Postgame: New England 48, Dallas 27

Greatest Show on .. ?
OK, OK. Let's Not Go Too Far

Why not? Why shouldn't we enjoy this?

After all the "junk" we've had to put up with from almost every fan of every other team in the league, from the national media -- like Peter King and Dr. Z -- why shouldn't we bask in the glory of the team for whom we live and die?

The national media said this would be a statement game for whichever team won. The Patriots aren't into statement games, but the message has been sent: The Patriots are for real, and all the scurrilous allegations in the world aren't going to change that.

I'll have a lot more later and over the next few days. For now, don't forget to vote in our Player of the Game poll. (Again, can't find an individual defensive player to nominate, but the defense was generally spectacular as a unit as usual.)

Update [2007-10-14 22:28:27 by tommasse]:
Some additional notes:

• Brady's 5 touchdowns were a career high, tied a Patriots franchise high (4th time), and gave Brady an NFL record 6 games to open a season with 3 or more touchdowns in each game.
• Brady's passer rating was 129.6, his third highest of the season. His rating for the season is 128.9. Brady has a passer rating of 100 or more in every game so far this season.
• Brady's 5 touchdowns gives him 21 on the season and puts him on pace to throw 56 touchdown passes on the season. When Peyton Manning broke Marino's record, and it was clear that Indy's offense was geared simply to get the record for Manning and the Colts were running up game scores, you didn't hear the outcry you hear as the Patriots obliterate the league through just six weeks.
• The quality of supporting players doesn't matter, right?
• Randy Moss and Terrell Owens both had 6 catches, and each had a touchdown. Owens out-gained Moss, 66 yards to 59. But who do you think feels more satisfied tonight?
• The offensive play calling was a little more lopsided today. New England threw the ball 46 times and ran it 29. Of course, the passing game netted 388 yards and 5 touchdowns, while the running game accumulated only 75 yards and 1 late touchdown.
• The defense held the opposition under 100 yards rushing again. Just barely. Julius Jones (51 yards) and Marion Barber (47) combined for 98, and Tony Romo lost a yard on the game-ending kneeldown.
• Romo had 199 yards passing and a passer rating of 91.0. He had a rating of 109.0 in the first half on 12 of 18 passes for 142 yards and a touchdown. He was 7 of 8 for 104 yards (due to yards lost on penalties) on the last drive of the half. That made him 5 of 10 for 38 yards the rest of the half.
• The Patriots offense was a mind-boggling 11 of 17 (65 percent) on 3rd down conversions, and 2 for 2 on 4th down. The defense limited Dallas to 4 of 11 (36 percent) on 3rd down.
• New England was 4 of 5 (80 percent) in the red zone. Dallas was 2 of 3 (67 percent).
• The Patriots utterly dominated time of possession: 38:15 to 21:45.
• The Cowboys killed themselves with penalties -- 12 for 98 yards. New England had 5 for 50 yards.
• Punter Chris Hanson punted twice, both fair catches, for an average and net of 41.5 yards. Much improved over the Cleveland game.
• New England's individual defensive statistics are wholly unspectacular. Reminds me of 2001 when all the "experts" said the Patriots weren't that good because they had no superstars. No most people know their names, and they still play the same way.
• New England played well, considering Sammy Morris and Ben Watson were both injured and didn't return. A lot of people predicted they would be extremely important keys to New England's game plan.

For all the complainers out there: You can't run out the clock taking a knee on 4th down. Why should the Patriots take a knee and turn the ball over on downs with time left on the clock? If Dallas drove the length of the field in the last 20 seconds and punched in a meaningless touchdown, would Patriots fans be whining about Dallas being classless for scoring "unnecessarily"?

The Patriots didn't try to pass or purposely run up the score. They had the ball on the 20 with 3:45 left on the clock, and they ran 7 rushing plays. The Cowboys called a timeout at 1:48 instead of letting the clock run. It's not New England's fault that Dallas couldn't stop -- Kyle Eckel. Suck it up and stop crying like school children.

Most every fan** of every team, and a lot of players and coaches, has been trashing the Patriots every chance they get, calling them cheaters, saying their accomplishments are tainted, calling them classless and dirty and every other base and crass insult in the book. And then they want the Patriots and their fans to kowtow to them?

Keep kicking the dog and express outrage when he bites back. There are words for people like that.

You want respect? Give respect.

One More Thing

Roy Williams reminds me of Jack Tatum. Looks like he's out there just trying to injure people. Maybe it's just a huge coincidence.

** No, not every fan. I've read several comments by Cowboys fans on other sites that intelligently realize that New England couldn't run out the clock by taking knees.