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Want to know which Cowboys players were on the field against the Commanders? Look no further.
Our previous reviews of the snap counts over the last few weeks had become a little predictable: by and large, the same players had the same share of the snaps in each game. And that was a good thing. But with injuries to Justin Durant, Ronald Leary, and Tony Romo yesterday, the snap counts saw some very unwelcome variation. Overall though, snap counts were largely in line with the previous weeks
Snap Count by Week
49ers Titans Rams Saints Texans Seahawks Giants Commanders
Offense 69 80 56 66 76 75 62 65
Defense 58 49 76 61 59 49 63 67
The defense had eight snaps in overtime, which puts the number of snaps in regulation at 59, perfectly in line with where it's been over the previous games. The offense added four futile snaps in OT, which puts their regulation snaps at 61, the second-lowest total of the season.
On to this week's snap count review, starting with the defense.
Cowboys' Defensive Snap counts vs Commanders
Defensive Tackles Defensive Ends Linebackers Cornerbacks Safeties
Player Snaps Player Snaps Player Snaps Player Snaps Player SnapsDefensive Tackles Defensive Ends Linebackers Cornerbacks Safeties
T. Crawford
42
Mincey 53
R. McClain 63
Scandrick 67
Church 64
Hayden 42
Spencer 37
Durant 45
Carr 67
Wilcox 63
Melton 26
Selvie 32
Carter 34
Moore 50
Heath 7
T. McClain 23
Edwards 12
Wilber 5
Patmon 4
The Cowboys again spent most of their snaps in a nickel defense, but the big news is the season-ending injury to Justin Durant. With Durant out, Bruce Carter joined Rolando McClain in the nickel defense, and Kyle Wilber was brought in on rushing downs. Anthony Spencer got more than 30 snaps for the first time since his return, so that's good news, but the stat sheet only shows two tackles and a QB hit for Spencer.
On to the offense:
Cowboys' Offensive Snap counts vs Commanders
QB O-Line RB TE WR
Player Snaps Player Snaps Player Snaps Player Snaps Player SnapsQB O-Line RB TE WR
Romo
56
Smith 65
Murray 43
Witten 65
Bryant 60
Weeden 10
Leary 61
Dunbar 12
Hanna 21
Williams 57
Frederick 65
Cutts 10
Escobar 6
Beasley 28
Martin 65
Randle 8
Street 8
Parnell 65
Harris 6
Bernadeau 4
Again, not many surprises here, especially for the key players. Murray was in for 66% of the snaps, the lowest percentage of the season. Ronald Leary missed the overtime snaps after suffering a groin injury. He'll undergo further tests today to determine his status.
And finally, on to special teams:
Special Teams Aces
Player Snaps Player SnapsHeath
20
Lawrence 17
Harris 19
Hanna 14
Spillman 19
Church 13
Wilber 18
Carter 13
Barry Church walks away with this week's ironman award, having played a total of 77 snaps, 64 on defense and 13 on special teams.
Outside of the kicking game, it's been a while since there was a significant contribution from special teams. Last night, the Cowboys had a cumulative starting field position of 214 yards, 82 yards less than the Commanders, who had a cumulative starting field position of 296 yards.
Bill Parcells used to say that a 100-yard advantage in field position, or "hidden yardage," was worth seven points (others may use the same formula, he's just the one I associate this with). Here's a look at the hidden yardage differential so far this season:
Field Position Differential
49ers Titans Rams Saints Texans Seahawks Giants Commanders
Opponent 317 226 221 259 308 387 297 296
Cowboys 180 307 233 339 268 286 306 214
Difference -137 +81 +12 +80 -40 -101 +9 -82
A lot of things go into winning games, and hidden yardage is just one of them. Nevertheless, winning the hidden yardage battle doesn't hurt, and the Cowboys have been struggling with that over the last four games. The Arizona game would be a good time to see that get back on track.
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