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The Result
The New England Patriots went into Dallas and earned their first victory in five tries at Texas Stadium, 48-27 in a hard fought battle of two unbeaten teams. Tom Brady threw five TD passes, two to Wes Welker and one each to Kyle Brady, Randy Moss and Donte` Stallworth, Kyle Eckel added a rushing TD and Stephen Gostkowski kicked a pair of field goals.
The Patriots showed what makes them a great team, when they were trailing by 4 points in the 3rd quarter they outscored the Cowboys 27-3 in the last 20 minutes to get the convincing win.
Dallas did put up a good fight, Tony Romo completed some nice passes, their two running backs Marion Barber and Julius Jones got some good runs but in the end it was penalties and some poor decisions that did them in. Maybe they should have gone with Orville Redenbacher instead of the Jiffy Pop.
Scoring Plays
- New England 14Â Â 7 10 17 – 48
- Dallas            0 17 7  3 – 27
1st Quarter
- NE – Brady 6 yard TD pass to Moss – kick good – 7-0 Patriots
- NE – Brady 35 yard TD pass to Welker – kick good – 14-0 Patriots
2nd Quarter
- DAL – Folk 38 yard FG – 14-3 Patriots
- DAL – Hatcher 29 yard fumble return – kick good – 14-10 Patriots
- NE – Brady 12 yard TD pass to Welker – kick good – 21-10 Patriots
- DAL – Romo 12 yard TD pass to Owens – kick good – 21-17 Patriots
3rd Quarter
- DAL – Romo 8 yard to pass to Crayton – kick good – 24-21 Cowboys
- NE – Brady 1 yard TD pass to Brady – kick good – 28-24 Patriots
- NE – Gostkowski 45 yard FG – 31-24 Patriots
4th Quarter
- NE – Brady 69 yard TD pass to Stallworth – kick good – 38-24 Patriots
- DAL – Folk 23 yard FG – 38-27 Patriots
- NE – Gostkowski 22 yard FG – 41-27 Patriots
- NE – Eckel 1 yard TD run – kick good – 48-27 Patriots
Offensive Player of the Game
Wes Welker 11 catches for 124 yards and 2 touchdowns.
Defensive Player of the Game
Cowboys DeMarcus Ware had 10 tackles and a sack and was constantly reeking havoc on the Patriots offense.
Turning Point(s) of the Game
Dallas head coach Wade Phillips elects to kick a FG on fourth and goal trailing by 14 in the 4th quarter, then the Patriots have a 6 minute drive that leads to a FG and they get back to the 14 point lead.
Junior Seau picks off Tony Romo with 3:50 left in game to seal the win.
Offensive Leaders/Notes
In addition to Welker fellow receiver Donte` Stallworth had 7 grabs for 136 yards and one very long 69 yard TD. Tom Brady had just another day at the office as he was 31 of 46 for 388 yards, 5 TD passes and one lost fumble. Â
First Patriots play from scrimmage they went for it on a fake reverse with a bomb to Moss but he was overthrown. In the second quarter they tried a flea flicker for a long pass attempt to Moss but he was over thrown again.
When Tom Brady got sacked by DeMarcus Ware in the first quarter it was the first time he was sacked since Week 2.
On 3rd and six they go 29 yards to Ben Watson on 3rd drive of 1st quarter.
Brady fumbled on a sack by Greg Ellis and Jason Hatcher returned it for a TD.
Brady throws a 19-yard screen to Faulk on 3rd and 9 to put Patriots into Dallas territory on their third TD drive which led to a Kyle Brady TD catch.
Great throw by Brady to Moss for a possible TD that was overturned on replay. Patriots ended up settling for a FG.
Brady goes 69 yards to Donte` Stallworth, he flattens Jacque Reeves and takes it to the house.
Moss got called for pass interference for a push off on a TD pass.
Patriots stopped in the red zone with four minutes left and had to kick a FG.
The Patriots killed the Cowboys on third down conversions. They were 11 for 17 on third down and 2 for 2 on 4th down.
Defensive Leaders/Notes
Tedy Bruschi made 6 stops and Ellis Hobbs added 5 tackles.  Junior Seau had an interception, his third in two weeks, to seal the win.
Patriots made the Cowboys go 3 and out their first three possessions of the game.
Safety Rodney Harrison sacked Tony Romo at the Dallas 7 on 3rd and 11 to end the Cowboys second drive on the game.
Cowboys got a first down with 30 seconds left in the 1st quarter. It was their first of the game.
Patriots were able to keep Dallas out of the red zone and Cowboys settled for a FG in 2nd quarter.
The Pats gave up three good size pass plays to Jason Witten of 9, 25 and 12 yards out of the two-minute warning prior to half time.
Pats came with an all out blitz after the call reversal of Terrell Owens catch and Romo hit Owens for a TD as two Patriots defenders ran into each other.
Cowboys RB and Notre Dame alum Julius Jones had two big third quarter runs and he ran over a Patriots defender both times.
The defense did a poor job tackling Marion Barber when they had him pinned in the end zone. He ended up gaining two yards but almost the entire defense had a shot at him and several had a chance to wrap him up for a safety.
Cowboys go 3 and out after Patriots take the lead in 3rd quarter.
Big hit by Harrison and Eugene Wilson on Owens to keep Cowboys short of a first down as third quarter ended.
Patriots dodge a 4th down bullet when a holding penalty brings back a Cowboy first down and forces them to punt.
Ty Warren sacked Romo on 1st and goal in 4th quarter.
Junior Seau intercepted a Romo pass with less than 4 minutes left after Patriots went up by 14 points.
Special Teams Leaders/Notes
Stephen Gostkowski was 6/6 on extra points, 2/2 on FGA’s and had 7 exceptional kickoffs in 9 tries.
Patriots kicked off to Dallas nine times and only two were returned beyond the 20-yard line.Â
A block in the back penalty on the kick off return after Cowboys scored in 3rd quarter set the Patriots back a bit.
Wes Welker got 17 yards on a punt return in the 3rd quarter when he was pinned by putting his head down and gutting it out.
Poor kick off coverage after the 4th quarter Stallworth TD only Rodney Harrison saved a TD with some all out hustle on a 72 yard return.
Coaching Decisions
Stopped short on 3rd and one Patriots go for it on 4th and inches. Brady sneaks for the 1st down.
Dallas head coach Wade Phillips challenged the Moss TD catch late in the 3rd quarter – call over turned no TD.
Dallas goes for it on 4th and 1 and makes it. But it comes back on a holding penalty at end of third quarter.
Dallas decides to kick a FG on 4th and goal at the five trailing by 14 points with 10 minutes left.
Injuries
- NE – Ben Watson turned ankle, walked off field did not return – 2nd quarter
- NE – Sammy Morris, helped to sideline with chest injury did not return- 3rd quarter
- DAL – DeMarcus Ware unknown injury walked off field, returned – 4th quarter
The Officials
Today’s referee was Mike Carey, he is in his 18th season as an official.
Two poor spots on the ball on back-to-back plays kept Patriots short of a 1st down. One on a Welker sideline catch then on a Morris second effort run on the next play.
Terrell Owens first down catch inside the 5 in the last minute of the first half was overturned on an official’s review. Instead of first and goal at the 3, it was 3rd and 5 at the 12.
Very bad call on the Dallas pass interference call near the goal line.
Game Notes
Patriots RB Laurence Maroney was inactive for the game due to a groin injury for the third week in a row.
This was career regular season start 100 for Tom Brady he is now 76-24. That ties him with Roger Staubach and Ken Stabler for the most wins in a quarterback’s first 100 games in NFL history. Counting the playoffs this was consecutive start #114 for the GQ model.
Patriots have now scored on their first drive in all 6 games this year (4 TD’s, 2 FG’s).
Terrell Owens now has 5 drops on the season.
The Harrison sack of Romo was the first one in his last 84 pass attempts.
First two Patriots TD’s were on 3rd down.
Actress Kate Hudson was in the luxury suite of Patriots owner Robert Kraft.
Former Patriots QB Vinnie Testaverde started today for Carolina.
Tom Brady became the first NFL QB to have 3 or more TD passes in his first 6 games. He also has more TD passes through the first six games of a season (21) than anyone in NFL history.Â
The 69-yard TD pass from Brady to Stallworth was the longest Patriots offensive play of the year.
Kyle Brady’s TD catch was his first in two years.
With Stallworth’s TD catch in the fourth quarter the Patriots have scored in every quarter this year except one.
Wes Welker had his first career 100 yard receiving game.
The Patriots have scored at least 34 points in all six games so far this year. The 48 points scored today is a season high.
Former Naval Academy running back Kyle Eckel got his first NFL touchdown at the end of the game.
Post Game Press Conferences
For the post game comments of Patriots head coach Bill Belichick and quarterback Tom Brady.
Press conferences are via Patriots.com
Things To Work On For Next Week
Secondary was soft on pass coverage, tackling in the open field, run defense.
Next Week’s Opponent
The Patriots face their AFC East rival the Miami Dolphins at Dolphins Stadium in Miami, FL at 1 p.m. The game will be televised regionally by CBS and carried along the Patriots Rock Radio Network.
Rest of the AFC East Results
- Cleveland beat Miami, 41-31
- Philadelphia dropped the NY Jets, 16-9
Other AFC Games of Note
- Baltimore beat St. Louis, 22-3
- San Diego doubled up Oakland, 28-14
- Jacksonville whipped Houston, 37-17
