FOXBOROUGH — There was good news and not-great news when it came to the return of left tackle Isaiah Wynn and the impact on the Patriots' offensive line.
Good news: The Patriots rushed for 101 yards for the first time since they gained 114 yards against the Giants on Oct. 14.
Not-great news: The Cowboys' defense allowed at least 100 yards for the eighth time this season, and the seventh time in the past eight games.
Good news: The Patriots reduced their pressure allowed on Tom Brady to 28.2 percent.
Not-great news: In the first 10 games, the Patriots allowed an average of 29.2 percent.
Good news: The Patriots had five explosive runs for at least 11 yards. They entered the game with 17 in the first 10 games.
Not-great news: Dallas entered the game with 35 allowed, which was tied for seventh-most in the league.
Not-great news: Wynn allowed a team-high 6.5 total quarterback pressures (sack, 2.5 hits and 3 hurries).
Worse news: That's tied for second-most on the team this season (Shaq Mason vs. Pittsburgh) behind Marshall Newhouse's nine vs. Cleveland.
And so it goes.
But stats only tell us so much, and are merely one tool used to decipher the complicated game of football, especially in the trenches where much is subjective.
The bottom line is this: there's little question Wynn had a positive impact overall in his return to the lineup in the Patriots' 13-9 victory over the Cowboys. We'll go over all that with film and charts. And the more he plays, the better he'll get. But this line won't really start to take off until right guard Shaq Mason regains his form on a consistent basis. Because one week after turning in his best game of the season, Sunday was one of Mason's worst.
Mason was fine in pass blocking, with just one sack allowed. It marked the fifth time in the past six games that he's allowed one or fewer pressures (zero vs. the Eagles).
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The problem was with his run blocking and the two penalties he had. Mason allowed four stuffed runs (1 yard or less outside of short-yardage). For him, he's always been an elite run-blocker, that's a truckload — the most in at least the past two seasons. His previous high this year was two, against the Jets and Ravens. Last season, Mason allowed 15 for the entire season. And the three he yielded in the Chargers playoff game was most he allowed all season.
Do you see what I'm getting at?
(Adam Richins for BSJ)
(Adam Richins for BSJ)
(Adam Richins for BSJ)