Dallas Cowboys: They had to overcome a ton, but eventually get to 5-1

The Dallas Cowboys came into Sunday’s game against New England knowing that it would be a dog fight… or at least, they should have. Regardless of if Tom Brady is there any more or not, as long as Bill Belichick is the man in charge, with Gillette Stadium to play host, and now with Mac Jones coming around nicely, it was sure to be a tough test.

It was, as the Patriots came out and scored two early touchdowns to go up 14-7 in the first quarter. That was the last of it that was of the Patriots doing though, as the Cowboys were able to hold them to that same 14 points until the fourth quarter, while also holding themselves to a low scoring effort for two periods as well.

Plain and simple, they have to be better in the red area. They got down there several times and should have been up by several touchdowns, never needing the game to go to overtime, but they were unable to punch those opportunities in.

In order to win a Super Bowl, their ultimate peak and potential, they’ll have to clean that up. The game eventually came down to an overtime scenario, that was closed with a wide-open CeeDee Lamb touchdown pass.

It was set up by a magnificent pick-six by Trevon Diggs, continuing to add to his Prime Time-like run, though it was also Diggs who allowed the Patriots to go back up.

Dallas Cowboys have things to clean up, but this was a good tough win

On the 75 yard Kendrick Bourne touchdown, Diggs was burnt because of his aggression while at the same time, the safety took a bad angle but probably should have been playing back anyway to prevent the mega play.

That was on both of them. Again, the Cowboys found a way to win the game though and that’s all that really matters, but there are a few things to mention.

Dak Prescott is continuing to silence all doubters and critics. You can’t look at the way he has played and not think elite. 

Secondly, it, perhaps, shouldn’t have been this close in the finish anyway. On the one red zone attempt that saw two Dak runs to cross the goal line, the first one on third down was a touchdown and it was clear based on the camera angles, lines on the field, and sheer physical makeup of the human body.

Coach McCarthy continues to boggle the mind at times. While the decision-making wasn’t terrible on Sunday, you do question not going for it on fourth in the opponent’s territory, when you had gone for it in your own already.

That’s double when you consider the fact that Zuerlein has been shaky and went on to miss. This isn’t hindsight, as with how the rest of the game had been called and had gone, you go for it there too… right?

Again, it all worked out, so all’s well that ends well there but it’s still something to etch down. Lastly and though you hate that they made this game harder than it had to be, you are encouraged by the fact that they can come out on the other side of a game like this victorious.

Too often in the past, the Cowboys lose these kinds of games. For a long time, they had seemed like the team-embodiment of Murphy’s Law, but after the win over the Patriots in New England though, they might be starting to flip that narrative.