OFFENSIVE NOTES
■ Personnel breakdown: 48% of snaps in 11 personnel, 34% in 22 personnel, 12% in 12 personnel, 2% in 21F personnel, 2% in 21H personnel, 2% in jumbo personnel.*
■ Personnel production: 7.3 yards/play in 11 personnel, 6.3 yards/ play in 12 personnel, 5.8 yards/play in 22 personnel, 11 yards/play in 21F personnel and 1 yard/ play in jumbo personnel.
■ Pressure rate allowed: 30%
■ Play-action rate: 26%
■ Yards per carry: 4.4
■ First downs: 62.5% run (5.3 yards per play), 37.5% pass (16.7 yards per play)
■ Third downs: 3-9
■ Red-zone efficiency: 2-2
■ Broken tackles: Damien Harris, Rhamondre Stevenson
■ Sacks allowed: Isaiah Wynn, Yodny Cajuste
■ QB hits allowed: Team 3, Hunter Henry
■ Hurries allowed: Justin Herron, James Ferentz, Cajuste
■ Holds: Ferentz
■ Run stuffs allowed: Jakobi Meyers
■ Drops: Nelson Agholor
■ Everything changed the moment Cowboys defensive end Randy Gregory crushed Jones for a strip sack early in the second quarter. From play-calling to personnel groupings, everything.
■ Offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels shrank from a 55% passing rate on first downs — an appropriate approach that had yielded almost 13 yards per play — to 27% the rest of the game. As McDaniels went runheavy, the Pats averaged 4.2 yards per rush on first down.
■ Not only did McDaniels turtle with his run-pass splits, but he pivoted from a heavy personnel game plan that would’ve produced three straight touchdowns had Ferentz not been whistled for holding before Gregory’s sack.
■ The Pats smartly opened by deploying two tight ends on 85% of their snaps through three drives. Dallas entered kickoff as the second-worst team in the league at defending tight ends per Football Outsiders’ opponent-and-situation-adjusted efficiency metric DVOA.
■ But post-sack, McDaniels used two-tight end personnel on only one-third of his remaining play-calls, instead favoring three-receiver groupings. No surprise: their next five possessions went scoreless.
■ This change was not dictated by game flow, as the Pats never trailed by more than one score. The lack of targets for Hunter Henry and Jonnu Smith was another unforced error. Together, they saw one (!) combined pass the rest of the game.
■ What happened on the sixth drive after Gregory’s sack? Jones directed a 13-play touchdown march built on seven snaps of two-tight end personnel, more than McDaniels had called the previous five series combined.
■ Now, the clear and obvious reason for McDaniels’ concern was the offensive line. As mentioned, Herron struggled mightily at left tackle, and Wynn, after two weeks of not practicing, gave up a sack in limited action. But largely, the rest of the O-line largely did its job.
■ Backup guard Ted Karras posted a clean sheet, and center David Andrews was driven into Jones on one dropback, but otherwise played a strong game. And the Pats chipped Gregory plenty on the edge to help their offensive tackles, a tactic most easily executed with multiple tight ends on the field.
■ Aside from play-calling problems, the Patriots also suffered from a lack of separation outside versus man coverage. According to ESPN, the Cowboys ran Cover 1 — a defense with man-to-man across the board and one safety deep — on 73% of their snaps.
■ Kendrick Bourne scored his 75-yard touchdown against Cover 1, shaking Trevon Diggs with an out-and-up and breezing past an overaggressive safety. Aside from that play — which was admittedly massive — Bourne and Nelson Agholor must be better. Jakobi Meyers shouldn’t own more catches than the both of them combined through six games.
■ On the plus side, Damien Harris and Rhamondre Stevenson ran hard, and Stevenson again flashed soft hands with his 23-yard catch in the first quarter, teasing the possibility of more two-halfback snaps moving forward. Though it’s clear, the coaching staff still trusts Brandon Bolden more than either player in blitz pickup.