The Atlanta Falcons were dominated by the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday in a humiliating 43-3 defeat. Pro Football Focus (PFF) has graded the game, and there's a surprise outlier among the poor performances.
Rookie left guard Jalen Mayfield graded 90.6, a season-high, against the Cowboys according to PFF. For reference, only one guard as a higher average grade on the season, Zack Martin of the Cowboys at 94.8.
Martin graded just above Mayfield's 90.6 on Sunday with a 91.1. Did Mayfield look as good as Martin?
There might be some funny math going on in PFF's calculations. Mayfield graded 92.2 on 25 run blocking assignments, while only scoring 40.3 on 29 pass blocks.
That 92.2 and 40.3 combine to make 90.6 seems like a mistake. Mayfield was even called out, along with right tackle Kaleb McGary, in the post-game report for poor pass protection.
"Atlanta continues to field too many liabilities up front," wrote PFF. "Both right tackle Kaleb McGary and left guard Jalen Mayfield suffered several ugly losses in pass protection that led to negative plays."
For his part in Atlanta's loss, McGary was the lowest-graded player on the offense at 33.0, including a 26.6 pass block grade. McGary's grade, rather than Mayfield's, seems more indicative of a unit that helped generate just 214 yards and scored just three points.
Mayfield has certainly shown improvement week over week after he was dominated by the Philadelphia Eagles in Week 1, but a 90.6 on Sunday doesn't reflect actual game play. He, along with the rest of the Falcons, was much close to his 40.3 pass block grade than finishing in the 90's.
The Falcons can't lick their wounds from the Cowboys game for long. They're back in action against the red-hot New England Patriots on Thursday night.
The Patriots bring a four-game winning streak to Mercedes-Benz Stadium, and they're coming off a 45-7 pasting of the Cleveland Browns.
To pull off a home upset, they'll need their play on the field to match PFF's lofty grade of Mayfield.
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