What to Watch For: Cowboys vs Patriots

Tom Brady

Could Father Time be finally catching Patriots quarterback Tom Brady?

About Brady, former NFL player and scout Bucky Brooks writes on NFL.com:

“He might walk into the ring like Mike Tyson preparing to knock out Michael Spinks, but he's really "Iron Mike" facing Lennox Lewis at the end of his career. The swagger and intimidation factor remains, but the game is no longer there -- and it is only a matter of time before opponents realize the bite isn't nearly as ferocious as the bark.”

Deep Dive on Brady

Since week four, Brady is completing just 62.2 percent of his passes with seven touchdowns and five interceptions.

He has a passer rating of 80.6, which ranks 26th in the league among 32 quarterbacks with 100-plus pass attempts.

As GoLocalProv pointed out in last week’s preview, against the blitz, Brady is completing just 52.4 percent of passes with a 76.6 passer rating.

In the past two games, Brady has averaged just 5.4 yards per pass attempt.

Last week against the Eagles, the Patriots only touchdown came on a pass from Julian Edelman.

It was the third time this season that Brady did not throw a touchdown pass, and the second time this season that New England did not score 20 points.

To be fair, Edelman did drop a ball in the end zone that was right in his hands.

Following the game, Brady looked absolutely miserable during his one minute and 56-second press conference, despite the team being 9-1.

Though he changed his demeanor during his midweek press conference:

“Like I said, after the game we have a great defense, we have to understand as an offense, our special teams are playing well. Us doing what we have to do on our side of the ball, like at the end of the last game getting off the goal line was really important for our team. And if we don’t do a good job of that, we kick the ball from the 5-yard line, it gives them a great opportunity,” Brady said on Wednesday.

There is no question that Patriots offense, in general, has not been very good this season, the line has struggled, they can’t run the ball and the receivers have been inconsistent.

However, throughout his career, Brady has almost always been able to overcome those issues, look at 2006 for example.

Now at 42 years old, it appears that is no longer the case.

Patriots Defense

Sunday’s matchup features the best offense in the league against the best defense in the league, according to the rankings.

The Cowboys offense, led by Dak Prescott and Ezekiel Elliot, ranks first in the league in yards, third in the league in touchdowns, first in net yards per attempt and second in third-down conversion percentage.

They have also allowed the fewest amount of sacks of any team.

“They’ve got to be the best short-yardage team in the league, too. That’s a problem. And they rip off some big plays in short-yardage, too. It’s not like it’s third-and-1 and they gain two yards. They’ve had some – they had a couple 40-yarders in there, too. Short yards is a problem, long yards is a problem, they’re the best long-yardage team in the league. Third-and-10, they don’t really care. They pick that up, third-and-5. I mean, they’re over 50 percent on third down,” said Patriots head coach Bill Belichick during his press conference on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, the Patriots rank second in the league in yards allowed, first in touchdowns allowed, first in net yards allowed per attempt, first in third-down conversion percentage and have the third-most sacks in the league.

“We talk about defensively, just try to make teams have long drives, and if they have a long drive – we’ve given up some long drives – good job by them. If they get into the red area, try to make them kick three. But, it’s forcing teams to do that every time you take the field, to always be able to execute for a 10, 12 play drive,” said Patriots safety Devin McCourty during his press conference on Thursday.

However, this is by far the best offense the Patriots have seen this season.

Prescott has completed 67.7% of his passes, has been sacked 12 times and averages nearly nine yards per pass attempt. He is currently on pace for 5,000 yards passing this season.

The Cowboys receiving corps is led by Amari Cooper, who has hauled in 56 passes for 886 yards and seven touchdowns.

He will likely see a lot of Stephon Gilmore during the game.

Michael Galllup has caught 42 passes for 678 yards and three touchdowns, while tight end Jason Witten has hauled in 41 passes for 371 yards and two touchdowns in his return to the NFL from retirement.

Elliott has just 36 carries for 96 yards over the last two games, but he is also a threat in the passing game, catching 28 balls for 220 yards and a touchdown.

“I think you have a guy like Dak Prescott that can really move the ball around, and does a great job of kind of taking care of the ball and reading defenses. And that’s not to mention, you have Randall Cobb and Amari Cooper, [Michael] Gallup, [Jason] Witten’s up in all the all-time records. So, they have a lot of threats out there, and I think he does a great job of you can’t really key on one guy,” McCourty added.

PHOTO: Patriots media website

Offensive Line

The Patriots offensive line should get a boost on Sunday with the return of left tackle Isaiah Wynn.

Patriots activated Wynn to the 53-man roster earlier this week after he was placed on injured reserve with a foot injury following the Patriots week two win over the Dolphins.

The Patriots picked Wynn number 23 overall in the 2018 NFL Draft.

However, he has seen limited action due to injuries over his two seasons in the NFL.

In his rookie season, Wynn tore his Achilles in a preseason game and missed the remainder of the year.

This season, he started the Patriots first two games before suffering a foot injury that saw him sent to injured reserve.

According to Pro Football Focus, Wynn played 82 regular season snaps before going to IR.

He gave up one quarterback hit on 45 pass-blocking snaps.

PHOTO: Patriots media website

White & Burkhead

As of Saturday, Mohamed Sanu and Phillip Dorsett are both listed as questionable due to injuries.

That means, the Patriots wide receiver group could be down to Julian Edelman, N’Keal Harry, and Jakobi Meyers.

The Cowboys defense has proven to be very fast, both off the line of scrimmage, and in the secondary, racking up 26 sacks and holding opponents to just 216 yards pass per game so far this season.

“I think they’re top of the league basically in all of the major statistical categories. So, very good at all levels. They’ve got a great team so it’s a big, big challenge for us and we’re going to have to play a really great complementary game and try to beat a very good football team,” said Patriots quarterback Tom Brady during his press conference on Wednesday.

One way for the Patriots to counter the Cowboys defensive attack is the screen pass game, meaning James White and Rex Burkhead will be big factors.

White has 48 catches for 420 yards on 62 targets on the season and one touchdown. He picks up an average of 8.8 yards per game on 5.3 catches per game.

Burkhead has only played seven games this season due to injury, but has 18 catches on 24 targets for 176 yards.

He averages 9.8 yards per reception.

PHOTO: Jeffrey Beall/Wikipedia

Michael Bennett

Old friend Michael Bennett will make his return to Gillette Stadium to face the Patriots on Sunday.

Bennett signed with the Patriots in the offseason, but then was traded in October following a team suspension for arguing with a position coach.

New England received a seventh-round pick for Bennett. 

During his time with the Patriots, Bennett saw his defensive snaps go from 55% in week one to 22% in week six against the Giants.

However, that trend has not continued with the Cowboys, in fact, Bennett has been a pretty big part of the Cowboys defensive line.

“I’d say he plays mostly on sub-three technique, pass-rush situations,” said Belichick on Wednesday when asked about Bennett.

In three games with Dallas, Bennett has played 59%, 59% and 69% of snaps respectively.

He has three sacks, and seven total tackles.

PHOTO: Jeffrey Beal/Wikipedia