How often (and when) will Dallas run playaction passes?
Dallas ran six playaction passes on Sunday night out of 44 total pass plays (13.6 percent). That fits well with the 15.1 percent rate from last season. Two of the six playaction passes were screens. If you remember from my study on the Cowboys’ 2009 playaction passes, the screen rate more than tripled following a play-fake (from 7.1 percent on non-playaction passes to 22.9 percent on playaction passes). That trend may be here to stay. Dallas also yielded one sack on a playaction pass against the Bengals. 18. What will the Cowboys do in the red zone to improve? Well, not much, but it is only one game. I completed a study detailing why teams should run more inside the 10-yard line, but the Cowboys passed three straight times while inside the five during their first drive. However, the Cowboys did have one 1st and Goal run play nullified due to a defensive penalty (and a Felix Jones fumbled), and they actually called a pass play on the subsequent 1st and Goal from the two-yard line. Romo
