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.

By VAfan@vafanbtb Nov 26, 2016, 12:00pm CST

NFL: Washington Redskins at Dallas Cowboys

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.