When Tom Brady turned into a snowbird and fled to Florida, beating the New England Patriots counted the same, but felt different.
Because that’s not the case.
Coach Bill Belichick will always be Darth Vader, but “You’re weak, man.” His team isn’t good, and his quarterback can’t play.
The latest team to exploit and capitalize on these realities is the Dallas Cowboys.
That same year, the Cowboys ended Brady’s career in the playoffs in Tampa and handed Belichick his worst defeat since becoming an NFL head coach. Not sure if it makes a banner, but it’s a feather.
The Cowboys defeated Bill Jr.’s Patriots 38-3 on Sunday at AT&T Stadium. This looks like a preseason game, just without all the intrigue and excitement.
Patriots running back Ezekiel Elliott makes a surprising return to his old team. It would be nice for Zeke to get another contract, but considering his performance on Sunday, it makes perfect sense for the Cowboys to release him this offseason.
“It’s homecoming, but it’s still our home,” Cowboys defensive end Tank Lawrence said.
The Patriots trailed by 25 points at halftime, the largest halftime deficit of Belichick’s head coaching career, and it felt like it was from the late 1800s.
The Cowboys were terrible in their loss to the Arizona Cardinals a week ago, and they pretty much turned everything on their head against New England.
“We played well today,” Cowboys cornerback Stephon Gilmore said.
He didn’t lie.
The Cowboys’ performance against the Patriots wasn’t perfect. The Cowboys had one of four plays in the red zone on Sunday.
This offense still has significant red zone issues, and that issue will eventually become a big one. It was more of a joke on Sunday.
“We had to do better in some areas,” Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott said, “but we won 38-3.”
The red zone wasn’t an issue because the Cowboys defense was so good. The defense scored two touchdowns in the second quarter and sent Patriots quarterback Mac Jones to the bench in the second half.
The red zone isn’t an issue because the Cowboys quarterback is so efficient. Dak completed 28 of 34 passes for 261 yards and a touchdown. Plus, there’s no interception.
The red zone isn’t an issue, as the Cowboys’ kicker should go straight to the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Brandon Aubrey is no longer the kicker and they can’t trust their most reliable offensive player.
Call this performance the result of “refocusing.” Arguably this is just playing without Tom Brady against the Patriots. This is life in the NFL.
“It’s week-in-week-out league play,” Gilmore said.
It’s a cliche. This is a fact.
Let’s be honest, let’s also simply call Sunday what it is: The Dallas Cowboys are doing what they do.
The question for anyone who watches this team and is brave enough to care about the results of their games is do we trust them?
Do we trust their 3-1 record and give it our all? Do we believe it?
Do we think the Cowboys are as good as the team that now owns the entire Northeast? The Cowboys defeated the New York Giants, New York Jets and New England Patriots with a combined score of 108-13.
Or are they the team that got embarrassed in Arizona and ultimately let us down by losing a team they should have beaten in January?
The answers to both questions are bold, underlined, 98 points, all caps fork.
The Cowboys and the rest of the NFL will learn a lot when they travel to California next week to take on the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday night. This will give us all a better idea of where the Cowboys actually stand among the best teams in the NFL.
because of the cowboys yes One of the best teams in the NFL.
The Cowboys should be 4-0, but you’ll be 3-1.
Aside from a bad game in Arizona, they’ve played well and look like they might be a problem in January.
Ending Tom Brady’s career and beating Bill Belichick in his worst defeat ever, those are nice feathers, but they’re not a flag.