News: BTB: Cowboys’ offensive snap counts: Cooper Rush and the backups get to play in a blowout

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Dak and Zeke were so dominant that their day was done with more than 10 minutes left in the fourth quarter.

Off their bye week, the Cowboys romped over San Francisco 40-10.

Offensive Overview


The Cowboys started the game three-and-out, but once they recovered a forced fumble on the following punt, they handed the ball to Ezekiel Elliott three times and watched him punch it in for a touchdown. The rout was on.

Overall, the Cowboys gained 501 yards - the first time over 500 yards in a victory since beating St. Louis 35-7 in 2007. They were 7-11 on third down, gained 27 first downs, and gained 265 yards on the ground. Zeke, with 219 yards from scrimmage, set a new high for his short career. Dak Prescott had a passer rating of 134, and an ANY/A of 11.76, the second highest of his career.

The Passing Game Keeps Shifting From Week to Week


In our running data tables on the receivers, we saw Dez Bryant have his second best game in yards per snap, Cole Beasley have his best game (even though he only caught one pass), Jason Witten have a solid outing, and Terrance Williams and Brice Butler disappear.

Here are the numbers.

Player​

Game​

Snaps​

Targets​

Catches​

Percent​

Yards​

TDs​

Yds/Snaps​

2016 Snaps​

2016 Yds​

2016 Y/S
Dez Bryant​

NYG​

67​

9​

2​

22%​

43​

0​

0.64
At DEN​

66​

16​

7​

44%​

59​

1​

0.89
At AZ​

41​

2​

2​

100%​

12​

1​

0.29
LAR​

58​

13​

5​

38%​

98​

0​

1.69
GB​

64​

8​

5​

63%​

52​

1​

0.81
At SF​

54​

10​

7​

70%​

63​

1​

1.17
Total​

350​

58​

28​

48%​

327​

4​

0.93​

688​

796​

1.16
Terrance Williams​

NYG​

38​

7​

6​

86%​

68​

0​

1.79
At DEN​

49​

5​

4​

80%​

17​

0​

0.35
At AZ​

33​

4​

3​

75%​

47​

0​

1.42
LAR​

47​

6​

4​

67%​

34​

0​

0.72
GB​

55​

3​

2​

67%​

14​

0​

0.25
At SF​

41​

3​

0​

0%​

0​

0​

0.00
Total​

263​

28​

19​

68%​

180​

0​

0.68​

746​

594​

0.80
Cole Beasley​

NYG​

52​

5​

3​

60%​

32​

0​

0.62
At DEN​

57​

8​

4​

50%​

33​

0​

0.58
At AZ​

25​

1​

1​

100%​

4​

0​

0.16
LAR​

31​

6​

3​

50%​

17​

0​

0.55
GB​

37​

6​

4​

67%​

23​

2​

0.62
At SF​

34​

2​

1​

50%​

24​

0​

0.71
Total​

236​

28​

16​

57%​

133​

2​

0.56​

603​

833​

1.38
Brice Butler​

NYG​

35​

3​

1​

33%​

30​

0​

0.86
At DEN​

22​

2​

1​

50%​

18​

0​

0.82
At AZ​

7​

2​

2​

100%​

90​

1​

12.86
LAR​

22​

2​

2​

100%​

12​

1​

0.55
GB​

22​

2​

2​

100%​

57​

0​

2.59
At SF​

23​

0​

0​

0%​

0​

0​

0.00
Total​

131​

11​

8​

73%​

207​

2​

1.58​

429​

219​

0.51
Ryan Switzer​

NYG​

2​

0​

0​

0%​

0​

0​

0.00
At DEN​

6​

0​

0​

0%​

0​

0​

0.00
At AZ​

2​

0​

0​

0%​

0​

0​

0.00
LAR​

8​

0​

0​

0%​

0​

0​

0.00
GB​

3​

0​

0​

0%​

0​

0​

0.00
At SF​

11​

1​

1​

100%​

2​

0​

0.18
Total​

32​

1​

1​

0%​

2​

0​

0.06​

NA​

NA​

NA
Noah Brown​

NYG​

0​

0​

0​

0%​

0​

0​

0.00
At DEN​

5​

0​

0​

0%​

0​

0​

0.00
At AZ​

8​

1​

1​

100%​

13​

0​

1.63
LAR​

7​

0​

0​

0%​

0​

0​

0.00
GB​

0​

0​

0​

0%​

0​

0​

0.00
At SF​

19​

0​

0​

0%​

0​

0​

0.00
Total​

39​

1​

1​

100%​

13​

0​

0.33​

NA​

NA​

NA
Jason Witten​

NYG​

74​

9​

7​

78%​

59​

1​

0.80
At Den​

71​

13​

10​

77%​

97​

1​

1.37
At AZ​

47​

4​

1​

25%​

3​

0​

0.06
LAR​

71​

2​

1​

50%​

9​

0​

0.13
GB​

73​

10​

8​

80%​

61​

0​

0.84
At SF​

63​

4​

4​

100%​

54​

1​

0.86
Total​

399​

42​

31​

74%​

283​

3​

0.71​

1017​

673​

0.66​

At this point in the season, only Brice Butler and Jason Witten are ahead of last year’s yards-per-snap numbers. The biggest concern for Dallas at this point, now that Dez Bryant has looked better the last few weeks, is getting the 2016 Cole Beasley back. If he can’t become a bigger threat, one wonders if the Cowboys might try to use Rico Gathers in a kind of slot role.

Offensive Line

Player​

Pos​

Age​

Games​

Gm1​

Gm2​

Gm3​

Gm4​

Gm5​

Gm6​

Total​

Season​

Percent
Travis Frederick​

C​

26​

6​

74​

71​

47​

71​

74​

75​

412​

412​

100%
La'el Collins​

T​

24​

6​

74​

71​

47​

71​

74​

75​

412​

412​

100%
Zack Martin​

G​

27​

6​

74​

71​

47​

71​

74​

63​

400​

412​

97%
Tyron Smith​

T​

27​

6​

74​

71​

47​

71​

74​

63​

400​

412​

97%
Jonathan Cooper​

G​

27​

3​

0​

0​

0​

71​

74​

75​

220​

412​

53%
Chaz Green​

G​

25​

4​

74​

71​

47​

0​

0​

12​

204​

412​

50%
Joe Looney​

C​

27​

2​

0​

0​

0​

2​

0​

12​

14​

412​

3%
Byron Bell​

G​

28​

0​

0​

0​

0​

0​

0​

0​

0​

412​

0%​

At 40-10, the Cowboys rested Zack Martin, Tyron Smith, Dak Prescott, Jason Witten, Ezekiel Elliott, and Cole Beasley. They brought in Joe Looney, Chaz Green, Cooper Rush, the backup tight ends, Rod Smith, and Ryan Switzer. Keith Smith also played quite a few downs at fullback.

Here’s our weekly look at the line from Pro Football Focus’s grading

• Tyron Smith - 79.5 (up from 76.2)
• Jonathan Cooper 45.4 (up from 39.7)
• Travis Frederick 81.5 (even with 81.9)
• Zack Martin 86.8 (up from 82)
• La’el Collins 48.3 (up from 43.6)

The offensive line is coming together. It will be interesting to see what happens this coming week, as Washington chose to blitz Philadelphia heavily in a losing effort.

Quarterback

Player​

Pos​

Age​

Games​

Gm1​

Gm2​

Gm3​

Gm4​

Gm5​

Gm6​

"Total​

Season​

Percent
Dak Prescott​

QB​

24​

6​

74​

71​

47​

71​

74​

63​

400​

412​

97%
Cooper Rush​

QB​

23​

1​

0​

0​

0​

0​

0​

12​

12​

412​

3%​

Cooper Rush got the first snaps of his career, and Dak sat at the end of a game. See the Dak and Zeke report for Dak’s offensive numbers, which were outstanding.

Running Backs

Player​

Pos​

Age​

Games​

Gm1​

Gm2​

Gm3​

Gm4​

Gm5​

Gm6​

Total​

Season​

Percent
Ezekiel Elliott​

RB​

22​

6​

60​

63​

43​

64​

64​

50​

344​

412​

83%
Keith Smith​

FB​

25​

6​

2​

2​

5​

7​

13​

13​

42​

412​

10%
Alfred Morris​

RB​

29​

5​

8​

1​

0​

3​

5​

9​

26​

412​

6%
Rod Smith​

RB​

23​

6​

2​

4​

3​

1​

3​

13​

26​

412​

6%​

Zeke had a tremendous game, leading the team with 219 yards from scrimmage, and three touchdowns. See the Dak and Zeke report.

Rod Smith was the garbage time runner, and actually had the longest run from scrimmage at 45 yards. Alfred Morris got two carries for 15 yards, while Keith Smith joined Rod in the backfield for most of the end-of-game plays.

Wide Receivers

Player​

Pos​

Age​

Games​

Gm1​

Gm2​

Gm3​

Gm4​

Gm5​

Gm6​

Total​

Season​

Percent
Dez Bryant​

WR​

29​

6​

67​

66​

41​

58​

66​

54​

352​

412​

85%
Terrance Williams​

WR​

28​

6​

38​

49​

33​

47​

55​

41​

263​

412​

64%
Cole Beasley​

WR​

28​

6​

52​

57​

25​

31​

37​

34​

236​

412​

57%
Brice Butler​

WR​

27​

6​

35​

22​

7​

22​

22​

23​

131​

412​

32%
Noah Brown​

WR​

21​

4​

0​

5​

8​

7​

0​

19​

39​

412​

9%
Ryan Switzer​

WR​

22​

6​

2​

6​

2​

8​

3​

11​

32​

412​

8%​

Snap-wise, the main difference in this game was Noah Brown’s use. He was likely in the game at the end, which elevated his snap numbers. But he also played a huge downfield blocking role on Zeke’s 72-yard screen pass touchdown.

Tight Ends

Player​

Pos​

Age​

Games​

Gm1​

Gm2​

Gm3​

Gm4​

Gm5​

Gm6​

Total​

Season​

Percent
Jason Witten​

TE​

35​

6​

74​

71​

47​

71​

73​

63​

399​

412​

97%
James Hanna​

TE​

28​

6​

21​

9​

14​

30​

20​

23​

117​

412​

28%
Geoff Swaim​

TE​

24​

6​

9​

0​

7​

4​

9​

22​

51​

412​

12%​

The last two games, the Cowboys have used more heavy looks, with two or even three tight ends, and Keith Smith in at fullback. It has coincided with more rushing yards, so expect it to continue.

Rico Gathers is eligible to practice with the team, but can’t be activated until the Kansas City game. But you don’t get the feeling that he will be, unfortunately. I don’t hide the fact that I’m a huge fan of the potential Gathers’ brings to this offense.

Offensive snap counts 2016

Offensive snaps Game 1 - New York Giants

Offensive snaps Game 2 - At Denver

Offensive snaps Game 3 - At Arizona

Offensive snaps Game 4 - Los Angeles Rams

Offensive snaps Game 5 - Green Bay

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