Tag: 2021 Week 6

Cowboys LT Tyron Smith suffers ankle injury vs New England

The Cowboys’ left tackle left the game after an injury on a Dallas scoring drive.

The Dallas Cowboys were finally able to take the lead in their Week 6 matchup with the New England Patriots. After trailing since their opening defensive drive, they moved ahead near the end of the third quarter.  Everything wasn’t all good, however, as one of their best players was injured on the drive.

Left tackle Tyron Smith had his left leg compromised when running back Tony Pollard fell over it on a rushing play. Smith was slow to get up and was seen getting his ankle taped on the sideline while the drive continued. He tried to walk it off but eventually, under his own power, made his way back to the locker room for further evaluation.

The Cowboys lead 17-14 as the quarter nears the end.

Cowboys CB Maurice Canady ruled out with concussion

The Cowboys’ depth corner will not return to the action on Sunday.

The Dallas Cowboys did not play their ideal version of a first half against the New England Patriots on Sunday. The club didn’t seem fully in sync and there were certainly more than a handful of penalty calls and non-calls that seemed to go against the road team.

Still, 14-10 halftime deficit isn’t insurmountable and the second half will be about mounting such a comeback. They will have to do so without cornerback Maurice Canady, who suffered a concussion on special teams coverage during the first half.

Gifford blocked punt leads to controversial goal-line turnover for Cowboys

Following a great special teams play, Dak Prescott appeared to score but the controversial ruling resulted in a goal-line turnover.

On two straight drives, the Dallas defense denied the Patriots from scoring after looking pedestrian against Mac Jones on the first two touchdown drives. Defensive end Randy Gregory’s strip-sack sparked the defense after New England was setting up to score more points.

The Cowboys forced a three-and-out on the next drive but special teams coordinator John Fassel had a trick up his sleeve, sending a block unit on the punt and linebacker Luke Gifford made the play.

Fassel has been questioned during his Cowboys tenure but the blocked punt had a sense of redemption. Quarterback Dak Prescott and the offense made it down to the Patriots 1-yard line after a 13-yard completion to wide receiver Cedrick Wilson.

After being stuffed twice, Prescott appeared to score on a sneak and had his entire upper half in the endzone before going down.

The Patriots with Bill Belichick are already a tough test no matter the roster and after head coach Mike McCarthy wasted the coaches challenge in the first quarter, the referees decided not to review it. Prescott leaped over the top on fourth down and after initially ruling it a touchdown, the referees reviewed it and ruled it a fumble after Ja’Whaun Bentley forced Prescott to juggle the football.

New England starts the second half with the football and Dallas will have their hands full down 14-10 in Foxborough.

[vertical-gallery id=683150][lawrence-newsletter]

WATCH: Cowboys’ Gregory levels Mac Jones on violent strip sack

With the Patriots threatening, Randy Gregory came free on a pass rush, forcing a Mac Jones fumble to give the Cowboys offense the ball.

The Dallas defense has been in trouble so far, giving up two touchdowns on two drives without much resistance. To make it worse, the Patriots were threatening in Cowboys territory on their third drive.

On a 2nd down play at the 25-yard line, a touchdown catch for Jakobi Meyers was called back after defensive end Randy Gregory was held by James Ferentz. Meyers made the play with cornerback Trevon Diggs covering, which would’ve been the first he’s conceded in 2021. The very next play, Gregory blew by the right tackle and hammered Mac Jones to force the fumble, which was recovered by defensive end Chauncey Golston.

Dallas took over on offense and the defense gets their first stop of the game, beginning to settle in on the road. The drive ended in a field goal when WR Cedrick Wilson was unable to keep the ball while going to the ground in the end zone.

Dallas trails 14-10.

[vertical-gallery id=683150][lawrence-newsletter]

WATCH: Cowboys’ Prescott perfect on second drive, finds Jarwin for TD

Following the Patriots touchdown, Dak Prescott was perfect on the second drive which ended with touchdown to Blake Jarwin.

The Dallas Cowboys had a weird start in Gillette Stadium, after a failed fourth-down conversion and swallowed whistles resulted in a quick three-play touchdown drive for the Patriots.

After the score by Damien Harris, the Dallas offense took no time with a seven-play, 75-yard touchdown drive. Quarterback Dak Prescott completed passes to five different receivers on the drive. From the New England 24-yard line, Prescott found tight end Dalton Schultz to set the Cowboys up just a yard from a score.

Kellen Moore drew up a play-action call and the Patriots defense was fooled, setting tight end Blake Jarwin up for an easy touchdown catch.

Prescott was 6-for-6 on the drive for 73 yards and the 1-yard touchdown pass to Jarwin. After the problematic start, Dallas tied it up at 7-7.

[vertical-gallery id=683150][lawrence-newsletter]

Cowboys Week 6 Inactives: Safety Donovan Wilson returns to lineup, Diggs, Smith to play

Safety Donovan Wilson returns to the lineup while Dallas avoids missing any stars for Sunday’s game against the New England Patriots. | From @CDBurnett7

Throughout the week, the Dallas Cowboys had running back Ezekiel Elliott on the injury report after his awkward fall on top of a pylon in Week 5. Starting right tackle Tyron Smith is active after a scare on the injury report with neck injuries, considering his history in recent years, wearing the neck pad that he has ditched in 2021.

Cornerback Trevon Diggs missed two practices but is active as well while safety Donovan Wilson returns to the lineup for the first time since Week 1. The pair made their presence known late in the 2020 season and reunite on the field against New England.

There are five inactives for Dallas including quarterback Will Grier, wide receiver Simi Fehoko, defensive ends Dorance Armstrong and Bradlee Anae and safety Israel Mukuamu. The group has all been inactive for at least one game during the season, so it’s no surprise here.

 

New England will be without starting right guard Shaq Mason and a pair of reserve cornerbacks in Shaun Wade and Joejuan Williams. Mason is the most significant loss while the final three inactives will have little influence on Bill Belichick and his gameplan against the Cowboys.

QTNA: Who are these Patriots and what should Cowboys be concerned with in Week 6?

Is Mac his completion % or his YPA? What’s different about Dak, Kellen and McCarthy in 2021? What should Dallas worry about in Belichick’s bag? Who’s gonna piss off Pats fans the most? Q&A with @Patriots_Wire

The Dallas Cowboys square off against the New England Patriots on Sunday afternoon in a quest to extend their winning streak to five games. The Cowboys return to the road fir the first time since mid-September and unlike their last trip to Foxboro the weather is projected to be glorious for football.

Dallas hasn’t beaten Bill Belichick in a long time, but the matchup seems to indicate the Cowboys are the better team, they’ll just have to go out and prove it. These aren’t your older brother’s Patriots anymore. To help understand exactly what Dallas will be walking into, Cowboys Wire reached out to Patriots Wire’s managing editor Henry McKenna to lend some insight into what New England is bringing to the table. In the latest installment of our QTNA series, we go behind enemy lines with questions for each other.

Week 5 Advanced Stats: Critical win indicators show the Cowboys have an edge over the Patriots

The Cowboys are quite simply Big Play Bandits in 2021. A deep dive into Advanced Stats to see if the Dallas Cowboys hold any advantages over the Patriots in week 6. EPA, DVOA, ANY/A and Toxicity, from @ProfessorO_NFL

The Dallas Cowboys (4-1) have headed to Foxborough, MA to take on the 2-3 New England Patriots. The Cowboys boarded the plane carrying a four-game winning streak with quarterback Dak Prescott playing captain. The Patriots are fresh off of a comeback win against the Houston Texans with quarterback Mac Jones leading all rookies in passing yards.

Cowboys Head Coach Mike McCarthy has a 1-2 overall record against the Bill Belichick-led Patriots. The Cowboys have lost six straight games to the Patriots, with their last win back in December of the 1996 season. What advantages do they hold in this matchup to reverse their fortunes?

Here’s a review a some key advanced statistics to see if DVOA, ANY/A, Toxicity and EPA give the Cowboys reasons to feel confident about picking up win No. 5 on the season.

How to watch, wager, live stream, listen to Cowboys-Patriots in Week 6

Dallas is looking for their fifth consecutive win, but just because New England is below .500 doesn’t mean it will be easy. A game preview along with how to watch. If you can’t watch, how to stream or listen. | From @CDPiglet

The Dallas Cowboys offense was just too much for the New York Giants in Week 5. The front seven for the Giants didn’t have the speed nor athleticism to keep up with Dallas in the run game horizontally and the Cowboys were too big and strong for them on the second level. When New York decided to bring up and extra defender in the box, Dak Prescott and his passing game easily beat them over the top.

For the first time since 1983, when Danny White, Drew Pearson, and Tony Dorsett accomplish it, the Cowboys offense accumulated 200 rushing yards and 300 passing yards in a game. Too much for the Giants on defense, and too many injuries on their offense, they were over matched in this game. The New England Patriots are a true litmus test for Dallas.

The greatest coach in NFL history, Bill Belichick, will figure out a new way to test this elite Cowboys offense and it will be up to offensive coordinator Kellen Moore and Dak Prescott to counter his strategy. New England is excellent stopping third down conversions, and in the red zone, but they haven’t been elite against the rush this season.

Belichick has played a lot of man coverage with one deep safety this year. If the Cowboys can run the ball well, and force the Patriots to stay in that defense, instead of switching it up like they probably would want to do against this passing attack, then Dallas should be able to hit big plays with Amari Cooper and CeeDee Lamb over the top.

The defense for Dallas has its own issues.

They have been excellent against the opposing offense’s top two receivers, but have been attacked well by tight ends and running backs. New England doesn’t have top tier receivers, but they have two excellent tight ends, and two running backs that are problems in the passing game. Add a young quarterback who completes seventy percent of his passes and the Cowboys must take this team as the serious threat they can be.

 

Cowboys’ Tyron Smith limited at Thursday’s practice with neck injury

The Dallas Cowboys added Tyron Smith to the injury report on Thursday with a neck injury, an issue that ended his season early a year ago. | From @AsaHenry_55

One of the more critical pieces to the Dallas Cowboys’ success, left tackle Tyron Smith has rebounded nicely after missing 14 of 16 games in 2020. He had offseason surgery, was able to ditch the neck roll he’s worn for the last several seasons and reported he was feeling as good as he could remember.

Smith had seemingly recovered perfectly from last year’s surgery, posting the second-highest PFF grade for offensive tackles through the first five weeks. Unfortunately, Smith was a late week addition to the injury report as he was listed a limited participant during Thursday’s practice with… a neck.

A worrisome alert for Cowboys fans, who may feel like they’re having deja vu as Smith has battled nagging neck injuries for the last half decade. Jon Machota of The Athletic did note that Smith “was moving well during the portion open to reporters,” which is a positive sign, and Smith’s “limited” designation is certainly better than a “did not participate.” However, that won’t stop Cowboys’ fans from being rightfully worried about their stalwart tackle.

Right tackle La’el Collins has missed the Cowboys’ last four games with a suspension, but is set to return to the club after the upcoming Week 6 contest against the New England Patriots. In Collin’s absence, second-year tackle Terence Steele has played well, and emerged as the teams’ clear swing tackle.

Should this injury worsen for Smith, veteran Ty Nsekhe would likely figure in to the rotation at the tackle spot. While Steele has played adequately, if Smith were to miss significant time that would be a massive blow for a Cowboys team that is firing on all cylinders, even with Collins’ return following the bye.

Elsewhere on the practice report, running back Ezekiel Elliott (back) and defensive end Randy Gregory (knee) were limited as well on Thursday, but should be good to go for Sunday. Safety Donovan Wilson (groin) was limited, but likely won’t return until after the bye week.

Corner Trevon Diggs and safety Damontae Kazee were notable non-participants but as of now are expected to play Sunday. DE Dorance Armstrong is likely out again with his ankle injury.

[vertical-gallery id=682760][listicle id=682999][lawrence-newsletter]