Cowboys vs. Patriots: 6 Points of Interest in New England's 20-16 Win

The Dallas Cowboys have found ways to lose, while the New England Patriots have waited for their opponents to find ways to lose.

This week was different. The Cowboys just couldn't find a way to win, while New England went out and made their own way to victory. A second straight stout defensive performance was finally capitalized on when Tom Brady marched the Patriots' offense down the field 80 yards on the final drive to get the win.

It wasn't pretty, but it was a win. That's not exactly how a team wants to go into the bye week, but at least they have a few things to take from the win. Here are just a few of the most important lessons.

Patriots May Be Shedding Their Reputation Regarding Turnovers

Perhaps the most interesting and telling statistic in why the Patriots beat the Cowboys was that despite the offense turning the ball over four times, the defense allowed just six points off those turnovers.

Practically everyone predicted that turnovers would play a big role in this game. Not many would have predicted, though, that the Patriots would lose the turnover battle four to two. The turnovers were expected from the Cowboys (minus-four turnover differential) but not the Patriots (plus-three).

This is the second straight win for the Patriots in which they lost the turnover battle but won the game. The Patriots are ordinarily considered a team that lives and dies by turnovers. Their ability to win those games is proof that they are capable of winning even when Tom Brady doesn't play his best.

Patriots Win the Penalty Battle, Bucking Their Early-Season Reputation

New England has built a bad reputation for penalties this season, but today they won the battle of boneheaded mistakes by a count of five for 35 yards to 10 for 77 yards by the Cowboys.

It's not rocket science. Don't make big mistakes, don't put yourself in bad situations with penalties and you severely improve your chances to beat New England. Although the Cowboys won the turnover battle, they often answered back with drives that shot themselves in the foot.

Cowboys' Defense Able to Slow Down New England's Offense

Before we get to Brady's fourth-quarter comeback, let's be real: This was a very uncharacteristic day for Brady.

Rob Ryan pulled out all the stops on the Patriots, and though they were plagued by uncharacteristic turnovers (as mentioned earlier), there were still several key situations in which the Patriots failed to move the ball, largely because of confusion in the trenches and good play calls by Rob Ryan.

The Cowboys sent DeMarcus Ware from all over the place, and it resulted in two early sacks that helped hold the Patriots to just three points in the first quarter.

Brady's stat line wasn't very good until the final drive. Before that, he was 19-for-32 for 221 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions for a passer rating of just 63.7. Of course, he put it together when it mattered, but a rough day for Brady and the offense as a whole was another reason this game was a lot closer than it had to be. 

As a result of Dallas' ability to stop New England's offense, they were also able to put an end to the Patriots' streak of 13 straight games with 30-plus points. Their streak stands one short of the streak put up by the 1999-2000 St. Louis Rams, who had 14.

But in the End, Tom Brady Comes Through

Brady proved just what makes him Brady by doing what made him Brady in the first place.

With one 80-yard drive, Brady made Patriots fans forget about the first three quarters of the game. The two-time NFL MVP was immaculate on the game's final drive, going 8-of-9 for 78 yards and the game-winning touchdown pass to Aaron Hernandez.

The Patriots faced just one third down on that final drive.

Brady has now compiled 32 game-winning drives in the fourth quarter when his team was either tied or behind.

Ochocinco Is Still Far from Making an Impact

Chad Ochocinco was in for just three snaps in the first half, according to ESPN's Mike Reiss. He was on the field for just seven snaps overall. Although Ochocinco' is still relatively new, and although the Patriots have run a lot of 21 personnel, it's not a good sign when a guy with so much promise rides the bench for most of the game.

It hasn't all been bad for Ocho. Seven of his nine receptions have been for first downs, and many of them have also come inside of two minutes, when the team most needs to move the ball. 

On the one play where he was targeted on a pass, he ran the wrong route. It looked like a play that was specifically designed to get him the ball, also.

Defense Can Hang Tight While Offense Finds Its Feet

One big criticism of the Patriots' defense has been the massive amounts of yards they give up, specifically through the air.

The fact that they're letting up a 93.0 passer rating against opposing quarterbacks doesn't help, either.

While the Patriots' quarterback and entire offense stumbled out of the gate and didn't regain their feet until the final drive, it was the defense that held up its end of the bargain for four quarters for the second straight week. 

Unlike last week, though, it wasn't all a result of the opponent shooting themselves in the foot. Much of New England's success last week was attributed to facing a very bad Jets offense, but no one can deny the level of talent Dallas possesses on offense.

Sure, the aforementioned turnovers helped the Patriots slow the Cowboys down early, but success on key third downs was as big a factor. The fact that the Patriots were able to hold their own on those third downs was a good sign of things to come. This was a signature bend-don't-break defensive performance, with the defense coming up big in the red zone and when it mattered most.

The Patriots held the Cowboys to just 4-of-12 on third down conversions and just 1-of-3 in the red zone. 

Erik Frenz is the co-host of the PatsPropaganda and Frenz podcast. Follow Erik on Twitter @erikfrenz.