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The New England Patriots and Dallas Cowboys both got off to losing starts in Week One of the NFL season
Are two of the NFL’s most storied franchises are already in crisis mode, just one week into the 2022 NFL season?
The New England Patriots have won a joint-record six Super Bowls, all under the watch of two-decade strong head coach Bill Belichick, while the Dallas Cowboys have won five, but both suffered heavy season-opening defeats on Sunday and have concerning injuries to their starting quarterbacks.
The Patriots were defeated 20-7 in Miami – their fourth-straight loss to the Dolphins – in which Mac Jones was hampered by a back injury, while Dallas lost 19-3 at home to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, with Dak Prescott fracturing his thumb on his throwing hand.
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Highlights of the New England Patriots against the Miami Dolphins from Week One of the NFL season
The prognosis for both appears to be better than had first been feared, with X-rays for Jones clear, raising the possibility of him playing even this weekend, Though Prescott has had surgery on his thumb, the Cowboys have not placed him on injured reserve, setting the table for a potential comeback inside four weeks.
Simms: Cowboys in big trouble
But, discussing Dallas’ prospects for the 2023 season on NBC’s Pro Football Talk, former NFL quarterback Chris Simms is already concerned about what the loss of Prescott means to the team.
“They are in big trouble,” Simms said. “They don’t have the team they had last year.
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Highlights of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers against the Dallas Cowboys from Week One of the NFL season
“They had a special team then and so they could hide problems and help [backup QB] Cooper Rush that way.
“All of the concerns we had about the Cowboys we saw when they fell flat on their face on Sunday night; the offensive line is not that good – it’s overrated; defensively they’ve lost players; Ezekiel Elliott is good, nothing great; CeeDee Lamb is a good receiver, but is not a superstar.
“Dak Prescott is the best player on their team, along with Micah Parsons, and now he’s gone. They can’t run the ball, they’re going to have to depend on the pass game and I don’ think it’s going to be all that special.
“Dallas are in trouble.”
Cowboys owner Jerry Jones disagrees, speaking bullishly this week that all hope is not gone for 2023.
Cowboys owner Jerry Jones believes the team’s season is not over despite the injury to quarterback Dak Prescott
“One of the things that has stood me about football, is that it can be looking very dark for you and then it can reverse on you in an instant,” Jones said, via the Dallas Morning News. “It can go positive in an instant – we’ve got a lot of football.
“You can think negatively and everybody does and that’s normal. But, boy, we got a lot of positive things we can do. I have seen it just hopeless and walk out there and David slay the giant. I’ve seen it done.”
Hampering the Cowboys’ prospects of a swift, positive turnaround in fortunes is a rough schedule over the next five weeks in which they face both of last year’s Super Bowl finalists, the Cincinnati Bengals and Los Angeles Rams, as well a three NFC East divisional matchups, two of which come on the road at the New York Giants and Philadelphia Eagles.
Joe Burrow and the Bengals are up next for the Cowboys in Week Two
Simms also points to the example of Russell Wilson and his broken finger from last season which kept him out for a month, fearing Prescott could similarly struggle when does return to the field.
“Yes, he could be back then [four weeks], but he’s not going to be throwing spirals all over the field,” Simms said.
“Just like we saw with Russell Wilson’s injury last year, he’s not going to be able to throw the ball all that well, it’s going to take a while for him to get used to things and be himself.
“I worry about them. Their schedule isn’t easy, I just don’t see it.
“They blew their chance last year. They had a team in the window that was talented; they had salary cap issues, didn’t pay Randy Gregory and a few others left too.
“I always felt that Dallas had to ride the right arm of Prescott and now they’ve got nothing to ride. I think they’re in big trouble.”
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A look back to some of the best plays from Week One of the NFL season, including some by Justin Jefferson, Saquon Barkley and Cooper Kupp
What’s wrong with Belichick’s Patriots?
As for the Patriots, the most surprising aspect of their season-opening loss in Miami was arguably precisely how unsurprising the result was.
Under Belichick’s 22-year leadership, New England have been the model of consistency in the NFL, winning six championships reaching three further Super Bowls and missing out on the playoffs on only four occasions.
That being said, since their Super Bowl LIII win over the Los Angeles Rams and the subsequent departure of Tom Brady to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, the Patriots have failed to win a single playoff game in the three years since.
Might there be trouble brewing in New England between owner Robert Kraft and head coach Bill Belichick?
Team owner Robert Kraft had told reporters at the NFL owners’ meeting in March their playoff winless streak “bothers me”, so could Belichick, of all people, be under pressure?
Posing the question on Pro Football Talk, Mike Florio said: “It feels wrong to get so firmly behind a team that is playing Bill Belichick, but this was one [the Dolphins defeat] that we kind of saw coming.
“This is just not your usual Belichick team. And I’m not going to give him a lifetime pass just because he has won six Super Bowls.
“We know how the NFL is; it’s not a case of what have you done for me lately, it’s what are you doing for me right now and tomorrow.
“When you have the owner of the team, Robert Kraft, openly say back in March that he is not happy that they’ve gone three years without winning a playoff game, he is not going to put up with this.
“I don’t know how many bad years six championships will buy Belichick. Maybe we’ll find out.”
One of the main concerns in New England right now centres on the offense and, specifically, who is calling the plays since the departure of long-time offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels, now head coach of the Las Vegas Raiders.
Former Lions head coach Matt Patricia appears to be calling the plays on offense of the Patriots in 2022
Former defensive coordinator for the team, Matt Patricia, appeared to take the reins in the disappointing defeat to the Dolphins, ending speculation pre-season as to whether it would be him or Joe Judge, a former special teams coach for the team.
“There is just a different vibe [around the Patriots],” Florio added. “There is almost excuse-making. That’s not the Belichick we know – typically, because he doesn’t usually have to make too many excuses.
“We’ve heard him say on multiple occasions ‘it’s ultimately on me’, ‘if it doesn’t work, blame me’.
“He has a big pile of chips that he amassed over the last 20 years, and this is a year where he has got to use some of them – like making Matt Patricia his play-caller and Joe Judge his quarterbacks coach.
“Patricia was a defensive coordinator for years, and failed as head coach of the (Detroit) Lions. Judge was a special teams coordinators, and failed as head coach of the (New York) Giants.
“These are the guys running your offense and it just isn’t working.”
The Patriots next travel to Pittsburgh to play the Steelers, before a home game against the Baltimore Ravens and then another road trip in Week Four to the Green Bay Packers.
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