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By Jon Machota Nov 24, 2019
FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — Jerry Jones has voiced frustration before but nothing like what he said Sunday night. The Cowboys owner and general manager is not pleased with the way his team is being coached. He didn’t specifically say Jason Garrett’s name, or that of any other member of the staff. But it was clear after a 13-9 loss to the defending Super Bowl champion New England Patriots that Jones expects more, and he doesn’t think the talent on the roster is the problem.
“We still got a long way to go,” Jones said, “but with the makeup of this team, I shouldn’t be this frustrated.”
Jones described Dallas’ fifth loss in 11 games as a “significant setback.” What appeared to bother him most was poor special teams play, which has been an issue all season. No mistake was bigger than the blocked punt near the end of the first quarter which set up New England’s first score, the game’s only touchdown.
Patriots head coach Bill Belichick called the block “probably the difference in the game.”
“To me, special teams is 100 percent coaching,” Jones said. “It’s 100 percent coaching. It’s strategy. It’s having players ready. Special teams is nothing but coaching. Special teams is effort. Special teams is savvy. Special teams is thinking.”
He added: “It’s frustrating just to be reminded that some of the fundamentals of football and coaching were what beat us out there today.”
Jones spoke with reporters for roughly 15 minutes, and the frustration was particularly interesting because he didn’t show anything close to it after the team’s biggest disaster this season, a Week 6 loss to the 0-4 New York Jets. So why be so upset about falling to arguably the NFL’s best team, with arguably the game’s greatest coach and greatest player?
“When you come into New England on a day like today, against this team, and this era, you need to win this to establish what you’re about for a season,” Jones said. “You dealt yourself a pretty narrow window to come out of here smiling.”
However you want to interpret Jones’ strong comments, it’s fair to say Garrett isn’t in a good spot with five games remaining. The Cowboys have a one-game lead over Philadelphia in the division, but the Eagles have a much easier schedule the rest of the way. Dallas not only needs to win the NFC East, but it has to make a playoff run for Garrett, who is in the final year of his contract, to get a new deal.
“Obviously, this is a really good football team,” Garrett said of the Patriots. “I think they have won 20 games in a row in this building. And their history of success is well documented. So we knew it was going to be a great challenge today, and unfortunately we came up short.”
To give you some perspective from the other side, I went to the Patriots locker room to get their thoughts on a Cowboys team that most of the roster had never faced before.
Bill Belichick saw things a little differently than Jerry Jones. Well, at least according to what he said after the game.
“That’s a real good football team we played,” Belichick said. “The Cowboys, they’re tough. They’re tough in every way, and they’ve got a lot of good players. They’re well-coached, a smart situation team.”
Patriots wide receiver Julian Edelman led all players with 93 yards on eight receptions. He said one of the keys to beating Dallas is getting an early lead, which is exactly what the Patriots did. New England led 7-0 after one quarter and 10-6 at halftime. Under Belichick, the Patriots are now 99-1 at Gillette Stadium when leading at halftime.
“They were getting after it with the pass rush,” Edelman said. “They got guys that can cover pretty good. We weren’t executing to the best of our ability. But they’re a really good football team. This is a new team that you haven’t seen. It’s a new team you rarely play. They got good football players. And they got good coaches. You can’t just come in and slop it out against a team like that.”
Edelman also had an interesting answer when asked if the six-time Super Bowl champion Patriots should be known as America’s Team.
“I don’t know, we’re the Patriots,” he said. “Plymouth Rock is 30 miles from here. That’s where they first came. I know everyone may not love us, but our colors are red, white and blue.”
New England safety Duron Harmon said he thinks the Cowboys have an “exceptional” team.
“We knew Ezekiel Elliott, one of the best running backs in the game, was going to get yards,” he said. “They have a great offensive line. But we just couldn’t let them score. Them not scoring and being good on third down, that allowed us to get a win.”
The Cowboys entered the game as the NFL’s No. 1 third-down offense, converting 52 percent of the time. The Patriots came in as the league’s top third-down defense, stopping teams 19 percent of the time.
Dallas was 2 of 13 on third down Sunday.
Another key aspect of the game was elite cover corner Stephon Gilmore shadowing Dallas’ No. 1 receiver Amari Cooper, who finished without a catch on two targets. It was the first time Cooper was held without a catch since his final game with the Oakland Raiders, which he exited early in the second quarter with a concussion. Gilmore also undercut a Cooper crossing route to come up with the game’s only interception.
Did Gilmore think he would be able to shut down Cooper?
“Yeah,” he said. “Because I believe in myself. I put the work in every day and I know what I can do. … He’s good. Good player. Quick. He’s one of the best receivers in the league. But I’m confident in myself. He’s a tough guy to cover, but I believe in my technique and I believe in myself.”
In most games, holding Tom Brady to 190 passing yards and one touchdown would be enough for a win. But the Cowboys’ top-ranked passing offense, which came in averaging 312 yards and two touchdowns per game, managed only 212 yards and no touchdowns.
Couple that with several poor special teams plays plus no turnovers on defense, and it’s unlikely any team is ending what is now an 18-game regular-season winning streak at home for the Patriots.
“They have a great defense,” said New England running back Sony Michel, who finished with 85 yards on 20 carries. “They played hard tonight. They run to the ball pretty well. Our guys just took pride in their job and just tried to play a physical game.
“You knew it was going to be a tough game. They have a good front, and they were going to pose a challenge for us. We just had to stand up to that challenge.”
The Cowboys did not lose because of insufficient talent. The players know it, and the team’s owner sent a clear message. Now we wait to find out what Jason Garrett and his staff have up their sleeves. Their jobs may depend on it.
FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — Jerry Jones has voiced frustration before but nothing like what he said Sunday night. The Cowboys owner and general manager is not pleased with the way his team is being coached. He didn’t specifically say Jason Garrett’s name, or that of any other member of the staff. But it was clear after a 13-9 loss to the defending Super Bowl champion New England Patriots that Jones expects more, and he doesn’t think the talent on the roster is the problem.
“We still got a long way to go,” Jones said, “but with the makeup of this team, I shouldn’t be this frustrated.”
Jones described Dallas’ fifth loss in 11 games as a “significant setback.” What appeared to bother him most was poor special teams play, which has been an issue all season. No mistake was bigger than the blocked punt near the end of the first quarter which set up New England’s first score, the game’s only touchdown.
Patriots head coach Bill Belichick called the block “probably the difference in the game.”
“To me, special teams is 100 percent coaching,” Jones said. “It’s 100 percent coaching. It’s strategy. It’s having players ready. Special teams is nothing but coaching. Special teams is effort. Special teams is savvy. Special teams is thinking.”
He added: “It’s frustrating just to be reminded that some of the fundamentals of football and coaching were what beat us out there today.”
Jones spoke with reporters for roughly 15 minutes, and the frustration was particularly interesting because he didn’t show anything close to it after the team’s biggest disaster this season, a Week 6 loss to the 0-4 New York Jets. So why be so upset about falling to arguably the NFL’s best team, with arguably the game’s greatest coach and greatest player?
“When you come into New England on a day like today, against this team, and this era, you need to win this to establish what you’re about for a season,” Jones said. “You dealt yourself a pretty narrow window to come out of here smiling.”
However you want to interpret Jones’ strong comments, it’s fair to say Garrett isn’t in a good spot with five games remaining. The Cowboys have a one-game lead over Philadelphia in the division, but the Eagles have a much easier schedule the rest of the way. Dallas not only needs to win the NFC East, but it has to make a playoff run for Garrett, who is in the final year of his contract, to get a new deal.
“Obviously, this is a really good football team,” Garrett said of the Patriots. “I think they have won 20 games in a row in this building. And their history of success is well documented. So we knew it was going to be a great challenge today, and unfortunately we came up short.”
To give you some perspective from the other side, I went to the Patriots locker room to get their thoughts on a Cowboys team that most of the roster had never faced before.
Bill Belichick saw things a little differently than Jerry Jones. Well, at least according to what he said after the game.
“That’s a real good football team we played,” Belichick said. “The Cowboys, they’re tough. They’re tough in every way, and they’ve got a lot of good players. They’re well-coached, a smart situation team.”
Patriots wide receiver Julian Edelman led all players with 93 yards on eight receptions. He said one of the keys to beating Dallas is getting an early lead, which is exactly what the Patriots did. New England led 7-0 after one quarter and 10-6 at halftime. Under Belichick, the Patriots are now 99-1 at Gillette Stadium when leading at halftime.
“They were getting after it with the pass rush,” Edelman said. “They got guys that can cover pretty good. We weren’t executing to the best of our ability. But they’re a really good football team. This is a new team that you haven’t seen. It’s a new team you rarely play. They got good football players. And they got good coaches. You can’t just come in and slop it out against a team like that.”
Edelman also had an interesting answer when asked if the six-time Super Bowl champion Patriots should be known as America’s Team.
“I don’t know, we’re the Patriots,” he said. “Plymouth Rock is 30 miles from here. That’s where they first came. I know everyone may not love us, but our colors are red, white and blue.”
New England safety Duron Harmon said he thinks the Cowboys have an “exceptional” team.
“We knew Ezekiel Elliott, one of the best running backs in the game, was going to get yards,” he said. “They have a great offensive line. But we just couldn’t let them score. Them not scoring and being good on third down, that allowed us to get a win.”
The Cowboys entered the game as the NFL’s No. 1 third-down offense, converting 52 percent of the time. The Patriots came in as the league’s top third-down defense, stopping teams 19 percent of the time.
Dallas was 2 of 13 on third down Sunday.
Another key aspect of the game was elite cover corner Stephon Gilmore shadowing Dallas’ No. 1 receiver Amari Cooper, who finished without a catch on two targets. It was the first time Cooper was held without a catch since his final game with the Oakland Raiders, which he exited early in the second quarter with a concussion. Gilmore also undercut a Cooper crossing route to come up with the game’s only interception.
Did Gilmore think he would be able to shut down Cooper?
“Yeah,” he said. “Because I believe in myself. I put the work in every day and I know what I can do. … He’s good. Good player. Quick. He’s one of the best receivers in the league. But I’m confident in myself. He’s a tough guy to cover, but I believe in my technique and I believe in myself.”
In most games, holding Tom Brady to 190 passing yards and one touchdown would be enough for a win. But the Cowboys’ top-ranked passing offense, which came in averaging 312 yards and two touchdowns per game, managed only 212 yards and no touchdowns.
Couple that with several poor special teams plays plus no turnovers on defense, and it’s unlikely any team is ending what is now an 18-game regular-season winning streak at home for the Patriots.
“They have a great defense,” said New England running back Sony Michel, who finished with 85 yards on 20 carries. “They played hard tonight. They run to the ball pretty well. Our guys just took pride in their job and just tried to play a physical game.
“You knew it was going to be a tough game. They have a good front, and they were going to pose a challenge for us. We just had to stand up to that challenge.”
The Cowboys did not lose because of insufficient talent. The players know it, and the team’s owner sent a clear message. Now we wait to find out what Jason Garrett and his staff have up their sleeves. Their jobs may depend on it.
