Snap Counts For The Cowboys Offense: Dak And Zeke Shine Against The Bucs

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 20, 2016, 7:00pm CST

NFL: Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Dallas Cowboys

Offensive Overview

On Sunday, the Cowboys bounced back from their worst showing of the year to put up the most yards in regulation on the season - 449 - beating a hot Tampa Bay team 26-20. This marks the first Cowboys team to rack up nine 400 yard games in a season.

This game largely returned to the successful formula Dallas had used in the eight game streak of 400+ yard games. Run the ball, dominate time of possession, complete a high percentage of passes, convert third downs. Dallas won the time of possession 36:04 to 23:56, and outgained Tampa Bay by 449 yards to 276 yards. Most of the difference was in the running game, which Dallas won 185 to 52. Dallas ran 74 plays to Tampa’s 62. Tampa turned the ball over four times, Dallas just once.

Given the domination of yards and turnovers by Dallas, the game shouldn’t have been nearly this close. But as recounted in my weekly Dak and Zeke Report, penalties and ill-devised plays blunted several drives, which led to field goals instead of touchdowns, as well as two missed field goals from outside 50 yards.

Both Dak Prescott and Ezekiel Elliott had outstanding games. Eight receivers caught passes. There was a roster change on offense, with Chaz Green going on IR to have surgery. Darren McFadden was activated to take his spot, and he replaced Alfred Morris among the 46 active players.

Offensive Line

There were 74 snaps on offense this week.

Player	Pos	Games	Gms 1-9	Gm 10	Gm 11	Gm 12	Gm 13	Gm 14	Total	Season	Percent
Travis Frederick	C	14	627	71	56	52	66	74	946	946	100%
Zack Martin	G	14	627	71	56	52	66	74	946	946	100%
Doug Free	T	14	623	71	56	52	66	73	941	946	99%
Tyron Smith	T	12	475	71	56	52	66	74	794	946	84%
Ronald Leary	G	12	428	71	56	52	66	74	747	946	79%
La'el Collins	G	3	186	0	0	0	0	0	186	946	20%
Chaz Green	T	4	151	0	0	0	0	0	151	946	16%
Joe Looney	C	14	43	12	6	5	11	10	87	946	9%
Emmett Cleary	T	6	5	0	0	0	0	0	5	946	1%

The Cowboys' five linemen played all the snaps again this week, except Doug Free, who missed one play. Joe Looney was in for 10 plays as an extra blocker. The line did a great job opening holes for Zeke, who rushed for a season-high 159 yards on 23 carries. Dak was sacked three times for a loss of 15 yards. But he was given enough time to complete 32 of 36 passes for an 88.9% completion rate, the second highest completion percentage in NFL history for a quarterback throwing more than 30 passes.

Quarterback

Player	Pos	Games	Gms 1-9	Gm 10	Gm 11	Gm 12	Gm 13	Gm 14	Total	Season	Percent
Dak Prescott	QB	14	622	71	56	52	66	74	941	946	99%
Mark Sanchez	QB	1	5	0	0	0	0	0	5	946	1%

Dak had a tremendous bounce-back game, nearly doubling his completion percentage from 45% to 89%. Overall, Dak was 32 of 36 for 279 yards, no touchdown passes but a touchdown run, and twenty yards rushing on four scrambles. 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	Gm 14	Total	Season	Percent
Ezekiel Elliott	RB	14	443	50	46	43	44	58	684	946	72%
Alfred Morris	RB	13	99	5	5	1	2	0	112	946	12%
Lance Dunbar	RB	11	63	15	5	5	19	5	112	946	12%
Keith Smith	RB	14	69	9	8	10	4	10	110	946	12%
Darren McFadden	RB	1	0	0	0	0	0	12	12	946	1%

Zeke had 159 yards rushing on 23 carries for a 6.9 yard average. He also caught three balls for 29 yards, and ran for a touchdown. This set a new Cowboys’ rookie rushing TD record with 13 rushing scores. Zeke really turned it on in the fourth quarter, with 78 yards, including a 42-yard run that put Dallas in position for its last points. This was a complete flip from the Giants game, when Zeke was stymied in the fourth quarter. Details in the Dak and Zeke report.

Darren McFadden was the backup running back. He had ten plays, with three carries for 10 yards, including one where he was used like a fullback and handed the ball for a short-yardage first down. He caught one pass for minus two yards. Lance Dunbar had five plays, but no carries. But he was used effectively as a receiver, splitting out wide and catching two passes for 20 yards. He also caught a 20-yard touchdown that was called back on a holding call by Tyron Smith. Dak Prescott ran four times for 20 yards and a touchdown.

Wide Receivers

Player	Pos	Games	Gms 1-9	Gm 10	Gm 11	Gm 12	Gm 13	Gm14	Total	Season	Percent
Terrance Williams	WR	14	441	43	36	38	52	50	660	946	70%
Dez Bryant	WR	11	362	62	43	37	61	63	628	946	66%
Cole Beasley	WR	14	346	44	35	25	42	45	537	946	57%
Brice Butler	WR	14	291	18	12	14	16	15	366	946	39%
Lucky Whitehead	WR	13	106	6	6	5	0	6	129	946	14%
Vince Mayle	WR	4	0	0	10	7	4	7	28	946	3%

Dez Bryant, like Dak Prescott, had a bounceback game, with eight catches on ten targets for 82 yards, though he did lose a hand battle for one ball in the end zone. Cole Beasley was next with four catches on five targets for 48 yards. Terrance Williams caught three balls on four targets for 30 yards. Brice Butler was targeted once and caught it for 21 yards. Lucky Whitehead and Vince Mayle were not targeted.

Tight Ends

Player	Pos	Games	Gms 1-9	Gm 10	Gm 11	Gm 12	Gm 13	Gm 14	Total	Season	Percent
Jason Witten	TE	14	624	67	56	52	66	74	939	946	99%
Geoff Swaim	TE	9	203	0	0	0	0	0	203	946	21%
Gavin Escobar	TE	14	46	17	12	18	9	16	118	946	12%

Jason Witten played every snap this week. He caught ten passes on ten targets, for 51 yards. He passed Terrell Owens and is now seventh all time in receptions with 1,086. Gavin Escobar was not 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

Offensive snap counts Game 11 - Washington

Offensive snap counts Game 12 - Minnesota