Snap Counts For The Cowboys’ Offense: Ezekiel Elliott & Terrance Williams Were The Only Bright Spots

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 its players well, and how well each of them is producing.

By VAfan@vafanbtb Dec 13, 2016, 9:00am CST

Offensive Overview

First, here’s a quick overview of the offensive game as a whole. The Cowboys’ eleven-game winning streak was snapped against the Giants in a 10-7 loss in New Jersey, in their worst offensive performance of the year.

The Cowboys gained just as many yards as New York - 260 - almost evenly split the time of possession, 29:08 to 30:52, ran one less play (66 to 67), and made one more first down. Both teams turned the ball over three times. The difference in some respects was a 55-yard Dan Bailey field goal attempt right before halftime that bounced off the middle of the uprights and fell back. One more yard and it would have been good.

Unlike last week, when Dallas took advantage of a Vikings turnover to score a second touchdown, this week Dallas went nowhere off three turnovers. They might have had four or five had Barry Church been able to hang on to an interception thrown right to him by Eli Manning (he was wearing a cast hampering his ability to catch). Last week Dallas was one for nine on third down. This week, it was one for 15. That didn’t get it done.

Dak Prescott had by far his worst game of the year. His second worst game was also against the Giants. It’s something Dak and the coaches are going to have to figure out.

Offensive Line

There were 66 snaps on offense this week.

Player	Pos	Games	Gms 1-9	Gm 10	Gm 11	Gm 12	Gm 13	Total	Season	Percent
Travis Frederick	C	13	627	71	56	52	66	872	872	100%
Zack Martin	G	13	627	71	56	52	66	872	872	100%
Doug Free	T	13	623	71	56	52	66	868	872	100%
Tyron Smith	T	11	475	71	56	52	66	720	872	83%
Ronald Leary	G	11	428	71	56	52	66	673	872	77%
La'el Collins	G	3	186	0	0	0	0	186	872	21%
Chaz Green	T	4	151	0	0	0	0	151	872	17%
Joe Looney	C	13	43	12	6	5	11	77	872	9%
Emmett Cleary	T	6	5	0	0	0	0	5	872	1%

The Cowboys five linemen played all the snaps again this week. Joe Looney was also in for a season high 11 plays, likely taking some blocking assignments from Gavin Escobar. The line did a much better job than the season opener creating holes for Zeke, who rushed for 107 yards. Dak was sacked three times for a loss of 13 yards. That’s the second game in a row with three sacks. Dak “rushed” for only one yard.

Quarterback

Player	Pos	Games	Gms 1-9	Gm 10	Gm 11	Gm 12	Gm 13	Total	Season	Percent
Dak Prescott	QB	13	622	71	56	52	66	867	872	99%
Mark Sanchez	QB	1	5	0	0	0	0	5	872	1%

Dak had by far his worst game on the season, even worse than the opening day loss against the Giants. Overall, Dak was 17 of 37 for 165 yards, one touchdown pass, and one yard rushing on one read-option play. See the Dak and Zeke report for more details.

Running Backs

Player	Pos	Games	Gms 1-9	Gm 10	Gm 11	Gm 12	Gm 13	Total	Season	Percent
Ezekiel Elliott	RB	13	443	50	46	43	44	626	872	72%
Alfred Morris	RB	13	99	5	5	1	2	112	872	13%
Lance Dunbar	RB	10	63	15	5	5	19	107	872	12%
Keith Smith	RB	13	69	9	8	10	4	100	872	11%

Zeke had 107 yards rushing on 24 carries for a 4.5 yard average. But this was a tale of two halves. In the first half, he rushed 15 times for 86 yards, for a 5.7 yard average. Zeke alone gained nearly half of the Cowboys’ yards (174) at halftime. In the second half, nine carries yielded 21 yards, for a 2.3 yard per carry average, even less than Zeke had against the Giants in the first game. This is a very troubling development going forward. For Dallas to gain the first seed and win in the playoffs, their running game needs to be dominant throughout games, and get stronger as the game goes on. It’s all about being physical, according to Zeke. Zeke caught no passes on two targets, and didn’t score a touchdown. Details in the Dak and Zeke report.

Alfred Morris had only two plays and no carries. Lucky Whitehead did not dress because of a violation of team rules. Lance Dunbar had 19 plays, but was ineffective, with three catches on five targets for 12 yards. Dak Prescott ran once for one yard. New York seemed to have a very well-designed rush that kept Dak bottled up in the pocket. Darren McFadden is due to be activated this week. Who will be cut to make room?

Wide Receivers

Player	Pos	Games	Gms 1-9	Gm 10	Gm 11	Gm 12	Gm 13	Total	Season	Percent
Terrance Williams	WR	13	441	43	36	38	52	610	872	70%
Dez Bryant	WR	10	362	62	43	37	61	565	872	65%
Cole Beasley	WR	13	346	44	35	25	42	492	872	56%
Brice Butler	WR	13	291	18	12	14	16	351	872	40%
Lucky Whitehead	WR	12	106	6	6	5	0	123	872	14%
Vince Mayle	WR	3	0	0	10	7	4	21	872	2%

Dez Bryant had a truly awful game, with one catch on nine targets for 10 yards, that he proceeded to fumble after making a first down. It was at the end of the game and blunted any hope of a Cowboys’ rally. After heating up for several weeks, the Dak to Dez connection was shut down by a blitzing Giants rush and tight man-to-man coverage.

Terrance Williams was the star receiver, with five catches on six targets, for 76 yards and a 31-yard touchdown for the Cowboys’ only points. Cole Beasley was next in yardage with four catches on seven targets for 41 yards. Brice Butler was targeted once, but could not hold on to a potential touchdown pass. Lucky Whitehead was disciplined and did not make the trip, and Vince Mayle was not targeted.

Tight Ends

Player	Pos	Games	Gms 1-9	Gm 10	Gm 11	Gm 12	Gm 13	Total	Season	Percent
Jason Witten	TE	13	624	67	56	52	66	865	872	99%
Geoff Swaim	TE	9	203	0	0	0	0	203	872	23%
Gavin Escobar	TE	13	46	17	12	18	9	102	872	12%

Jason Witten took every snap this week. He caught four passes on seven targets, for 26 yards, but was tackled short of first-down yardage on all but one play. Gavin Escobar played nine snaps, half the number of the previous week, and wasn’t targeted. He was likely replaced by Joe Looney in some two tight end running sets.

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

Offensive snap counts Game 11 - Washington

Offensive snap counts Game 12 - Minnesota