FOXBOROUGH, Massachusetts- Dak Prescott found wide receiver Ceedee Lamb for a 35 yard touchdown in overtime Sunday evening, leading the Dallas Cowboys to a 35-29 victory over the New England Patriots at Gillette Stadium.
Dallas (5-1) went for an early fourth down on the first possession of the game and got stopped at their own 34 yard line. New England turned that into seven on three plays with Damien Harris taking a direct snap and finding the endzone on a four yard run. The Cowboys tied it on a seven play 75 yard drive with Prescott on a playaction pass hitting Blake Jarwin for a one yard TD. Mac Jones and the offense responded to that to take the lead again when he found Hunter Henry for a 20 yard score, down the middle on a great catch by Henry. The visitors were driving again late in the first and early on in the second quarter, but Prescott was intercepted by the Patriots Kyle Dugger at the four yard line on a pass intended for Cedric Wilson. A big pass play of 27 yards to Nelson Agholor set the hosts up deep in Cowboys territory, and Jones would find Jakobi Meyers for a 25 yard TD that looked like it had extended the lead. The score was nullified though on an offensive holding. Randy Gregory on the next play sacked Jones and forced a fumble and Dallas recovered. That would lead to a 30 yard field goal by Greg Zuerlein to cut it to 14-10, but they later had a great chance to jump on top when Luke Gifford blocked a Jake Bailey punt. They eventually would have a 1st and goal at the Pats one yard line, but two runs by Ezekiel Elliott were short and then Prescott was short on third and goal. Dallas would go for it, but Prescott lost control of the ball before crossing the line on fourth and goal as the turnover kept the score at 14-10 at halftime.
Dallas took their first lead of the night when Prescott hit Lamb for a one yard TD with 4:53 left in the third quarter. A Zuerlein 45 yard field goal extended it to 20-14 early in the fourth. New England (2-4) needing a big drive got just that going 70 yards in 13 plays with the key pickup being a 21 yard run by Harris. Rookie running back Rhamondre Stevenson scored on a one yard run for a one point lead. With 2:47 left to go in regulation, Zuerlein missed a field goal of 51 yards that could of put the Cowboys back ahead. But just 11 seconds later, after a delay of game penalty on the Patriots Jones was intercepted on a poorly thrown ball by Trevon Diggs who took it the other way for a pick six of 42 yards. Dallas couldn’t convert the two-point conversion though and had the lead at 26-21. On the very next play from scrimmage, Jones found a streaking Kendrick Bourne in between two Cowboys defenders. Bourne made the catch and split the defensive backs breaking away for a 75 yard touchdown that nearly took the top off Gillette Stadium. Jones completed the two-point conversion to Myers for a three point lead. In crunch time Prescott got the visitors into position to tie it, completing a huge 24 yard pass to Lamb on a 3rd down and 25 at his own 45 yard line to the Pats 32. Zuerlein hit a 49 yard field goal on the next play with 20 seconds left to send the game to overtime.
In the extra session, New England won the coin toss and got the first possession to try to win it. But after one first down, they were forced to punt. A 14 yard pass by Prescott to Lamb, six yards to Schultz, nine yards to Amari Cooper, and a nine yard run by Tony Pollard set the Cowboys up for the game winner. Prescott faked a handoff and rolled to the right, and would find Lamb alone behind the Patriots defense as he glided into the endzone untouched to end the game 6:01 into overtime to give Dallas their fifth straight win.
Jones was 15-21 passing for 229 yards with two touchdowns and one interception in the loss. Harris carried 18 times for 101 yards and a touchdown and also added one catch for seven yards. Bourne had the most yards receiving with his long touchdown in the fourth quarter, while Myers caught five for 44 yards and Stevenson had three for 39. Ja’Whuan Bentley had 12 total tackles to lead the defense, while Dugger had eight and an interception. Prescott had a huge night passing going for 445 yards (36 for 51) with three touchdowns and one interception in the win. It was the sixth most yards he has ever thrown for in a game in his career. Elliott had 17 carries for 69 yards (also seven catches for 50 yards) and Polland had 10 for 41. Lamb caught nine targets for a career high 149 yards and two touchdowns, including the game winner. Schultz and Cooper each had five receptions for 79 and 55 yards respectively. Diggs had five tackles and his sixth interception of the season that he took in for a score. He now has at least one INT in each of the first six Cowboys games. The Cowboys outgained the Patriots in total yards 567-355 and had nearly 40 minutes of possession time, but 12 penalties for over 100 yards and the two turnovers in the redzone kept the game close. New England is back in action at home next Sunday at 1 p.m. when they welcome in the New York Jets. The Patriots are also 0-4 at home this season, the first time they’ve lost at least their first four games of any season in Foxborough since the rookie year of Drew Bledsoe in 1993.
Images from Dallas at New England in NFL action at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts on Sunday, October 17, 2021. Dallas won the game 35-29 in overtime. Photos courtesy of Chris Lessner
