News: BTB: Snap Counts For The Cowboys’ Defense: David Irving, Benson Mayowa, & Anthony Hitchens

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Who played, and who produced, for the Dallas Cowboys defense? 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.

Defensive Overview


This was a tale of two halves for the defense. In the first half, the defense was shredded on the ground by Zack Zenner for 64 yards on 10 carries, and two touchdowns. Matthew Stafford sneaked for a third Detroit touchdown, and the game was tied 21-21 at the half. In the second half, Dallas forced two takeaways, sacked Stafford three times, and shut out the Lions. Dallas won 42-21.

With four more sacks, and two takeaways, that makes 11 sacks and nine takeways over the last three games. The Dallas defense is definitely hitting its stride. Dallas is now tied for sixth in turnover ratio at plus-7, and is tied for 14th with 34 sacks. Last year, Dallas was dead last in turnover ratio in 2015, and 27th in sacks.

Though Detroit started the game running the ball well, as soon as they fell behind in the second half, they abandoned the run, finishing the night with 90 yards. Dallas remains the only team in the NFL that hasn’t given up 100 yards to a rusher this season.

The defensive stars were the rushmen, who started the game with only a seven-man rotation, and promptly lost both Terrell McClain and Ryan Davis to injuries. It was the first game back for Randy Gregory, who was eager and showed his speed, but strained an oblique muscle and tried to fight through it.

The Defensive Line


DeMarcus Lawrence, Cedric Thornton, and Tyrone Crawford were all held out to recover from injuries. Dallas activated Randy Gregory, cutting Zach Moore to create a spot. When Terrell McClain and Ryan Davis went down after 12 and 9 snaps respectively, Dallas was down to five linemen, which forced David Irving to play 67 and Maliek Collins to play 65 snaps out of 71 total.

David Irving, on DL playing short handed: "When you're in hell, don't stop -- go through it. And take your opponent through hell with you."

— David Helman (@HelmanDC) December 27, 2016​

Here are the counts out of 71 snaps.

Player​

Pos​

Games​

Gms 1-9​

Gm 10​

Gm 11​

Gm 12​

Gm 13​

Gm 14​

Gm 15​

Total​

Total​

Percent
Maliek Collins​

DT​

15​

333​

28​

34​

49​

46​

46​

65​

601​

982​

61%
Tyrone Crawford​

DE/DT​

14​

384​

36​

49​

49​

50​

25​

0​

593​

982​

60%
Jack Crawford​

DE/DT​

15​

356​

20​

25​

22​

23​

21​

43​

510​

982​

52%
Terrell McClain​

DT​

15​

314​

21​

24​

31​

29​

40​

12​

471​

982​

48%
David Irving​

DE/DT​

15​

179​

26​

43​

41​

36​

38​

67​

430​

982​

44%
Benson Mayowa​

DE​

12​

202​

0​

0​

22​

42​

34​

42​

342​

982​

35%
DeMarcus Lawrence​

DE​

9​

168​

41​

52​

55​

13​

0​

0​

329​

982​

34%
Cedric Thornton​

DT​

13​

193​

18​

21​

21​

24​

0​

0​

277​

982​

28%
Ryan Davis​

DE​

8​

80​

14​

24​

0​

0​

28​

9​

155​

982​

16%
Randy Gregory​

DE​

1​

0​

0​

0​

0​

0​

0​

23​

23​

982​

2%​

Maliek Collins, the rookie, has now played more snaps than any other Cowboy defensive lineman this year.

The official stats were:

• David Irving, three tackles, 1.5 sacks, two quarterback hits, a pass defensed, and a forced fumble.
• Benson Mayowa, two tackles, one tackles for loss, 1.5 sacks, and two quarterback hits.
• Maliek Collins, one tackle, one sack, one tackle for loss, and three quarterback hits.
• Jack Crawford, four tackles.
• Randy Gregory, two tackles, and a quarterback hit.
• Terrell McClain, no stats on 12 snaps.
• Ryan Davis, no stats on 9 snaps.
• Kyle Wilber, three snaps.

This defensive line is definitely hitting its stride. Several players are getting rested to heal injuries, and the Cowboys have to hope they’ll be able to hit the ground running when they return for the playoffs. Meanwhile, David Irving, Benson Mayowa, and Maliek Collins are all peaking, while Randy Gregory is entering a crash course in getting up to speed.

The Linebackers


Here are the stats:

Player​

Pos​

Games​

Gms 1-9​

Gm 10​

Gm 11​

Gm 12​

Gm 13​

Gm 14​

Gm 15​

Total​

Total​

Percent
Sean Lee​

LB​

15​

576​

55​

75​

74​

67​

62​

68​

977​

982​

99%
Anthony Hitchens​

LB​

15​

284​

26​

44​

52​

44​

37​

54​

541​

982​

55%
Justin Durant​

LB​

13​

220​

28​

5​

0​

13​

16​

0​

282​

982​

29%
Damien Wilson​

LB​

15​

70​

15​

42​

26​

7​

18​

31​

209​

982​

21%
Kyle Wilber​

LB​

9​

37​

0​

0​

0​

0​

0​

3​

40​

982​

4%
Andrew Gachkar​

LB​

9​

29​

0​

0​

0​

0​

0​

0​

29​

982​

3%​

Sean Lee didn’t have his best night, but his locker room pep talk at halftime seemed to be the message the defense needed to hear, as they shut out the Lions in the second half. Justin Durant missed the game due to an injury.

• Anthony Hitchens, 9 tackles.
• Sean Lee, 5 tackles.
• Damien Wilson, two tackles.

The Secondary


Mo Claiborne missed another game, but J.J. Wilcox was back. Anthony Brown went under the concussion protocol after nine plays, forcing Byron Jones to move into the slot cornerback role, and Orlando Scandrick to move outside.

Player​

Pos​

Games​

Gms 1-9​

Gm 10​

Gm 11​

Gm 12​

Gm 13​

Gm 14​

Gm 15​

Total​

Season​

Percent
Brandon Carr​

CB​

15​

574​

55​

75​

74​

67​

62​

71​

978​

982​

100%
Anthony Brown​

CB​

15​

338​

42​

59​

74​

67​

61​

9​

650​

982​

66%
Orlando Scandrick​

CB​

11​

249​

53​

75​

54​

60​

46​

71​

608​

982​

62%
Morris Claiborne​

CB​

9​

408​

0​

0​

0​

0​

0​

0​

408​

982​

42%
Leon McFadden​

CB​

2​

17​

0​

0​

0​

0​

0​

0​

17​

982​

2%
Byron Jones​

S​

15​

515​

55​

75​

74​

67​

61​

71​

918​

982​

93%
Barry Church​

S​

11​

379​

0​

0​

72​

67​

57​

69​

644​

982​

66%
J.J. Wilcox​

S​

12​

371​

55​

47​

0​

0​

0​

51​

524​

982​

53%
Jeff Heath​

S​

15​

69​

17​

42​

24​

16​

17​

22​

207​

982​

21%
Kavon Frazier​

S​

2​

0​

0​

14​

0​

0​

2​

0​

16​

982​

2%​

Matthew Stafford was 26 of 46 for 260 yards, no touchdowns, one interception and a forced fumble, for a 63.7 quarterback rating. J.J. Wilcox intercepted a ball tipped by Brandon Carr that led to a Dallas touchdown at the start of the third quarter and gave Dallas the lead for good.

Here are the official stats.

• Barry Church, 12 tackles.
• Orlando Scandrick, five tackles, two passes defensed, and a forced fumble.
• Byron Jones, five tackles.
• Anthony Brown, one pass defense.
• Jeff Heath, three tackles and a pass defensed.

Special Teams


There are six special teams: field goal kicks and blocks, kick off returns and coverage, and punt returns and coverage. The numbers below are mostly for kick off and punt returns and coverage.

• Kyle Wilber, Jeff Heath, Damien Wilson, 24 snaps.
• Byron Jones, 22
• Andrew Gachkar, 19
• Kavon Frazier, Vincent Mayle, 15
• Keith Smith, 11
• Gavin Escobar, 10
• Lance Dunbar, Lucky Whitehead, 7

Detroit’s punter outpunted Chris Jones by a net of 6.2 yards, where each punted four times. Dan Bailey had no field goal attempts.

Defensive snap counts - game 2 - Washington

Defensive snap counts - game 3 - Bears

Defensive snap counts - game 4 - Niners

Defensive snap counts - game 5 - Cincinnati

Defensive snap counts - game 6 - Green Bay

Snap counts at the bye

Defensive snap counts - game 7 - Philadelphia

Defensive snap counts - game 8- Cleveland

Defensive snap counts - game 9 - Pittsburgh

Defensive snap counts - game 10 - Baltimore

Defensive snap counts - game 11 - Washington

Defensive snap counts - game 12 - Minnesota

Defensive snap counts - game 13 - New York

Defensive snap counts - game 14 - Tampa Bay

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