A Who's Who In Foxborough
Nick Eatman
DallasCowboys.com Staff Writer
November 13, 2003, 5:35 p.m. (CST)
IRVING, Texas - They enter Sunday night's game with a 7-2 record and a one-game lead in their division.
They started the season with a disappointing loss but have bounced back to win seven of eight games.
They win with defense. They have a ball-controlled offense and have started to use the running back by-committee approach.
The Cowboys? The Patriots?
Or maybe both since it's hard to decipher much difference between these near-identical NFL twins coming together this Sunday night for a nationally-televised visit at Gillette Stadium.
The two teams are almost mirror images of each other, in both style and production, although none of that should be considered a huge coincidence since the head coaches, Bill Parcells and Bill Belichick, have worked together for 15 NFL seasons, going all the way back to 1979.
Parcells can see the similarities. But he sees a big difference, too. One that is usually a deciding factor in close games and could be the difference maker in this one, come Sunday night:
Quarterback.
"We can't put Quincy (Carter) in a class with (Patriots starter Tom) Brady," the Cowboys head coach said. "Brady has a championship. He has done far more. He has played far better football under a lot more pressure. Quincy is just getting started."
Obviously, Brady has helped the Patriots climb to the top of the mountain, taking over the team early in the 2001 season and leading it to a victory over the St. Louis Rams in Super Bowl XXXVI while winning MVP honors that night.
But even similarities between the two quarterbacks are striking.
Brady, a fourth-year pro, is just two months older than Carter, who is playing his third NFL season. Neither was a first-round pick, Brady actually going in the sixth round of the 2000 draft and Carter, of course, in the second the following year.
But when Drew Bledsoe went down early in 2001, Brady stepped in and the Patriots never looked back, winning 11-of-14 games the rest of the season, and then three more in the post-season to deliver New England its first Super Bowl title.
"He's been a really good quarterback for them," Carter said of Brady. "I watch his game, like some of the other good, young quarterbacks in this league. He's had success, though. He stepped in and played well from the start. And he's won big games. That's something this team is still trying to do."
That leads the Cowboys and Patriots to one other difference heading into Sunday's game:
Recent success.
The Cowboys have had very little since last making the playoffs in 1999 with an 8-8 record. They went three consecutive years finishing 5-11 under Dave Campo.
"We want to get back to where we belong, or where I think this team belongs," Cowboys veteran safety Darren Woodson said, knowing the Cowboys can at least get back to .500 by winning just one of their final seven games this year. "When I first got here (1992), we won the Super Bowl and then won it again the next year. I was spoiled from the very start. But I think this team and this franchise is a winner. We've struggled around here for a few years but we're starting to believe in each other. We're starting to think we can make some things happen around here."
The Patriots have been making some things happen for the past few years. Back in 2001, they were quite similar to these Cowboys, coming off a 5-11 season in 2000, yet making their surprising run all the way to the Super Bowl. They went 9-7 last year and appear to be on their way to a third consecutive winning season after this 7-2 start.
Now it's way too early to say the Cowboys are headed in the same direction, but their quick rise to NFL prominence so far this season certainly gives them a chance to replicate the Patriots' unexpected rise.
The Patriots found out, just like the Buccaneers are learning this season, how difficult it is to repeat as champions in the NFL. Last year, New England lost four straight games after a 3-0 start, and then two out of their last three games at the end of the season to just miss the playoffs, despite a 9-7 record.
"I would say they have more guys that know what it takes and have been there before," Parcells said. "I mean, that's obvious.
"But I saw them against the Jets and that game was pretty much like our game against the Jets. The game against Washington, was still pretty much like our game against Washington. But there are some similarities."
Like in scoring average, the Patriots averaging 20.4, the Cowboys 20.1. The Cowboys have out-gained New England by just 67 yards. The Cowboys have allowed one more sack. The Pats are allowing about two more points a game.
Down the line, the tale of the tape is almost identical until reaching the categories of turnovers and penalties.
New England has a plus-7 turnover ratio to the Cowboys' plus-1. But the Cowboys have committed 26 fewer penalties for 235 less yards.
Oddly enough, the Patriots were flagged 18 times in their last game, although only 14 penalties were assessed. But New England found a way to win that game, beating the Broncos on the road on Monday night. The week before, they were penalized just three times, but edged the Browns at home, 9-3.
"You never know in this league," Belichick said. "Everything changes by the week. How many of you picked the Jacksonville (2-7)-Indianapolis (7-2) winner? It is all about one-week match-ups. It is not about anything more than that. It is how the Patriots match up against the Cowboys, how the Cowboys match up against the Patriots. No more, no less."
If that bodes true Sunday night, these two could be looking at overtime.
Nick Eatman
DallasCowboys.com Staff Writer
November 13, 2003, 5:35 p.m. (CST)
IRVING, Texas - They enter Sunday night's game with a 7-2 record and a one-game lead in their division.
They started the season with a disappointing loss but have bounced back to win seven of eight games.
They win with defense. They have a ball-controlled offense and have started to use the running back by-committee approach.
The Cowboys? The Patriots?
Or maybe both since it's hard to decipher much difference between these near-identical NFL twins coming together this Sunday night for a nationally-televised visit at Gillette Stadium.
The two teams are almost mirror images of each other, in both style and production, although none of that should be considered a huge coincidence since the head coaches, Bill Parcells and Bill Belichick, have worked together for 15 NFL seasons, going all the way back to 1979.
Parcells can see the similarities. But he sees a big difference, too. One that is usually a deciding factor in close games and could be the difference maker in this one, come Sunday night:
Quarterback.
"We can't put Quincy (Carter) in a class with (Patriots starter Tom) Brady," the Cowboys head coach said. "Brady has a championship. He has done far more. He has played far better football under a lot more pressure. Quincy is just getting started."
Obviously, Brady has helped the Patriots climb to the top of the mountain, taking over the team early in the 2001 season and leading it to a victory over the St. Louis Rams in Super Bowl XXXVI while winning MVP honors that night.
But even similarities between the two quarterbacks are striking.
Brady, a fourth-year pro, is just two months older than Carter, who is playing his third NFL season. Neither was a first-round pick, Brady actually going in the sixth round of the 2000 draft and Carter, of course, in the second the following year.
But when Drew Bledsoe went down early in 2001, Brady stepped in and the Patriots never looked back, winning 11-of-14 games the rest of the season, and then three more in the post-season to deliver New England its first Super Bowl title.
"He's been a really good quarterback for them," Carter said of Brady. "I watch his game, like some of the other good, young quarterbacks in this league. He's had success, though. He stepped in and played well from the start. And he's won big games. That's something this team is still trying to do."
That leads the Cowboys and Patriots to one other difference heading into Sunday's game:
Recent success.
The Cowboys have had very little since last making the playoffs in 1999 with an 8-8 record. They went three consecutive years finishing 5-11 under Dave Campo.
"We want to get back to where we belong, or where I think this team belongs," Cowboys veteran safety Darren Woodson said, knowing the Cowboys can at least get back to .500 by winning just one of their final seven games this year. "When I first got here (1992), we won the Super Bowl and then won it again the next year. I was spoiled from the very start. But I think this team and this franchise is a winner. We've struggled around here for a few years but we're starting to believe in each other. We're starting to think we can make some things happen around here."
The Patriots have been making some things happen for the past few years. Back in 2001, they were quite similar to these Cowboys, coming off a 5-11 season in 2000, yet making their surprising run all the way to the Super Bowl. They went 9-7 last year and appear to be on their way to a third consecutive winning season after this 7-2 start.
Now it's way too early to say the Cowboys are headed in the same direction, but their quick rise to NFL prominence so far this season certainly gives them a chance to replicate the Patriots' unexpected rise.
The Patriots found out, just like the Buccaneers are learning this season, how difficult it is to repeat as champions in the NFL. Last year, New England lost four straight games after a 3-0 start, and then two out of their last three games at the end of the season to just miss the playoffs, despite a 9-7 record.
"I would say they have more guys that know what it takes and have been there before," Parcells said. "I mean, that's obvious.
"But I saw them against the Jets and that game was pretty much like our game against the Jets. The game against Washington, was still pretty much like our game against Washington. But there are some similarities."
Like in scoring average, the Patriots averaging 20.4, the Cowboys 20.1. The Cowboys have out-gained New England by just 67 yards. The Cowboys have allowed one more sack. The Pats are allowing about two more points a game.
Down the line, the tale of the tape is almost identical until reaching the categories of turnovers and penalties.
New England has a plus-7 turnover ratio to the Cowboys' plus-1. But the Cowboys have committed 26 fewer penalties for 235 less yards.
Oddly enough, the Patriots were flagged 18 times in their last game, although only 14 penalties were assessed. But New England found a way to win that game, beating the Broncos on the road on Monday night. The week before, they were penalized just three times, but edged the Browns at home, 9-3.
"You never know in this league," Belichick said. "Everything changes by the week. How many of you picked the Jacksonville (2-7)-Indianapolis (7-2) winner? It is all about one-week match-ups. It is not about anything more than that. It is how the Patriots match up against the Cowboys, how the Cowboys match up against the Patriots. No more, no less."
If that bodes true Sunday night, these two could be looking at overtime.
