Three Studs, Three Duds From Patriots’ Disastrous Loss To Cowboys

ARLINGTON, Texas — The Patriots are at a crossroads.

New England suffered a 38-3 loss to the Dallas Cowboys in a game that saw Mac Jones benched for Bailey Zappe in the third quarter. Prior to his benching, Jones completed 12 of 21 passes for 150 yards to go along with two interceptions, one of which was returned for a touchdown. Jones was strip-sacked early in the second quarter, with the fumble also being returned for a touchdown.

The third-year quarterback was fortunate to not be picked off a few more times. He played that poorly.

The Patriots were trailing just 10-3 at the time of Jones’ fumble. But the scoop-and-score blew the game open, with a trick-play two-point conversion making it an 18-3 game. Dallas never looked back.

Zappe went 4-for-9 for 57 yards.

On the other side, Dak Prescott completed 28 of 34 passes for 261 yards and one touchdown. The Cowboys quarterback was sacked three times, but he largely picked apart a Patriots secondary that was without its top four cornerbacks after Christian Gonzalez left due to a shoulder injury in the first half. New England also lost Matthew Judon to an elbow injury in the fourth quarter.

Prescott’s top target was tight end Jake Ferguson, who caught seven balls for 77 yards. Tony Pollard ran the ball 11 times for 47 yards.

Overall, the Patriots were outgained in yardage 377-253. Dallas generated 22 first downs compared to 10 by the Patriots and was better on third downs. Hunter Henry led New England pass-catchers with four catches for 51 yards.

Bill Belichick’s team dropped to 1-3 with the loss while Dallas improved to 3-1 with the victory.

Here are three studs and three duds from the Patriots’ disastrous Week 4 loss at AT&T Stadium:

STUDS
DE Deatrich Wise
Was largely responsible for Josh Uche’s first-half sack and was one of the few defensive players who made big plays. Wise generated multiple pressures and finished with one sack and four tackles in one of his better games of the season. He’s not ready to give up his job to Keion White just yet.

S Kyle Dugger
Finished with 15 tackles, 11 of which he racked up in the first half. Dugger wasn’t great in this game and again had some issues in coverage, but he also delivered some big hits and enjoyed an all-around solid performance. We’re still waiting for him to record his first turnover of the season, though.

WR Demario Douglas
Finished with two catches for 45 yards but lands on this list for the filthy spin move he pulled on safety Donovan Wilson in the first quarter. The play offered a reminder of the unique playmaking ability that Douglas brings to the Patriots’ otherwise underwhelming offense.

Honorable mentions: Ja’Whaun Bentley, Hunter Henry, Jahlani Tavai, Josh Uche

DUDS
QB Mac Jones
The reaction to this game might get a little out of hand, as this was one of Jones’ few objectively bad performances — and probably the worst of his career. It happens sometimes. The problem is Jones also doesn’t have many examples of actually playing at an elite level. Regardless, he didn’t give his team a chance to win this game and played desperate, erratic football. Where the Patriots go from here is anyone’s guess.

G Mike Onwenu
His two false-start penalties in the first half were absolute killers. One was two plays before an eventual failed fourth-down QB sneak, with the other coming two plays before Jones was strip-sacked. In both cases, Onwenu put the Patriots long-yardage scenarios, and it came back to bite them. He also had a holding penalty that wiped out a 12-yard run by Rhamondre Stevenson. Onwenu hasn’t been great since returning from his ankle injury.

CB Myles Bryant
This probably isn’t fair, as Bryant was forced to play above his weight class with New England’s cornerback group decimated by injuries. Still, he gave up some big plays, including CeeDee Lamb’s 20-yard touchdown catch in the first quarter. It was a rough game for the typically rock-solid defensive back.

Honorable mentions: Rhamondre Stevenson, Jalen Mills, Atonio Mafi, Shaun Wade