THE DALLAS COWBOYS sacked Tom Brady five times during their match-up on Sunday night and yet still conceded 30 points to a New England offence that looked every inch a unit hungry to win back-to-back Super Bowl titles.
With Tom Brady under center, the Patriots have always been regarded as a pass-first team but the real beauty of what Bill Belichick and Josh McDaniels do with their offence comes from their multitude of personnel groupings which they hope will either create mismatches or misdirection.
While they did plenty of the former on Sunday, it was the latter which allowed Dion Lewis skip in for what would prove to be the touchdown which put paid to any hopes of a Dallas comeback in this game.
Here’s how it looked on TV:
Pre-snap read offence
The Patriots have first and goal from the 10-yard line with five minutes gone in the second half. Play-calling is often determined by the game situation so — with so much time and potentially four downs to play with — the Cowboys have to be alert to everything.
The Patriots are in their 11 formation with one running back (yellow), one tight end (blue) and three receivers (red).
New England are in their single-back set — otherwise known as Ace — formation. Having a tight end at the line of scrimmage and a running back as, potentially, two extra blockers makes it a great passing formation.
Pre-snap read defence
The Cowboys have their 3-2-6 dime package on the field which sees not one but two extra cornerbacks (green) coming on as Dallas look to defend a pass into the endzone.
The dime is usually employed in obvious passing situations so it’s clear from the outset here that the Cowboy’s don’t expect the Patriots to run the ball.
However, they have over-committed to defending the strong side of the field, something New England take full advantage of.
After the snap
Having decided to play the pass, the Cowboys defenders then completely buy into the Patriots’ play action and start to defend a run play.
Julian Edleman (#11) comes in motion from the weak side to the strong and, after Brady pivots and fakes the handoff to his wide receiver, the Cowboys are suddenly caught with just three players — one of whom is looking the wrong way — on the side of the field Brady is about to throw the ball to.
Lewis (#33) was always the primary target on this play as that’s where Brady started his progression and the Patriots quarterback gets the ball to his running back as soon as he physically can.
With Gronk (#87) and Edelman being enough of a threat to shade the Dallas defence to one side of the field, the Patriots are then helped by Danny Amendola (#80) running a screen, changing the route Cowboys outside linebacker Jonathan Freeny (#55) has to take to Lewis.
What happens next
The throw from Brady isn’t great. While it should be thrown to Lewis’ downfield shoulder, the back has to turn around to grab it.
Oddly though, this helps the running back as it allows him a 360 degree view of what’s coming towards him.
After that though, it’s all on a combination of brilliant footwork from Lewis and poor tackling from the Cowboys.
It’s also, however, about quickness of mind.
Nine times out of ten, a running back having received the football in Lewis’ position would have gone straight for the sideline — particularly on first and goal — and tried to use his speed to get into the endzone.
Strong safety Barry Church (#42) expects this too so, when Lewis unexpectedly plants his foot and steps inside, he completely whiffs on his tackle.
Conclusion
There’s a lot more to this play than just Lewis’ fancy footwork and power at the end.
The way it is set up — threatening the Cowboys with not just Gronk but Edelman too — before striking with Lewis shows just how many ways the Patriots can find the endzone.
It also goes some way to explaining how they’re managing to average more than 37 points per game this season.
