I planned on giving you a look at the Saints and their struggling offense. Still, with Derek Carr throwing sideways for most of Sunday's game against the Buccaneers - Alvin Kamara had 13 catches for 33 yards - I decided I wouldn't put you through that. The Patriots offense looked all sorts of discombobulated and overmatched, while this New Orleans group has horses but can't run. Actually, they're close to being turned into a fast food hamburger or glue. This weekend has all the makings of 9-6.
That said, a look back at the debacle in Dallas (it's Arlington, but you get the point). But instead of beginning with the issues that led the Pats to such an ignominious defeat, I thought I'd start with a sweetener - a shoutout to a player who will never make headlines or Pro Bowls but whose work will be critical to any Pats defensive success in the future, even if it won't come with many stats or (likely) a wow moment.
Now, that individual performance shouldn't distract you from a subpar performance by a defense that should be a hell of a lot better than that, even with Matthew Judon and Christian Gonzalez going down during the game. The Cowboys essentially did what they wanted early in the game, and even with their continued red zone struggles, they still handled whatever the Belichicks and Mayo threw at them.
To the Pats' credit, they were attacking, trying to heat up Dak Prescott. They blitzed nearly 40% of their snaps. The problem? They didn't get home or move Prescott off his spot nearly enough, sacking him once when attacking with extra rushers. That led to the Cowboys QB having his best day (a stark contrast to what your signal caller and the offense did), completing 28-of-34 passes for 260 yards, one TD (he should have had another, but it was dropped in the end zone). That's not good enough. Not even close. The numbers will look a lot better versus the Saints.
As for the other side of Sunday, much has been said and written about what went wrong. Here are several examples of what I saw, and some of the issues will remain a massive concern going into this weekend and probably beyond (offensive line, receivers, and, obviously, quarterback play).