ARLINGTON, Texas — Relatively speaking, Bill Belichick seemed ready to jump for joy after the New England Patriots beat the Dallas Cowboys 30-6 at AT&T Stadium.
Belichick typically finds one or two aspects to nitpick, even after a blowout win, but he heaped nearly universal praise on his team after beginning the season 4-0.
“It’s a good feeling to come down here and win,” Belichick said. “Really proud of our team today. I thought we got great complimentary football from all three phases — our offense, defense, special teams. The way we started the game, the quick series on defense, the punt return put our offense in good field position. We had several of those during the day, a couple turnovers in the second half. Real good field position in the kicking game. Stephen (Gostkowski) kicked the ball well. Good punt coverage by (Matthew Slater), great kick by Ryan (Allen).
“Defensively, we didn’t give up many big plays, played OK on third down, got off the field quite a bit in the first half, gave our offense some good field position. They took advantage of it.”
The Patriots out-gained the Cowboys 356 yards to 264. The Cowboys were just 4 of 14 on third down and were blanked in the red zone. The Patriots’ defense forced six three-and-outs and two turnovers, and they sacked quarterback Brandon Weeden three times.
The Patriots started slow on offense but quarterback Tom Brady wound up completing 20 of 27 passes for 275 yards with two touchdowns and no interceptions. It was his fourth consecutive game with a 100 or higher passer rating. The Patriots also averaged 4.7 yards per carry on the ground, led by running back LeGarrette Blount, with 17 carries for 74 yards.
“Overall, good to come down here and win,” Belichick said. “I felt that we got real good contributions from everybody. Had a good week of work, these guys are ready to go. Players played a solid game. Give them all the credit in the world. They did a good job.”
Thumbnail photo via Matthew Emmons/USA TODAY Sports Images
