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Snap Counts For The Cowboys’ Offense: They Scored When They Needed To

Who played, and who produced, for the Dallas Cowboys offense? In our weekly look at the snap counts, we’ll evaluate whether Dallas is using it’s players well, and how well each of them is producing.

NFL: Washington Redskins at Dallas Cowboys Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports

This is the second week in our new format, with tables for each position group. The first group is the offensive line, then quarterback, running backs, wide receivers, and tight ends.

Overview

First, here’s a quick overview of the offensive game as a whole. The Cowboys won their tenth game in a row, extending their team record, beating Washington on Thanksgiving 31-26.

The Cowboys were out-gained 505 to 353 yards, and lost the time of possession 33:24 to 26:36. But they were essentially in control the entire game, scoring a touchdown on their opening drive, and responding with touchdowns in the fourth quarter after each Washington score. Meanwhile, Washington was able to drive the ball between the 20s, but ended up settling for two first half field goals instead of getting touchdowns, and missed two field goals as well. The Cowboys rushed for 163 yards, with Ezekiel Elliott gaining 97 and Dak Prescott adding 39 in his most aggressive running game yet. See the Dak and Zeke Report for more details.

Offensive Line

There were only 56 snaps on offense this week.

Player Pos Games Gms 1-9 Gm 10 Gm 11 Total Season Percent
Travis Frederick C 11 627 71 56 754 754 100%
Zack Martin G 11 627 71 56 754 754 100%
Doug Free T 11 623 71 56 750 754 99%
Tyron Smith T 9 475 71 56 602 754 80%
Ronald Leary G 9 428 71 56 555 754 74%
La'el Collins G 3 186 186 754 25%
Chaz Green T 4 151 151 754 20%
Joe Looney C 11 43 12 6 61 754 8%
Emmett Cleary T 6 5 5 754 1%

The Cowboys five linemen played all the snaps this week. Joe Looney was also in for six plays. Washington bottled up Zeke in the second and third quarters, but he ended up with 97 yards rushing and 23 receiving. Dak was only sacked once for a loss of five yards.

Quarterback

Player Pos Games Gms 1-9 Gm 10 Gm 11 Total Season Percent
Dak Prescott QB 11 622 71 56 749 754 99%
Mark Sanchez QB 1 5 5 754 1%

Dak had another great game, though his stats weren’t as strong as in past games. He was 17 of 23 for 195 yards, one TD pass and one TD run, and no turnovers. See the Dak and Zeke report for more details.

Running Backs

Player Pos Games Gms 1-9 Gm 10 Gm 11 Total Season Percent
Ezekiel Elliott RB 11 443 50 46 539 754 71%
Alfred Morris RB 11 99 5 5 109 754 14%
Keith Smith RB 11 69 9 8 86 754 11%
Lance Dunbar RB 8 63 15 5 83 754 11%

Zeke had another 97 yards rushing and 23 yards receiving and scored two touchdowns. He was best in the first and fourth quarters. Once to get the lead, and then to keep the lead. Details in the Dak and Zeke report. Alfred Morris had only one carry, but it was for 12 yards. Lucky Whitehead opened the game with a 15 yard scamper on a jet sweep. Lance Dunbar caught a pass for one yard. Dak Prescott ran eight times for 39 yards, and a touchdown.

Wide Receivers

Player Pos Games Gms 1-9 Gm 10 Gm 11 Total Season Percent
Terrance Williams WR 11 441 43 36 520 754 69%
Dez Bryant WR 8 362 62 43 467 754 62%
Cole Beasley WR 11 346 44 35 425 754 56%
Brice Butler WR 11 291 18 12 321 754 43%
Lucky Whitehead WR 11 106 6 6 118 754 16%
Vince Mayle WR 1 10 10 754 1%

Dez Bryant had a great game with five catches on seven targets for 72 yards, beating Josh Norman several times one-on-one, and catching a key third down pass to the two for 26 yards. Dak also missed seeing him on what would have been a long TD pass.

Cole Beasley was next with five catches on six targets for 56 yards. Terrance Williams caught one pass on two targets for 10 yards and a nice toe-tapping touchdown. Brice Butler missed on his two targets. Vince Mayle saw his first action in the offense, and was in for 10 plays, mostly as a blocker.

Tight Ends

Player Pos Games Gms 1-9 Gm 10 Gm 11 Total Season Percent
Jason Witten TE 11 624 67 56 747 754 99%
Geoff Swaim TE 9 203 203 754 27%
Gavin Escobar TE 11 46 17 12 75 754 10%

Jason Witten took every snap this week. He caught three passes on three targets for 33 yards. Gavin Escobar played 12 snaps, but wasn’t targeted.

Offensive and special teams snap counts Game 2 - Washington

Offensive snap counts Game 3 - Chicago

Offensive snap counts Game 4 - San Francisco

Offensive snap counts Game 5 - Cincinnati

Offensive snap counts Game 6 - Green Bay

Snap counts at the bye

Offensive snap counts Game 7 - Philadelphia

Offensive snap counts Game 8 - Cleveland

Offensive snap counts Game 9 - Pittsburgh

Offensive snap counts Game 10 - Baltimore

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