for the Patriots.

The Cowboys ended up holding the New England to 253 total yards, with just 53 of those coming on the ground. Ezekiel Elliott’s return was nothing more than a pre-game tribute, as he finished with 16 yards on six carries.

When you score defensive touchdowns in the NFL, you typically win.

The Cowboys scored twice, and the blowout was on at AT&T Stadium.

AIR ATTACK COMES TO LIFE

Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott was near perfect on Sunday afternoon, completing 28 of 34 passes for 261 yards and the one touchdown to CeeDee Lamb.

More impressive is that he targeted 10 different receivers, connecting for completions with nine of them. Jake Ferguson had a career day, while the trio of running backs – Tony Pollard, Rico Dowdle and Duece Vaughn, caught all five passes thrown their way.

It started from the opening drive of the game, as the Cowboys went to work on the Patriots pass defense, and by the time halftime rolled around they had amassed 196 passing yards and Prescott had found eight different receivers.

It got even better for the Cowboys after Patriots rookie corner back Christian Gonzalez went down with a bad shoulder on a tackle in the second quarter. Prescott completed 19 of 22 passes in that first half, including multiple catches by Lamb, Ferguson, Gallup and Pollard.

It is the second time this season Prescott has completed over 80-percent of his passes, matching his day against the Jets where he completed 31 of 38 passes.

For the third time this season, Prescott did not turn the ball over.

O-LINE CONTINUITY RETURNS

What a difference a starting center and hall of fame right guard make in the Cowboys’ offense.

Without Tyler Biadasz and Zack Martin last week the Cowboys offense struggled to get into a rhythm, and it ultimately cost them. Biadasz and Martin returned to the starting lineup this week and the offense looked as good as it has all year.

They were still missing Tyron Smith at left tackle, but with Biadasz and Martin back in the middle of the line the Cowboys could get away with Chuma Edoga out at left tackle in place of Smith.

It allowed quarterback Dak Prescott the time needed to get through his reads in the pocket. He was sacked three times but didn’t throw an interception. When the Cowboys did run the ball, just 15 carries for Tony Pollard, Rico Dowdle and CeeDee Lamb, they were able to average 4.5 yards per rush when it counted.

Duece Vaughn got in the game at the end of the third quarter and finished with just nine yards on eight tough carries. KaVontae Turpin had one carry in the fourth quarter for 47 yards. It allowed Dallas to finish with a respectable 124 yards on the ground.

It was a good day for the offensive line, who got some extra rest for Martin after taking the big lead. A healthy Tyron Smith will only make this offense better.

RED ZONE WOES

It was another tough day inside the red zone for the Cowboys, settling for three field goals on five of their trips.

The lone touchdown when the game was still in doubt came on second and five from the New England 20, where quarterback Dak Prescott found CeeDee Lamb for their first touchdown of the game and the season.

But despite the Prescott to Lamb TD, the Cowboys struggled again to find the end zone inside the 20.

The Cowboys were 3-for-3 in the first half but settled for two field goals after third-down plays from inside the Patriots 10-yard line went array. The had one field goal and one touchdown, a late run by Hunter Luepke, in their two second-half red zone trips.

It didn’t take long for the red zone problems to manifest on Sunday.

On the first drive of the game, the Cowboys drove deep into Patriots territory and settled for a field goal after a debacle on third and goal from the two when Dak Prescott and Tony Pollard ran into each other on a handoff that went for negative yards. If your quarterback and running back can’t get on the same page, it will be a long day.

Going back to last Sunday in Arizona, the Cowboys last nine drives inside the 20 have resulted in just three touchdowns, five field goals and one turnover on downs.

EATING THE CLOCK

If the Cowboys are going to win running this version of the Mike McCarthy offense, then it will be behind long drives that run time off the clock.

They did that on Sunday against New England, winning the time of possession battle by keeping the ball for 35:09 of the 60 minutes. They did it by having five drives over 8 plays, which is their average number per drive this season and tops in the NFL. They added three more drives of seven plays in the second half, two that resulted in points.

In the first half, the Cowboys had drives of 10, 11, 4, 11 and five (to end the half) plays, scoring points on all three drives over eight plays – one touchdown, two field goals. They added just one more drive of over eight plays in the second half, while putting away the Patriots.

It is the third time this season the Cowboys won the time of possession battle, adding it to the 42:15 in the win over the Jets and the 34:33 in the loss to the Cardinals. They only had the ball for 26:23 in the season opening win over the Giants, but that game was over in the second quarter.

QUICK HITS …

Cowboys tight end Jake Ferguson had the best day of his NFL career, catching all seven targets for 77 yards. His five catches in last week’s loss and his 57 yards in last year’s 28-20 win over the Giants on Thanksgiving Day were his best days before Sunday. … New England head coach Bill Belichick faced the biggest halftime deficit of his coaching career, trailing the Cowboys by 25 points at intermission. … Cowboys kicker Brandon Aubrey continued his hot streak, making all four of his kicks – three field goals (23, 23, 33) and two extra points. … Punter Bryan Anger got in on the action, throwing a perfect called pass to Chauncey Golston for a two-point conversion in the first half. … Hunter Luepke scored the first touchdown of his career on a 3-yard run in the fourth quarter. He is the second running back to score a TD for Dallas this season. … The 35-point loss is the largest of Bill Belichick’s head coaching career.