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Want to know which Cowboys defensive players were on the field while Joe Flacco led the fist-team Ravens offense? Look no further.
Due to the quirky way in which the game developed against the Ravens yesterday, Baltimore kept Joe Flacco in the game for the entire first half. But while the Ravens were playing (most of) their starters, the Cowboys didn't, getting successively deeper into their depth chart on every Ravens drive.
Which is why I reviewed the entire first half of Saturday's game against the Ravens and charted which defensive player was in on which defensive play. The hope is that this will give us a better understanding of how the Cowboys depth chart is developing, but also that it will help us understand who Joe Flacco was playing against en route to his Eli-esque nine-for-17 passing performance.
Overall, there were 27 defensive plays in the first half. This excludes all special teams plays like field goals, kickoffs and punts, but I did include the plays that were blown dead due to penalties, because this post is about understanding who was lining up where in which situations, not the results of the official plays.
The first thing to look at is a simple snapcount which details which player was in on how many plays. And that's exactly what the table below shows.
Cowboys' Defensive Snapcount, 1st Half vs Ravens
Defensive Tackles Defensive Ends Inside Linebackers Outside Linebackers Cornerbacks Safeties
Player Snaps Player Snaps Player Snaps Player Snaps Player Snaps Player SnapsDefensive Tackles Defensive Ends Inside Linebackers Outside Linebackers Cornerbacks Safeties
Coleman
20
Crawford 19
McClain 16
Carter 17
Webb 27
Church 27
Bishop 16
Selvie 13
Durant 11
Wilber 17
Mitchell 17
Wilcox 27
Hayden 11
Mincey 12
Hitchens 10
Scandrick 11
Minter 3
Wilson 8
Lawrence 2
Patmon 9
Rayford 1
Bush 2
Keep in mind that presumptive starters DT Henry Melton, DT Terrell McClain, CB Brandon Carr and CB Morris Claiborne didn't play at all. Two more starters (Durant, Scandrick) were yanked after the second Baltimore drive and a total of 11 defensive plays, two of which were annulled by penalties.
We'll get to the specific down-and-distance situations a little later, but here are some general observations about the snapcounts:
Defensive backs: Barry Church and J.J. Wilcox, along with B.W. Webb were the only players to line up on all 27 snaps. After Scandrick left, Terrance Mitchell replaced him, and the Cowboys added Tyler Patmon in nickel formations. This would suggest that Webb and Mitchell are battling for the fourth CB spot. I don't know where Sterling Moore fits into this competition; he did not play a single snap yesterday, but he may have been kept out due to injury.
Linebackers: The starting linebackers are Justin Durant, Bruce Carter and Kyle Wilber. Durant left after 11 snaps and was replaced at MLB by Rolando McClain for the remaining 16 snaps of the first half. McClain initially played alongside Carter and Wilber for six snaps before playing next to Anthony Hitchens in most of the remaining snaps which the Cowboys played in the nickel. Those five players look like roster locks right now, while the sixth LB spot is up for grabs. Cameron Lawrence got two snaps in the first half, so he may have a leg up in the competition for that sixth spot, but that's very speculative, especially given how much the Cowboys seem to like DeVonte Holloman, who got snaps later in the game.
Defensive Ends: The Cowboys had a nice rotation going here, with the DEs rotating all over the place.
Defensive Tackles: We've said before that you'll want to get used to 60 (Davon Coleman) and 66 (Ken Bishop) in the defensive line. Both are going to make the roster. And if you only started noticing Zach Minter in the fourth quarter when he notched two sacks, two TFLs and one forced fumble, then you missed him earlier in the game - he spelled Davon Coleman for three snaps in the first half.
Here's a full overview of which Cowboys defensive players were on the field for which plays:
Play No. Down Play DTs DEs LBs CBs S
BAL Drive No. 1 60 96 66 79 95 92 98 99 56 70 54 52 51 55 59 53 32 20 30 35 27 42
1 1-10-BLT 18 (3:25) Pass incomplete BAL Drive No. 1 60 96 66 79 95 92 98 99 56 70 54 52 51 55 59 53 32 20 30 35 27 42
x x x x x x x x x x x
2 2-10-BLT 18 (3:19) PENALTY. B.Carter, Holding - No Play. x x x x x x x x x x x
3 1-10-BLT 23 (3:12) Pass knocked down by N. Hayden x x x x x x x x x x x
4 2-10-BLT 23 (3:08) B.Pierce left tackle to 5 yards x x x x x x x x x x x
5 3-5-BLT 28 (2:32) Pass incomplete x x x x x x x x x x x
BAL Drive No. 2 60 96 66 79 95 92 98 99 56 70 54 52 51 55 59 53 32 20 30 35 27 42
6 1-10-BLT 44 (14:02) R.Rice left guard for 18 yards BAL Drive No. 2 60 96 66 79 95 92 98 99 56 70 54 52 51 55 59 53 32 20 30 35 27 42
x x x x x x x x x x x
7 1-10-DAL 38 (13:31) R.Rice right end 3 yards x x x x x x x x x x x
8 2-7-DAL 35 (12:56) PENALTY. O.Scandrick, Holding - No Play. x x x x x x x x x x x
9 1-10-DAL 30 (12:47) B.Pierce up the middle for 4 yards x x x x x x x x x x x
10 2-6-DAL 26 (12:08) Pass short right to K.Juszczyk for 4 yards x x x x x x x x x x x
11 3-2-DAL 22 (11:29) Pass incomplete x x x x x x x x x x x
BAL Drive No. 3 60 96 66 79 95 92 98 99 56 70 54 52 51 55 59 53 32 20 30 35 27 42
12 1-10-BLT 4 (6:38) B.Pierce up the middle for 4 yards BAL Drive No. 3 60 96 66 79 95 92 98 99 56 70 54 52 51 55 59 53 32 20 30 35 27 42
x x x x x x x x x x x
13 2-6-BLT 8 (6:08) B.Pierce left tackle for 5 yards x x x x x x x x x x x
14 3-1-BLT 13 (5:33) B.Pierce right tackle for 6 yards x x x x x x x x x x
15 1-10-BLT 19 (4:54) Pass short left to K.Juszczyk for 5 yards x x x x x x x x x x x
16 2-5-BLT 24 (4:19) L.Taliaferro right tackle for 4 yards x x x x x x x x x x x
17 3-1-BLT 28 (3:43) PENALTY. G.Selvie, RTP - No Play. x x x x x x x x x x x
18 1-10-BLT 43 (3:35) Pass to J.Jones for 38 yards x x x x x x x x x x x
19 1-10-DAL 19 (2:55) Pass to T.Smith for 19 yards, TD x x x x x x x x x x x
BAL Drive No. 4 60 96 66 79 95 92 98 99 56 70 54 52 51 55 59 53 32 20 30 35 27 42
20 1-10-BLT 43 (1:36) PENALTY on BLT- Illegal Hands - No Play. BAL Drive No. 4 60 96 66 79 95 92 98 99 56 70 54 52 51 55 59 53 32 20 30 35 27 42
x x x x x x x x x x x
21 1-20-BLT 33 (1:31) Pass short left to J.Forsett for 12 yards x x x x x x x x x x x
22 2-8-BLT 45 (1:05) Pass short middle to D.Pitta for 16 yards x x x x x x x x x x x
23 1-10-DAL 39 
57) Pass short right to S.Smith for 8 yards x x x x x x x x x x x
24 2-2-DAL 31 35) Pass short middle to J.Jones for 5 yards x x x x x x x x x x x
25 1-10-DAL 26 35) J.Flacco spiked the ball to stop the clock. x x x x x x x x x x x
26 2-10-DAL 26 25) Pass short right to J.Jones for 6 yards. x x x x x x x x x x x
27 3-4-DAL 20 19) Pass incomplete x x x x x x x x x x x
Total snaps 20 11 16 3 1 12 19 13 8 2 17 11 17 16 10 2 11 27 17 9 27 27
Overall, it's probably fair to say that the Cowboys played their first team (such as it is right now, given the injuries) for the first two drives, and then fielded mostly their second line of players (supplemented with players on the roster bubble) on the next two drives.
Over those four drives, the Cowboys defense allowed 10 points, 163 yards, 9-of-17 passing, and 1-of-5 third down conversion (20%) - not too shabby given the players the Cowboys were fielding against the Ravens. Then again, it's the preseason, where we shouldn't read too much into the stats and results, both good and bad.
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