Tom Brady completed 17 of 37 passes for 190 yards and one touchdown, and the New England Patriots held on for a 13-9 win over the visiting Dallas Cowboys on a cold, wet and windy Sunday afternoon in Foxborough, Mass.
N'Keal Harry scored the lone touchdown for New England (10-1), which notched double-digit victories for the 17th straight season. Julian Edelman led all receivers with eight catches for 93 yards, and Sony Michel led the ground attack with 20 carries for 85 yards.
Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott struggled in the inclement weather, completing 19 of 33 passes for 212 yards and an interception. Dallas (6-5) lost for the second time in the past three weeks.
Ezekiel Elliott finished with 126 yards from scrimmage (86 rushing, 40 receiving) to lead the Cowboys. Veteran wide receiver Randall Cobb had four catches for 86 yards, but teammate Amari Cooper was held without a reception.
New England opened the scoring in the final minute of the first quarter when Brady connected with Harry for a 10-yard touchdown. A blocked punt by Patriots special-teams ace Matthew Slater two plays earlier helped set up the score.
Harry laid on his back and raised both of his arms to the sky to celebrate his first career touchdown. The rookie out of Arizona State was New England's first-round draft pick (No. 32 overall) this spring.
A 44-yard field goal by Nick Folk increased the Patriots' lead to 10-0 early in the second quarter.
Dallas responded with two field goals to cut the deficit to 10-6 at halftime. Brett Maher made kicks from 46 yards and 27 yards.
New England increased its lead to 13-6 when Folk connected from 42 yards with 9:32 remaining in the fourth quarter.
The Cowboys pulled back within 13-9 on a 29-yarder by Maher with 6:04 to go.
Cowboys tight end Jason Witten played in his 250th career game. He became the 46th player in NFL history and only the third at his position to achieve the milestone, joining tight ends Trey Junkin (281 games) and Tony Gonzalez (270).
--Field Level Media
Dallas | New England | |
Ezekiel Elliott | Player | Sony Michel |
21 | Attempts | 20 |
86 | Yards | 85 |
4.1 | Avg Yards | 4.2 |
0 | Touchdowns | 0 |
12 | Long | 17 |
Dallas | New England | |
Randall Cobb | Player | Julian Edelman |
4 | Receptions | 8 |
86 | Yards | 93 |
21.5 | Avg Yards | 11.6 |
0 | Touchdowns | 0 |
59 | Long | 23 |
Yards | Scoring | Defense | ||||||
Team | Tot | Rus | Pas | TD | FG | INT | Sck | FF |
Dallas | 321 | 109 | 212 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 2.0 | 1 |
New England | 282 | 101 | 181 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0.0 | 2 |