The New England Patriots remained undefeated by handing the Dallas Cowboys their third straight loss in a 30-6 victory. The Patriots are now 4-0, while the Cowboys drop to 2-3. Here are three things we learned from each team in the Patriots' loss.
New England Patriots:
Bill Belichick roulette is back. Maybe it never really left, but the Patriots are back to sharing RB duties. LeGarrette Blount had twice as many carries as Dion Lewis. While Lewis did contribute through the air, with 8 grabs for 59 yards and a score, Blount looks like the go-to back on the ground. For now.
Do the Patriots even need an outside WR? The Patriots four leading WRs (in targets) were a pair of slot WRs in Julian Edelman and Danny Amendola, Rob Gronkowski and Lewis. The team doesn't really have an outside weapon, but Tom Brady is so good that they don't need one.
The secondary is improving. Yeah, the effort came against Brandon Weeden, but the Patriots secondary shut down the Cowboys passing game. They might not have a game as strong as this one, but the Patriots secondary doesn't seem as porous as many expected it would be this season.
Dallas Cowboys:
Darren McFadden is the new pass-catching back. McFadden led the team in targets and catches, reeling in nine grabs for 62 yards on 10 targets. With Lance Dunbar out for the season, it looks like McFadden will take his snaps.
Rolando McClain and Greg Hardy are welcome additions to the defense. Hardy and McClain both have off the field issues, one more so than the other, but they both contributed in their first games back.
Brandon Weeden isn't the answer. Perhaps we already knew this, but Weeden isn't going to be enough to get the Cowboys wins. He's done nothing but checkdowns and seems afraid to go deep. The Cowboys are getting nowhere with Weeden at QB. Perhaps it's time to hand the reins over to Matt Cassel.
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