How Did The New England Patriots React To Win Over Cowboys?
By Cyrus Geller
Oct 11, 2015; Arlington, TX, USA; New England Patriots wide receiver Julian Edelman (11) catches a touchdown pass against the Dallas Cowboys at AT&T Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Erich Schlegel-USA TODAY Sports
Julian Edelman
"“There’s a lot of things we can do better. But it was great to see guys like Marcus (Cannon) come in a play, our defense held them to six points and our special teams getting good plays.” “Their defense came out and changed up what they usually do. We had to adjust. We put ourselves in terrible situations with stupid penalties on myself a couple of times. When you put yourself in hole, it’s hard to get out of it. We were able to do it with adjustments and we did better in the second half.” On his PI penalties: “It’s a tough call. Sometimes it’s just youre out playing and you hit a guy on slant route. It’s just unfortunate. But that’s the rules. You’ve got to abide by it.” On Brady’s toughness: “Have you seen him play for the last 15 years? He’s pretty tough. I don’t think anyone underrates his toughness. Tom Brady is tough, very tough.” On playing in Dallas: “It was a big ol’ circus with walking through the stands with this and that and the Jumbotron. It’s a cool place to play. It was awesome to see all the Patriots fans out there. It seemed pretty equal, didn’t it? It was loud. It doesn’t surprise you. Everywhere I go, I see Patriots fans.”"
Nate Solder
"On his injury: “It’s too hard to tell. We’re just going to roll forward and see what happens.” On 2nd half adjustments: “Well, there were some adjustments made. We just started playing better too. I mean, we had to. We couldn’t play the way we played the first half.” On the challenge presented by Dallas: “They’re good players. They have a good scheme and they play hard.”"
Duron Harmon
"On containing the run: “That’s the best offensive line in the league. They run the ball well each week. That’s how the offenses get going, through the running game. The running game creates space for the passing game and vice versa. So we knew the main thing, the main objective today, was to stop the run.” On holding the Cowboys offense in check: “Everybody just doing their jobs, to be honest. Everybody had a job to do, and everybody went out there and tried their hardest to do it. Whether it was stopping the run, trying to stop Witten, keeping the quarterback in the pocket, all of those things. We did a good job of trying to carry out the game plan today.” On how they held Witten in check: “Just give him different looks. Just different looks. Just different people on him. Sometimes a couple of people on him. Just trying to take him out of the game. Because once he gets going, he is a hard person to stop.”"
Alan Branch
"On what the defense is showing: “Everybody in the locker room, on the defensive side at least, we all know everybody is capable of doing their job. We have seen eachother doing it during practice and at a lot of points during the game. … We are assuring ourselves and our teammates that we are good at doing our job and that we are trustworthy at doing our job.” On holding the Cowboys offense in check: “Everybody just had a great game. The secondary was doing a great job on the receivers. Up front we are trying to put pressure on the quarterback and stop the run. Obviously we did a descent job. There she blows. That’s what happened right there.”"
Jabaal Sheard
"On the defense: “Just go out there and just do it every week. Did they score? We wanted to hold the offense to no touchdowns. … They did get yardage. But at the end of the day, we held our own in the red zone.” On how the defense can build on a strong performance: “I think that is something we have to do every week. It is the NFL, everybody wants to run the ball. You have a lot of great backs. Definitely you have to stop the run. That is something we have been trying to do since day one. Hopefully we got a little better – I don’t know what their rushing yards were – hopefully we got a little better this week.” On holding the Cowboys offense in check: “Just playing hard in the red zone. I think we came up good in the red zone. Everybody sold out and gave their all.” On how he will build on his personal contributions to the game: “Just continue to get better. I was talking about those two sacks, but I had a lot of mistakes, so I have to go back and watch the film and obviously get better.”"
Devin McCourty
"On the defense, and whether they were watching the offensive production: “On defense, the big thing is we are not paying attention to anything the offense does. They have a job and we have a job. So no matter if they are scoring every possession or if they are going three-and-out or kicking field goals. We just have to get the ball back. I think from playing here for a couple years, we know if we can just keep getting the ball back, no matter what they are doing, eventually they will put points on the board and we will make a run.” On the defensive mentality: “Just playing. That’s our job. Not allow points. We were able to do that. If we hold a team to six points, our offense will win a good amount of games.” On holding Witten in check: “I think everyone knows from watching us through the years, we are always going to try to take away teams’ best players. Obviously he is one of the best tight ends to play the game. Just having awareness and doing different things within the scheme to try to stop him. At times we did a good job, just not letting him be that go-to guy, and keep catching big catches and move the chains.” On Jamie Collins: “Dude’s not human. He was all over the field today. He made so many plays that he didn’t make on paper. Just his presence. He was all over the place. That is coming from me, not watching the game but being in the game, and I could feel it. So I can’t imagine just being able to watch from up top and seeing all the plays he was able to make.”"