DEFENSIVE NOTES
■ Personnel breakdown: 39% three-safety nickel package, 36% three-cornerback nickel, 19% dime, 6% goal line.**
■ Pressure rate: 25%
■ Blitz rate: 31% of dropbacks
■ Blitz efficiency: 6.4 yards allowed/play, 3 TDs, INT.
■ Yards per carry allowed: 3.9
■ Third downs: 3-13
■ Red-zone efficiency: 2-5
■ Sacks: None
■ QB hits: Matt Judon 2, Dont’a Hightower 2, Kyle Dugger
■ Hurries: Team 2, Josh Uche 2, Judon 2, Kyle Van Noy
■ Drawn holds: Deatrich Wise 2, Van Noy, Uche
■ Run stuffs: Team 6, Ja’Whaun Bentley 2, Christian Barmore
■ Interceptions: Dugger
■ Pass deflections: J.C. Jackson 4, Devin McCourty, Jonathan Jones, Justin Bethel
■ Missed tackles: Adrian Phillips 2, Van Noy 2, Dugger 2, Hightower, Jackson, Jones, McCourty
■ Start with the snap counts. Matt Judon, J.C. Jackson, Kyle Dugger and Jalen Mills also set or matched career highs in playing time Sunday, while longtime veterans Devin McCourty and Kyle Van Noy came close.
■ Overall, the defense played 89 snaps, which wore out the pass rush. The Pats’ pressure rate fell from 34.7% in the first half to 17.8% after halftime.
■ That lack of pressure hurt most on the two defining plays from Sunday: Dak Prescott’s 24-yard completion on third-and-25 to set up a game-tying field goal, then his 35-yard, game-winning touchdown to CeeDee Lamb.
■ Aware of their waning pressure, the Pats sent an all-out blitz at Prescott on the final play. His run fake fooled the entire front, and with Dugger and McCourty in man-toman against the Cowboys’ two tight ends, there was no safety deep to help a tired Mills. Once Lamb beat him, it was over.
■ The play was an outlier for a few reasons — the Patriots were in man coverage and Prescott hit a deep ball — but it also represented another example of Dallas offensive coordinator Kellen Moore staying a step ahead of Pats’ defensive play-caller Steve Belichick. McCourty admitted post-game Dallas had caught them in a bad coverage versus that play.
■ Moore also dialed up the perfect route combination on third-and-25 versus a soft version of Cover 1, where the Cowboys cleared out McCourty’s deep zone with a vertical route from the slot and found Lamb on a dig right behind it. Lamb beat Mills’ man coverage that route, too.
■ Though most of the night, the Patriots played soft zone, including a ton of Cover 2 that Prescott patiently waited out. He often found Ezekiel Elliott, a walking mismatch against the Pats linebackers, underneath. Elliott finished with seven catches, and Dallas’ running backs and tight ends combined for 16.
■ The Pats committed themselves to eliminating the deep ball between the 20s, which came at the expense of these throws. Inside the red zone, they prioritized No. 1 wide receiver Amari Cooper and leading tight end Dalton Schultz, who both drew double teams. No problem for Prescott: he hit Lamb for two touchdowns and backup tight end Blake Jarwin for one.
■ Opposite Mills, J.C. Jackson played an outstanding game after allowing two catches on the opening drive. His borderline defensive pass interference penalty was the only other real blemish, with four pass breakups and two more catches allowed over the Cowboys’ last 10 possessions.
■ Otherwise, the only victories the Patriots claimed were in short-yardage and the red zone. Jonathan Jones and Justin Bethel took 11 points off the board with two pass breakups in the second quarter. That’s how close this one came to a blowout.
■ Dont’a Hightower and Josh Uche have failed to make a significant pass-rushing impact in the second half of three straight games, leaving too much of the pressure load on Judon’s shoulders. Judon accounted for three of the Pats’ five pressures in the second half.
SOURCE: Statistics for passing depth, broken tackles and missed tackles courtesy of Pro Football Focus.
*11 personnel = one running back, one tight end; 12 personnel = one running back, two tight ends; 21F personnel = one running back, one fullback, one tight end; 21H personnel = two halfbacks, one tight end; 22 personnel = two backs, two tight ends; jumbo personnel = two backs, three tight ends.
**Nickel defense = five defensive backs; dime defense = six defensive backs; quarter defense = seven defensive backs.