New England Patriots

The Patriots are 10-1 after a 13-9 win over the Cowboys

All of the updates from the victory at Gilette Stadium.

Patriots quarterback Tom Brady hands the ball off to running back Sony Michel, left, in the first half of an NFL football game against the Dallas Cowboys. AP Photo/Steven Senne

By Christopher Price

8 minutes to read

[Click here to refresh the page for live updates] 

The  New England Patriots (9-1) host the NFC-East leading Dallas Cowboys (6-4) Sunday afternoon at what is so far a rainy Gillette Stadium in Foxborough.

7:11 p.m.: Patriots are going to put the game in the hands of their defense again. There’s 2:38 to go in regulation, and New England holds a 13-9 lead.

7:09 p.m.: Welcome to the “(Blank) it, I’m throwing to Edelman” part of the game. The Patriots are moving the ball here again — can’t leave points on the field here.

7:05 p.m.: The Cowboys consider their options on fourth down and settle for the 29-yard field goal, making it 13-9 with just over six minutes to go in regulation. That was a really good answer for Dallas, which got a big play to set things up. This one is going to come down to the last few minutes.

6:55 p.m.: A mildly productive drive for the Patriots, one that ends with a field goal to make it 13-6 roughly midway through the fourth quarter. You never know — there could be a freak play — but if you’re New England, that sort of breathing room could very well be enough. The offense has beern wildly underwhelming, but 13 really could do it. The defense will likely have to make at least two more stops, but if the first three-plus quarters are any indication, the group could be up to the task.

6:43 p.m.: Three quarters are in the books in Foxborough, and New England holds a 10-6 lead. If the Patriots get one more score here, the way their defense has been playing and with how tough this weather has been, you have to like their chances. Of course, that’s easier said than done.

6:39 p.m.: No one has reached the end zone since the Brady to Harry touchdown pass at the end of the first quarter. With this weather and these two defenses, are we going to see another touchdown scored tonight? I’m not so sure.

6:22 p.m.: Seen a lot of this over the last few games. Defense has held an opponent (mostly) in check, while the offense has struggled. You can pin some of that on the fact Brady is without Sanu and Dorsett and Wynn is back in the lineup after being out and the brutal weather. But the offense just hasn’t been able to put together a really consistent scoring drive all afternoon. It’ll be up to the defense to keep the Cowboys in single digits, and anything else you get when it comes to points (at least from the offense) will be gravy. But New England just needs some sort of offensive jolt — it’s 10-6 with 8:41 to go in the third quarter.

6:14 p.m.: The Patriots have allowed one touchdown in the last six-plus quarters. That’s a good thing, because the offense has struggled to find any real consistency. New England is up 10-6 with 12:09 left in the third quarter.

6:07 p.m.: Battle of field position here in the second half — would have been nice if Bailey could have laid that punt up short of the end zone. Dallas gets the ball here for the first time in the second half — New England is up 10-6 with 13:09 left in the third. (One Twitter follower raises an excellent point — other than that failed third-down pass play, we haven’t seen a lot of James White, at least as much as we usually have in the past. Odd.)

5:55 p.m.: The Pats are up 10-6 at the half. A few thoughts:

The New England defense has been tremendous. I mean, Zeke is a beast, with 61 yards rushing and 23 yards receiving. But he’s crushed good defenses all year long. If the Pats can hold the rest of the Dallas offense in check, they should be good the rest of the way. New England has done well to bottle up the rest of the Cowboys’ skill position guys, only allowing a brief burst here and there.

If I had to guess, I think we might see some no-huddle from the New England offense in the second half. They used it to get unstuck in the second half of their last two games, and it could help them out this time around. The Pats are leaving points on the field, and I’m not talking about the two missed field goals. But the weather is really dictating things. The truth of the matter is that it might be first team to 20. The rain and wind is going to make it tougher and tougher for both teams as things go on. But this is looking like a Rohrschach test of a game — people will take out of it what they want to take out of it. The offense is awful! The defense is great!

Brady 7-for-16 for 102 yards and one TD

Sony Michel: 10 carries, 54 yards

Meyers: 2 catches, 55 yards

Gilmore: 1 INT

5:36 p.m.: Nice red-zone stop for the Patriots’ defense. Not their finest hour — that penalty on Wise was tough, and Dallas had its first successful third-down picked up of the afternoon — but holding them to three as oppposed to seven is palatable. It’s 10-6 with 2:28 left in the first half. New England now hoping for that halftime wraparounds sciore here to take command. We shall see what happens.

Brady: 4-for-11, 67 yards, 1 TD

Michel: 9 carries, 49 yards

Harry: 1 catch, 10 yards, 1 TD

5:29 p.m.: One of the first things I taught my son when it came to football was that third down was where you make your money. Well, this afternoon, everyone is pretty much bankrupt. The Pats are 0-for-4 on third down, and Dallas is 0-for-5 on third down. The missed field goal from Folk — a 46-yarder into the wind — means it’s still 10-3 New England with 6:46 to go in the first half.

5:21 p.m.: Dallas is now 0-for-5 on third down, but the Cowboys manage to get on the board when Maher delivers a 46-yarder to make it 10-3 with 8:36 left in the first half. The Patriots’ defense has shown a few soft spots — Zeke has 49 rushing yards and 23 receiving yards — but as a whole, it’s been a good quarter-plus for them. New England will get the ball back here, and it’s worth reminding readers the Pats get the ball to start the second half.

5:12 p.m.: Nick Folk has kicked really well over the last couple of weeks, and we just saw another example — a few minutes after Dallas missed a 40something yarder into the wind, Folk delivered a 44-yarder to make it 10-0 with 12:46 left in the first half. Good couple of weeks for the new guy. The Patriots have all 10 points off turnovers. Key sequence looming here for the Cowboys — will they panic and try and get out of their comfort zone? Or do they try and stick with what they are best at? Will be interesting to see how they respond. On the other side of the ball, Brady is 2-for-5 for 15 yards and a touchdown, while Sony Michel has 9 carries for 49 yards.

5:07 p.m.: Love the feistiness of the last couple defensive stands for New England, especially with Gilmore’s pick there. Super aggressive, making plays all over the field. Patriots’ offense is set up nicely for a second time. New England is starting to roll here.

4:58 p.m.: Big sequence there for the Patriots. A masterful blocked punt by Matthew Slater, followed up by the first touchdown catch of N’Keal Harry’s NFL career. New England is up 7-0 with 45 seconds left in the first quarter.

4:34 p.m.: Terrific start for the New England offense (two carries for 19 yards for Sony Michel), and then, the group stalled out with a drop from Meyers and a misfire from Brady. The Patriots punt the ball away. It’s scoreless with 11:21 to go in the first quarter. After the Cowboys went three-and-out on their first possession, Dallas will get the ball back here for a second crack.

4:32 p.m.: Patriots defensive starters: Guy, Shelton, Simon, Van Noy, Hightower, Collins, Gilmore, Jackson, Chung, Harmon, D. McCourty

Offensive starters: Brady, Michel, Edelman, Harry, Meyers, Watson, Wynn, Thuney, Karras, Mason, Cannon

4:25 p.m.: Patriots win the toss and will defer. TIME FOR THE FOOSBALL.

4:12 p.m.: All right, time for a final prediction. I like New England in this one for a few reasons, including the fact the Cowboys have lost four straight on the road against teams over .500. I have zero faith that when the rubber hits the road, this Dallas team is capable of getting it done. The Patriots have to control the tempo and manage the flow of the game to keep the Cowboys’ offense off the field for long stretches, and at least some of that will come down to whether or not they run the ball consistently. If they can’t, I figure the Pats will use short passes to the likes of White and Burkhead to try and move the ball. (Also some no-huddle as needed.) Regardless, New England is going to win this thing. It won’t be an easy one and we could all be back here in a week wondering about the state of the offense, but it should be enough to beat Dallas. I’m saying Patriots 23, Cowboys 14.

Advertisement:

4:07 p.m.:

4:04 p.m.: A few miscellaneous notes: Joe Buck and Troy Aikman are on the mic for Fox this afternoon. New England is 3-1 since the start of the 2017 season with them in the booth. And Scott Novak will serve as referee. The longtime side judge is in his first season as a ref–this will be the first-ever New England game as lead official.

3:59 p.m.:

3:45 p.m.: Latest weather updates have temps between the low 40s and high 30s, with a fairly steady chance of rain for the next few hours. The Patriots are a pretty good all-weather team, but these sorts of conditions will test even the most mentally tough group, and make ball security even more important than usual.

Advertisement:

3:40 p.m.: With the weather, this could get interesting:

2:57 p.m.: Patriots inactives include WR Phillip Dorsett (concussion) and Mohamed Sanu (ankle).

According to ESPN’s Mike Reiss, Dorsett has not been given clearance to engage in full football activity as of yet.

2:35 p.m. Injuries could be a problem for the Patriots Sunday, especially among the wide receiver group.

Tom Brady, questionable with an elbow, is expected to play:

1:39 p.m. It’s wet.

Your pregame reading list

To comment, please create a screen name in your profile

Conversation

This discussion has ended. Please join elsewhere on Boston.com