Patriots coach Bill Belichick usually has his team prepared for almost anything, but that definitely wasn't the case during New England's 38-3 blowout loss to Dallas on Sunday. At one point in the game, the Patriots were caught sleeping on a surprise play by the Cowboys that was mostly notable because the play had never been attempted before in NFL history.
The unique play came on an extra point attempt after Leighton Vander Esch returned a fumble 11 yards for a touchdown to give the Cowboys a 16-3 lead.
At that point, most teams would have kicked the extra point, but the Cowboys CALLED FOR A FAKE and the fake worked to perfection. The Patriots were sending everyone in an attempt to block the kick, so the Cowboys decided to take advantage of that by having their holder, Bryan Anger, throw a pass to a WIDE OPEN Chauncey Golston.
As you can see below, the Patriots were caught sleeping at the wheel, which isn't something you usually see from New England, especially on special teams.
Find someone who looks at you like Chauncey Golston looks at the end zone on a Cowboys fake PAT attempt pic.twitter.com/bXe2zDVLAI
— Marc Istook (@MarcIstook) October 1, 2023
Let's take a look at one more angle of the fake.
Fake extra-point, DL Chauncey Golston TD catch from punter Bryan Anger
— Jon Machota (@jonmachota) October 1, 2023
Cowboys 18, Patriots 3 pic.twitter.com/n3IBQt75Df
The most notable part of this play is that the Cowboys were the FIRST team in NFL history to attempt it. Yes, there have been fake field goals before, but no team had ever run a fake extra point since the line of scrimmage on the PAT was moved back to the 15-yard line in 2015, according to ESPN Stats and Information.
Two weeks ago, Belichick was being praised for coming up with one of the most unique special teams plays ever when his team blocked a field goal after one of his players went into motion. This week, Belichick got a taste of his own medicine.
According to Cowboys coach Mike McCarthy, the idea for the play came from special teams coordinator John Fassel.
"Got to give John [Fassel] a ton of credit," McCarthy said following the blowout win. "It's something he brought to me on Tuesday night, something he saw on film. So, we repped it all week, we had the check on it. We got the look, and it was just like anything in this game, the players did a great job preparing and it was very well executed. We just felt it was something we may have the chance to take advantage of."
The Cowboys fake will now give Belichick something to think about going forward, because if he sends everyone to try and block a kick, the kicking team could respond by doing what the Cowboys did.
