FOXBORO — Bill Belichick clearly has loads of respect for the Cowboys because the Patriots put together for his or her Week 4 opponents.
To start his Wednesday information convention, the Patriots head coach gave a five-minute rundown on the Cowboys’ personnel and all the pieces they do properly from their rookie defensive deal with to their special-teams standouts.
“It’s always interesting to look at Dallas here,” Belichick started. “Obviously a extremely good soccer staff. They’ve been good for fairly some time. Looks like they made just a few changes right here. (Cowboys proprietor, president and normal supervisor) Jerry (Jones), (govt vp, CEO, and director of participant personnel) Stephen (Jones) put collectively a fantastic group. (Head coach ) Mike (McCarthy) has sort of advanced issues a bit of bit this 12 months offensively along with his function in it. (Defensive coordinator) Dan (Quinn) does a fantastic job with their protection, which is as soon as once more close to the highest of the league in loads of classes, most significantly factors. And Bones (John Fassel) does a fantastic job with the kicking recreation. They’re very aggressive and have the very best returner in soccer (KaVontae Turpin). So, that’s a well-balanced staff.
“I believe Coach McCarthy has finished a extremely good job of balancing the staff out. Obviously, they’ve some nice gamers down there. Eight guys within the Pro Bowl final 12 months, most within the league. That’s been sort of their historical past. They’ve all the time had loads of excellent, high-profile gamers going again about so far as you wish to return. Maybe not fairly to 1960 however not too lengthy after that. So, they’ve acquired loads of firepower. They can run the ball, finished a superb job with the working recreation. (Running again Tony) Pollard leads the league in touches. Got loads of carries. (Wide receiver CeeDee) Lamb is dynamic. He’s a fantastic, nice receiver. Obviously, we had issues with him two years in the past, three years in the past, no matter it was. Two years in the past. (Wide receiver Brandin) Cooks is an explosive participant. They have a extremely good offensive line. So, they’re actually good on offense.
“Defensively, the entrance could be very disruptive. (Linebacker Micah) Parsons clearly has each stat you could possibly need — tackles for loss, pressures, quarterback hits, sacks, you title it. (Defensive finish DaMarcus) Lawrence, (defensive deal with) Osa (Odighizuwa), they’ve acquired a disruptive entrance, they usually play loads of guys, much like what we noticed final week with the Jets. They roll these guys by means of. They have good depth on the defensive position. And loads of expertise within the secondary — Steph (cornerback Stephon Gilmore), (security Malik) Hooker. They moved (cornerback DaRon) Bland outdoors after which they’ve acquired (cornerback Jourdan) Lewis again. He was damage the primary a part of the 12 months, preseason, didn’t play towards the Giants, however he’s again in there now. Pretty skilled within the secondary. And clearly (Leighton) Vander Esch, they’ve acquired a extremely good center linebacker, actual sensible man, runs the protection, has loads of vary, loads of dimension, loads of vary, actually athletic child, sensible child, versatile, does loads of issues for them, performs within the deep a part of the sphere, performs linebacker, performs on the sting of the protection. They do loads of various things with him. I do know Coach Quinn has had loads of reward for the pliability of their protection. I believe you see that. They do a variety of various things with guys like (security Jayron) Kearse and Vander Esch and Parsons. You begin with Parsons. But Parsons, Vander Esch, Kearse, guys which are versatile who can play completely different spots from on the road of scrimmage to off the road of scrimmage to even with Vander Esch’s case and Kearse’s case within the deep a part of the sphere. You can see these guys within the deep a part of the sphere, you possibly can see them on the road of scrimmage, which is fairly uncommon. But that’s sort of a rundown on their group.
“New kicker (Brandon Aubrey). Really large leg. Missed his first kick, however he’s been good since then. Had a superb preseason. I can see why they stored him. Really robust leg. (C.J.) Goodwin is sweet, their chief on particular groups. He’s a man you gotta get — (Matthew) Slater-, (Justin) Hardee-type guys who’re actually the flag-carriers in that group.
“Pretty skilled staff. Added (rookie defensive deal with) Mazi (Smith) on the defensive position. He’s a part of the rotation. He offers them one other good defensive lineman in there. But loads of expertise on this staff. They go on the market and do loads of issues properly. You can see why they’ve the consistency that they’ve had, and Mike’s sort of, I’d say modified issues up a bit of bit this 12 months. And it seems to be like that’s figuring out fairly properly too, getting issues the best way they need them when it comes to the complimentary recreation that they’re attempting to play. Mike’s all the time finished a superb job. He’s all the time been a extremely onerous man to educate towards. He offers defenses loads of issues schematically, and clearly, they’ve good gamers. It’s a double-edged sword.
“There you have it. That’s Dallas.”
Belichick did fail to say Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott by means of all of that. When the Patriots performed the Cowboys two years in the past, Belichick mentioned, “Dak’s Dak” in his opening monologue. So, maybe it’s too apparent to even point out what the quarterback affords the Cowboys.
Prescott led the Cowboys to an 8-4 file final season however led the NFL with 15 interceptions. He’s off to a 2-1 begin this season whereas finishing 67.6 p.c of his passes for 647 yards with three touchdowns and one interception.
The Cowboys beat the Patriots 35-29 in New England in 2021. Prescott was 36-of-51 for 445 yards with three touchdowns and one interception in that recreation.
