How the Cowboys’ running back room is going to shake out is still very much a mystery. With Week 1 showing that it looked like a two-man operation with Ezekiel Elliott and Rico Dowdle, Week 2 saw a lot more action for Deuce Vaughn and Hunter Luepke as well. The team mentioned it would be a back-by-committee approach, but it appears even they don’t exactly know what that looks like right now.
Another interesting point — that may be chalked up to the nature of the game with the backups in late — was WR3 Jalen Tolbert taking more snaps than WR2 Brandin Cooks. Tolbert finished with 60, while Cooks finished with 57. On the surface, it may be nothing, but if snap totals will be that tight going forward, it’s a development worth watching.
With Jake Ferguson out, the Cowboys were going to have to get creative at tight end, and they did just that. Luke Schoonmaker started the game and played 28 snaps, while Brevyn Spann-Ford was the TE2 and played 22 snaps, despite only receiving one target. There’s a clear drop-off when Ferguson is out of the game, and it appears Dallas is looking to figure out how the room shakes out beyond him.
Cowboys Defense
It’s tough to look at this group and not feel perplexed right now. Week 1’s dominant performance feels like a mirage right following the Saints’ dismantling on Sunday. Snap counts aside, whoever was out there — and whatever they were doing — was not enough.
One thing that stands out about this Mike Zimmer-led defense is the lack of variation in snaps. The secondary has very little turnover, with safeties barely rotating in. Early in the season, that may cause fatigue as players log significant snap counts. Zimmer expects his stars to be ready to go, while former defensive coordinator Dan Quinn was always rotating players in and out throughout the game.
Linebacker Eric Kendricks is the general in the middle of this defense. He has been top-three in snaps for both games. With his background in Zimmer’s scheme, a lot is on his shoulders to get this group right and ready to play on a snap-to-snap basis. Look for the veteran linebacker to take a sense of ownership for his unit’s shortcomings.
