Post Post-Game Analysis: New England 48, Dallas 27.

Now that I’ve had a couple of days to not think about the Cowboys’ loss to the Patriots, I’m back to give a little post, post, post-game analysis.

The 48-27 scoreline may well not do the game justice, as the Cowboys were in it until they took themselves out of it.

They could have very well taken themselves out of it early, as they got down 14-0 in the second quarter, but came back to pull within 21-17 at halftime, and even took a 24-21 lead in the third quarter.

But, the Patriots had a little bit more fight in them, and once they got back ahead, they didn’t let go of the lead, because while they limited the mistakes that they made, the Cowboys let mistakes spell the end of their chances. And, when you hand a team like the Patriots an inch, they go three miles, and once the machine got going, it rolled to a win that looks a lot easier than it was and should have been.

But, as disappointing as the loss was, both because it was a missed opportunity and because the unbeaten record is no more, it’s a learning experience more than anything.

And, hopefully, it’s enough of a learning experience that the Cowboys get back down to business and back up the ‘guarantees’ about seeing the Patriots again this season.

On to the real meat and potatoes of this entry - the analysis.

Offensive MVP: Offensive MVP: Julius Jones. If only he had gotten the ball more. He had some impressive, aggressive runs in the second half, and ran for 51 yards on eight carries. After struggling to really get going through the first several games, dealing with a few nicks, and with Marion Barber gradually getting the ball more, it wouldn’t be a surprise if Jones’ confidence was down. But, it looks like the fire is back, and hopefully he carries that with him for the rest of the season, because the offense needs both he and Barber to be productive to be the best that it can be.

Defensive MVP: Defensive MVP: Is anyone really deserving of it? There were a few nice individual performances, even though the 48 points allowed overshadows most of them. CB Nate Jones had his best game, registering eight tackles (six solo, two assist), one sack, and forcing a fumble. Demarcus Ware also had his third straight game with a sack, as he picked up 10 tackles (six solo, one assist), one sack, and one forced fumble. Greg Ellis had the other Cowboys’ sack, which caused the fumble that Jason Hatcher returned 29 yards for a pivotal score in the second quarter.

Offensive Analysis: The offense started slow, gaining -4 yards on its first three possessions. But, on the next three, they had their spurt, gaining 212 yards and putting 17 points up. But, after that, the last five possessions yielded 27 yards and only three points. Suffice it to say, but that’s not going to get it done when the Patriots are almost scoring at will.

Even despite the defense’s troubles with slowing the robots down, the offense had ample chances to keep Dallas in it until the end, but when you shoot yourself in the foot, you give yourself no chance before the other team does it.

The turning point of the game was after New England had gone up 31-24. Dallas had a 4th and 1 at their 47 at the start of the fourth quarter, and Marion Barber easily picked up the first down on a run into Pats’ territory. But, an extremely unnecessary holding penalty by Kyle Kosier negated the first down and forced Dallas to punt.

Just four plays later, Tom Brady effectively put the game away with touchdown pass #5, a bomb to Donte’ Stallworth that made it 38-24. The game still wasn’t over, with 12 minutes still on the clock, and a 72-yard kickoff return by Tyson Thompson put Dallas at the New England 23. But, that drive only netted a field goal, which really wasn’t enough at that point.

The run definitely could have been established more. When Dallas did run it, they got some pretty solid gains (97 yards on 15 attempts - 6.5 yard average). But, when you’ve got two good backs, you need to use them. It means you have the chance to wear down the opponent’s defense, take control of the game, and give your own defense a much-needed breather in a shootout.

Defensive Analysis: Defensive Analysis: They would have had a nice game, had Brady not thrown for nearly 388 yards and five touchdowns.

They did well to get pressure on him a few times, including the forced fumble that was returned for a score, but Brady found ways to beat the pressure with quick throws.

Speaking of those quick throws, if the Cowboys defense does not work on defending quick, short passes, teams are going to be able to pick on them. The Bills utilized that strategy with their rookie QB, and the Patriots must have picked up on it and ended up using it with a heck of a lot more success, because, well, Tom Brady 100x> Trent Edwards.

Randy Moss’ production was limited, but that meant Wes Welker and Donte’ Stallworth were able to have big games. That’s the thing about a championship-caliber team - if one guy gets stopped, there are other guys to step up in his place.

But, the defense did a good job against the run for the most part, up until when the Patriots just started wearing them down, and the outcome became more decided.

In the end though, it goes without saying that it hurts to not have Anthony Henry in the lineup. The outcome may have been the same, and you definitely have to hand it to Nate Jones for stepping up and playing well, but you can never have enough quality players out there when you’re facing as deep and talented of a receiving corps as the Patriots now have.

Overall Analysis: Point blank - If you make mistakes against a team as good as the Patriots have been this year, you will pay, regardless of if you’re the Bills, the Bengals, or the Cowboys.

The penalties are going to have to be cleaned up, in a hurry. As confident of a team as the Cowboys appear to be, making unnecessary penalties is not a sign of confidence. When you truly are in that right mindset, mistakes like Kosier’s holding penalty can and should easily be avoided.

But, I’m not going to sit here and rip the Cowboys forever. There are a lot of lessons to be learned from this game, and those lessons might be the missing link that separates Dallas from being a really good team and being a great team. When you see right in front of you an example of what you need to do to be a serious, serious contender, then the only thing you can do is learn and apply.

Sunday showed that there’s definitely still room for improvement (and little room for error, or injuries to key players), but Wade Phillips does have this team on the right track, and I’d like to think that he and the team now know what’s ahead of them and what they must do and what they must improve upon to be a Super Bowl team.

Looking Ahead

The guys don’t have any time to dwell, as they have a tough game against Minnesota coming up on Sunday. This will be the last game of October, as the Cowboys have their bye week the following week, and it will be the last home game until a Nov. 18 game against the Redskins.

The Vikings, while 2-3, are a dangerous, dangerous opponent, mostly because of one dynamic rookie. Adrian Peterson, a Palestine native, was the Vikings’ first round pick in April (7th overall), and has made a big impact early on, none more so than in a 34-31 victory over the Bears, where he tore Chicago‘s defense up for 224 yards and touchdowns of 73, 67, and 35 yards.

Peterson is the league’s leading rusher with 607 yards in five games, and he has four rushing touchdowns. He’s also proved to be a pretty good receiver, with 10 catches for 175 yards and a touchdown.

Peterson’s presence helps offset a passing game that’s among the league’s least productive. So, if the Cowboys can slow him down, that will put Minnesota in the uncomfortable position of having to throw the ball more than they’d like to.

Sunday’s game offers the potential for the offense to quickly get back on track and re-establish its dominance. The Vikings’ defense gave up 458 yards to the Bears on Sunday, with 375 coming through the air. Minnesota has the league’s worst pass defense (304.6 yards). But, they have the #2 run defense (66.2 yards per game), which might be helped by the fact that they played a couple of teams who haven’t had a lot of success running the ball thus far. Even if Tony Romo could have a field day, Jones and Barber need to see their fair share of carries, and if they do, it will no doubt pose a challenge for the Vikings’ (so far) stingy rush D.

Rebounding from Sunday’s disappointment with a win would send the team into the bye week with some positive momentum, which will help heading into a key stretch where the Cowboys face all of their NFC East foes in the first three weeks of November.

I’ll have an in-depth preview of Sunday’s game later on in the week, and hopefully, when I do this analysis next week, I‘ll be analyzing a sixth win in seven games.