WEEK 5 · FINAL
THE READ
Cowboys beat Patriots, 27-17
Cowboys got it done 27-17 over Patriots. Drake Maye did the damage for Patriots — 25/46, 223 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT — in a losing effort. A.J. Brown was the target for Patriots — 6 catches, 75 yards. A.J. Brown's high-water mark for the year. On the ground: Cowboys 128, Patriots 74.
The Wire · league beat
THE WIDER PICTURE
| Team | SRS | SOS | MARGIN | TO +/- |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cowboys | +1.1 | -4.8 | +5.9 | +4 |
| Patriots | -7.5 | -2.3 | -5.2 | +3 |
SRS is how many points a side beats an
average team by once you account for who they played — beat a good
team by 3 and it counts for more than beating a bad one by 20.
SOS is how hard that schedule has been.
Full table.
IN THE BOOTH
Charlie Kirkster
Analyst
New England had the ball more and threw it more, but Dallas ran it 128 yards to 74 and that ground game was the difference—the Patriots turned it over once while creating nothing, and that's how a 10-point loss feels like it should've been closer.
Elise Carter
The insider
· replying
Dallas got away with a 10-point win on a night when A.J. Brown did exactly what he needed to do—which is the kind of game where you notice the Cowboys aren't having to do much else.
Ava Collins
Beat reporter
· replying
Drake Maye threw for 223 yards and an interception on 46 attempts—that's a lot of volume for not much return, and it's the kind of night where New England's passing game couldn't keep pace with Dallas' ground attack. The Pats need to find balance before they fall further behind.
They only ever read the box score and this league's own numbers —
none of them has a source, and none of them can report anything that
did not happen.
Drake Maye
Patriots
25/46, 223 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT
A.J. Brown
Patriots
6 catches, 75 yards
George Pickens
Cowboys
6 catches, 69 yards
THE STORY SO FAR
WHAT DECIDED IT
On the ground
Cowboys 128, Patriots 74
Cowboys
Through the air
Patriots 223, Cowboys 176
Patriots
Total yards
Cowboys 304, Patriots 297
Cowboys
Giveaways
Patriots 1, Cowboys 0
Cowboys
THE ROOM
Final. The recap is below.
THE MATCHUP SCOUT
every number below is counted from the export or read off the roster — nothing is inferred about playcalling
LEAGUE DATA
counted by Madden, and arithmetic on top of it
Pass-heavy
Pass 62% · Rush 38% · 32.5 scored, 26.6 allowed
8.1 yds/att
61.6% completions
4.6 yds/carry
406.1 yds/game
1.4 giveaways/game
5.4% sack rate
last 5: 1-4
SAPPHIRE METRICS
QB efficiency 66 · Efficient
Balance 88
Ball security 62
Back usage 31%
QB runs 4.4/game
PERSONNEL
off the roster — unit averages, best starters only
QB 88
WR 88
TE 85
RB 82
OL 83
DL 86
LB 81
DB 87
Best: CeeDee Lamb WR 95
Fastest: Jaydon Blue HB 93 SPD
6 at star dev or better
YOUR NOTEBOOK
what you wrote about them — private, and never a Sapphire statistic
Sign in as a member of this league to keep private scouting notes on your opponents.
LEAGUE DATA
counted by Madden, and arithmetic on top of it
Balanced
Pass 57% · Rush 43% · 17.1 scored, 22.4 allowed
6.4 yds/att
60.1% completions
4.2 yds/carry
288.8 yds/game
1.1 giveaways/game
7.4% sack rate
last 5: 3-2
SAPPHIRE METRICS
QB efficiency 42 · Conservative
Balance 93
Ball security 70
Back usage 34%
QB runs 4.4/game
PERSONNEL
off the roster — unit averages, best starters only
QB 99
WR 85
TE 87
RB 88
OL 84
DL 85
LB 75
DB 90
Best: Drake Maye QB 99
Fastest: TreVeyon Henderson HB 95 SPD
2 at star dev or better
YOUR NOTEBOOK
what you wrote about them — private, and never a Sapphire statistic
Sign in as a member of this league to keep private scouting notes on your opponents.
HOW THEY PLAY
the man, not the franchise — only weeks the record attributes to him, this season
wizzkid76
Patriots · his last 8 games
Balanced
Pass / run56% / 44%
Points for / against18.5 — 21.0
Margin-2.5
Giveaways a game1.0
Sacks taken7.6% of dropbacks
Lead backTreVeyon Henderson · 13.2/g
Top targetA.J. Brown · 30%
QB carries4.0 a game
Counted from the weeks each man actually held his team — so a franchise that changed hands is not credited to whoever has it now. Nothing above is a playcall: the export does not carry those, and neither does this.
MATCHUP ADVANTAGES
unit averages against each other — inside three points is a push
Cowboys receivers vs Patriots secondary
88 v 90
EVEN
Patriots receivers vs Cowboys secondary
85 v 87
EVEN
Cowboys line vs Patriots front
83 v 85
EVEN
Patriots line vs Cowboys front
84 v 86
EVEN
Cowboys backs vs Patriots run defence
82 v 83
EVEN
Patriots backs vs Cowboys run defence
88 v 85
PATRIOTS
Cowboys passer vs Patriots secondary
88 v 90
EVEN
Patriots passer vs Cowboys secondary
99 v 87
PATRIOTS
TOP PERFORMERS
🎬
The Game Recapthis game as an episode -- the score, the stars, the numbers that decided it -- and a video you can post ›
BOX SCORE
COWBOYS
PATRIOTS
COWBOYS
PATRIOTS
COWBOYS
PATRIOTS
COWBOYS
PATRIOTS
COWBOYS
PATRIOTS
COWBOYS
| PLAYER | C/ATT | YDS | TD | INT | SCK | LNG | RTG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Joe Milton QB | 20/33 | 176 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 27 | 74.8 |
PATRIOTS
| PLAYER | C/ATT | YDS | TD | INT | SCK | LNG | RTG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Drake Maye QB | 25/46 | 223 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 18 | 65.7 |
COWBOYS
| PLAYER | CAR | YDS | AVG | TD | BTK | YAC | LNG | FUM |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Javonte Williams HB | 10 | 57 | 5.7 | 1 | 5 | 21 | 21 | 0 |
| Jaydon Blue HB | 9 | 46 | 5.1 | 0 | 2 | 19 | 20 | 0 |
| CeeDee Lamb WR | 1 | 9 | 9 | 0 | 2 | 7 | 9 | 0 |
| Joe Milton QB | 4 | 9 | 2.2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 |
| Justice Haynes HB | 3 | 7 | 2.3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| Trey'Dez Green TE | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
PATRIOTS
| PLAYER | CAR | YDS | AVG | TD | BTK | YAC | LNG | FUM |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| TreVeyon Henderson HB | 15 | 47 | 3.1 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 9 | 0 |
| Rhamondre Stevenson HB | 4 | 23 | 5.8 | 0 | 1 | 12 | 18 | 0 |
| Drake Maye QB | 3 | 4 | 1.3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 |
COWBOYS
| PLAYER | REC | YDS | AVG | TD | YAC | DRP | LNG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| George Pickens WR | 6 | 69 | 11.5 | 0 | 20 | 0 | 27 |
| Nick Marsh WR | 5 | 52 | 10.4 | 0 | 13 | 1 | 16 |
| Trey'Dez Green TE | 4 | 27 | 6.8 | 0 | 17 | 1 | 13 |
| CeeDee Lamb WR | 3 | 21 | 7 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 14 |
| Javonte Williams HB | 2 | 7 | 3.5 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 6 |
PATRIOTS
| PLAYER | REC | YDS | AVG | TD | YAC | DRP | LNG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A.J. Brown WR | 6 | 75 | 12.5 | 0 | 16 | 0 | 18 |
| Romeo Doubs WR | 6 | 57 | 9.5 | 1 | 13 | 0 | 18 |
| Hunter Henry TE | 4 | 34 | 8.5 | 0 | 13 | 1 | 11 |
| TreVeyon Henderson HB | 5 | 25 | 5 | 0 | 7 | 1 | 12 |
| Rhamondre Stevenson HB | 2 | 14 | 7 | 0 | 10 | 1 | 9 |
| Efton Chism III WR | 1 | 9 | 9 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 9 |
| Eli Raridon TE | 1 | 9 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9 |
| Kyle Williams WR | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
COWBOYS
| PLAYER | TKL | SCK | INT | PD | FF | CMP ALW | TD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dee Winters WILL | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 0 |
| Caleb Downs SS | 7 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 0 |
| Shavon Revel Jr CB | 6 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| Rashan Gary LEDG | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Upton Stout CB | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| Jalen Thompson FS | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Kenny Clark DT | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Jaishawn Barham WILL | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| DaRon Bland CB | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| Jeremiah Trotter Jr SAM | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Malachi Lawrence LEDG | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Ja'Whaun Bentley MIKE | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Markquese Bell SS | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Quinnen Williams DT | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| LT Overton DT | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
PATRIOTS
| PLAYER | TKL | SCK | INT | PD | FF | CMP ALW | TD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Craig Woodson SS | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| Robert Spillane MIKE | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| Carlton Davis III CB | 5 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 0 |
| Jaylen Reed FS | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| Christian Gonzalez CB | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| Marcus Jones CB | 4 | 0.5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Joshua Farmer DT | 3 | 1.5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Namdi Obiazor WILL | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Harold Landry III REDG | 2 | 0.5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Christian Barmore DT | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Dre'Mont Jones LEDG | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Bradyn Swinson LEDG | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Micah Robinson CB | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| John Saunders Jr FS | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Karon Prunty CB | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Elijah Ponder REDG | 0 | 0.5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
COWBOYS
| PLAYER | FG | XP | LNG |
|---|---|---|---|
| Brandon Aubrey K | 2/2 | 3/3 | 51 |
PATRIOTS
| PLAYER | FG | XP | LNG |
|---|---|---|---|
| Andres Borregales K | 1/2 | 2/2 | 44 |
RECENT FORM
Cowboys
W
41–33 vs Chargers
WK 4
W
49–6 vs Buccaneers
WK 3
L
21–23 vs Bills
WK 2
Patriots
L
13–20 vs Texans
WK 4
L
6–35 vs Colts
WK 3
W
18–16 vs Bengals
WK 2
TEAM STATS
| Cowboys | Patriots | |
|---|---|---|
| 304 | TOTAL YARDS | 297 |
| 176 | PASSING YARDS | 223 |
| 128 | RUSHING YARDS | 74 |
| 3 | SACKS ALLOWED | 2 |
| 2 | SACKS MADE | 3 |
| 0 | GIVEAWAYS | 1 |
| 1 | TAKEAWAYS | 0 |
Bold is the side that won that line. Giveaways come off a team's own offensive rows and takeaways off its own defensive rows — two separate payloads, so they need not tie out against each other.
ALL-TIME HEAD-TO-HEAD
1
COWBOYS
—
0
PATRIOTS