Cowboys vs Patriots: 5 quick hits from Week 6

What. A. Game. It was not easy, but the Dallas Cowboys found a way to defeat the New England Patriots 35-29 in overtime. There were plenty of mistakes that took place for the Cowboys that almost cost them the game.

However, when it came time to carry the team on his back, quarterback Dak Prescott ensured his squad left Gillette Stadium with a win before the bye week. Here are five quick hits from the Cowboy’s Week 6 matchup against the New England Patriots.

Dallas Cowboys: 5. Laundry all over the field

Like I said at the top, there were mistakes made by the Dallas offense, defense, and special teams that should have cost them this game. It is not good to start the game with a penalty on the opening kick for illegal blocking formation. From there, Dallas struggled to play clean football.

The Cowboys had a combined 12 penalties for 115 yards yesterday. Going into the game, they were the sixth most penalized team in football. It was not just the quantity of penalties that were the problem, but when they happened in the game.

The tweet above speaks volumes. Considering how much Dallas struggled in the first half, those 81 lost yards would have helped. The flags on guard Connor Williams in the fourth quarter were unacceptable, especially as Prescott is trying to get them in field goal range.

The worst penalty of the night might be the one that was not called. When it was third down in overtime, and the Patriots had the ball, quarterback Mac Jones threw a pass down the sideline for wide receiver Nelson Agholor. Cornerback Anthony Brown was in coverage, and the ball sailed out of bounds.

If you go back and watch the replay in slow-motion, the referees missed a hands-to-the-face call which would have given the Pats a new set of downs. I’m not sure what Head Coach Mike McCarthy will ask of his team during the bye week, but he should send them home with the NFL rulebook and study up on how to play cleaner football.