Patriots eye big road test in Dallas

The remaining time the Patriots noticed Dak Prescott he was once strolling off the Gillette Stadium box in 2021 having thrown for 445 yards and 3 touchdowns in a 35-29 walk-off extra time win. That was once essentially the most yards ever allowed by way of a Bill Belichick Patriots protection and whilst the Cowboys are not fairly the similar offense from two years in the past, Prescott must have a number of self belief that he can transfer the ball. Last week in opposition to the Cardinals, Prescott’s numbers have been way more pedestrian, 25-of-40, 249 passing yards with a landing and the primary interception of the season for the Dallas QB. The Cowboys moved the ball however went 1-of-5 in the purple zone as they stumbled within the 20. Those struggles were feature of Dallas’ get started, as they arrive in twenty seventh general in purple zone offense. New England should have the ability to be sure that despite the fact that they bend, they do not ruin and make allowance touchdowns.

Don’t glance now however the Patriots would possibly have some offensive line continuity this week for the primary time all yr. Trent Brown, contemporary off a freelance tweak, performed an impressive recreation as PFF’s highest-rated take on in the NFL with over 100 snaps performed. That was once a pleasant spice up, in conjunction with David Andrews’ robust efficiency, giving the Patriots two items to construct round as the remainder of the unit will get wholesome and stacks revel in in combination as a result of they are in for every other difficult problem this week.

The O-line has already noticed a number of difficult demanding situations via 3 video games, however Micah Parsons will supply a completely new form of test, because the explosive linebacker is a recreation wrecker with 4 sacks and a team-leading 9 stops. Osa Odighizuwa is not a ways at the back of with 3 sacks of this personal, whilst Demarcus Lawrence is moment at the group with 11 general pressures. The Pats passing recreation has been sporadic via 3 weeks and it positive may not be simple to take a big step ahead this week in Big D.

Another standout from the 2021 recreation in Foxborough, Lamb picked up the game-winning extra time landing in that one, posting 149 yards and two touchdowns, nonetheless the second-highest output of his occupation. Lamb is definitely the #1 goal now with 19 catches for 273 yards however remains to be in search of his first landing in conjunction with the remainder of the broad receiver crew. Dallas has but to get one in all their wideouts a landing this season, however it kind of feels like just a topic of time till Lamb breaks via.

“CeeDee’s one of those guys that can line up everywhere, you could put him in the slot, you could put him outside, you could put him on the backside of three by one formations at the number three, two or one spot,” mentioned Jerod Mayo this week. “So that flexibility definitely is a challenge. And I would say he does a good job just going to get the ball, attacking the ball in the air. And honestly, I would say one difference with him is they’ll run the ball to his side, so he must be a tough guy or that’s kind of how they see him.”

Lamb must see a number of rookie Christian Gonzalez, who has confronted a gauntlet of most sensible receiving threats already and greater than held his personal.

You do not want to be a soccer professional to look what an affect Micah Parsons makes for the Dallas protection. With 4 sacks and a whopping 20 QB pressures via 3 video games, Parsons is arguably the league’s maximum disruptive defender and person who will test the Patriots offensive line from a number of spots.

“You know, right away when you start watching the Dallas Cowboys, they have a lot of really good players and Micah Parson is, I would say one of the top five players in this league, regardless of position,” mentioned Patriots offensive coordinator Bill O’Brien. “I mean, he’s a great football player. Dan Quinn does a good job of using him in a lot of different areas and it just jumps out to you on film. So you have to do a great job of understanding what they’re trying to do with him where he is. But at the end of the day, there’s gonna be some battles that you’re gonna have to fight one-on-one. You can’t always double him. You can’t always run away from him because they do a lot of different things with him. So we have to be aware of him on every single play.”

Preventing Parsons from ruining the sport plan by way of forcing errors is likely one of the recreation’s greatest issues of emphasis. The Patriots have been turnover-free remaining week in opposition to the Jets and it helped them squeak out a win. They cannot let Parsons pressure a regression, he is the one participant in the league to pressure 10-plus turnovers from drive since 2021. As a group, the Cowboys have the best drive charge in the NFL in keeping with PFF.

Bill Belichick famous in his post-win press convention remaining week that 15 issues may not be sufficient maximum weeks, as for a moment week in a row the Patriots noticed a dip in their scoring output. They’ll glance to opposite the craze this week as New England recently ranks twenty sixth in the league in issues scored via 3 video games. With Dallas’ purple zone struggles, a big key to the sport shall be hanging up touchdowns and now not box objectives. The Pats were a lot progressed in the purple zone themselves, score 7th in the league, alternatively, they didn’t even achieve the purple zone in opposition to the Jets remaining week.

Generating extra big performs is part of the equation, as Pharoah Brown’s landing was once a lone play to head longer than 20 yards remaining week. Receivers trainer Ross Douglas was once assured this week that the explosives can be coming.

“It’s definitely a work in progress, but Mac’s capable of throwing ’em, we’re capable of running the rocks and we’re capable of catching ’em,” mentioned Douglas. “So we just gotta continue to work ’em and practice every single day. But I feel pretty good about the direction that it’s heading.”

“Every game’s different. I think, like I said, I kind of finished talking about last week, but it just depends on the circumstance, the defense, all those things,” mentioned Mac this week of the issues general. “Definitely want to score more points, and the best way to do it is to think about your job and your assignment, try not to look at the scoreboard. Really, when you execute well, you score, and when you don’t, you don’t. It’s kind of a simple equation, we’ve just got to do better.”