Davison: Rolando McClain makes immediate impact in return to Cowboys

Cotton

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Rolando McClain makes immediate impact in return to Cowboys

BY DREW DAVISON
ddavison@star-telegram.com

It didn’t take linebacker Rolando McClain long to make his presence felt.

On the Patriots’ fourth offensive play, a third-and-10 from the Dallas 32, McClain wrapped up Tom Brady for a 9-yard sack.

McClain found himself around the ball most of the day, tying for the team-high with eight tackles. He also had two tackles for loss and a quarterback hit.

But none of that mattered for McClain, who returned from a four-game suspension for violating the league’s substance abuse policy.

“It really ain’t important,” said McClain, who played in 52 of 59 defensive snaps. “At the end of the day, we lost. We got some things to work on as a defense, as a team. Look forward to the challenge.

“They’re a great team, got to give them credit. They came out; they executed. But I think we did some good things as a defense. We got a week off to work on that, get freshened up, get some rest, come back and play again.”

With the return of McClain and defensive end Greg Hardy, the defense held the Patriots, which entered the game as the league’s top-rated offense, to 10 points and 132 total yards in the first half.

In the second half, though, the Patriots pulled away for a 30-6 victory.

Asked the difference between the first and second half, McClain said: “A pretty good offense. Hall of Fame coach, Hall of Fame quarterback, great bunch of skill guys. They adjusted and they made their plays. We’ve got to give them credit.”

McClain said he felt good physically for the most part, but had to receive intravenous fluids at halftime. He sat out only seven defensive plays, including a few early in the second half.

All in all, though, McClain had no complaints about his return.

“I actually felt good,” he said. “Looking forward to play in the game. But I’m looking forward to the bye week because we got stuff that we got to improve on, and it gives us a chance to do that. Put this behind us, learn from it, watch the film and then go out and play better.”
 

Genghis Khan

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Both Hardy and McClain played very well and both responded after the game with "we lost."

Excellent.
 

DLK150

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For a couple of guys that came in relatively cold after prolonged absences from meaningful PT, they played their asses off. If the Fing offense could have sustained *anything at all*, maybe the Pats don't pile up the points in the second half. The offense did the defense no favors whatsoever and put them in tough spots field position wise throughout the game.
 

ravidubey

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These two were about the only positives we could take away from Sunday.
 

22cowboysfan22

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For a couple of guys that came in relatively cold after prolonged absences from meaningful PT, they played their asses off. If the Fing offense could have sustained *anything at all*, maybe the Pats don't pile up the points in the second half. The offense did the defense no favors whatsoever and put them in tough spots field position wise throughout the game.
Yeah, the 30 points given up by the defense are very misleading. Hard to keep the opposing offense from scoring when your own offense is going 3 and out every drive. Other than a few plays (the Edelman TD, the Lewis TD, maybe one or two more), they did very well against a Pats offense that is probably the best in the league right now.
 

ravidubey

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Yeah, the 30 points given up by the defense are very misleading. Hard to keep the opposing offense from scoring when your own offense is going 3 and out every drive. Other than a few plays (the Edelman TD, the Lewis TD, maybe one or two more), they did very well against a Pats offense that is probably the best in the league right now.
Had our offense shown up I believe they would have gotten multiple turnovers and additional sacks.

With the lead the Pats remained balanced and were able to keep pressure off of Brady.
 
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