ARIZONA -- The Arizona Cardinals couldn't quite pull a rabbit out of their hat once again in their Week 11 loss to the Houston Texans in 21-16 fashion.
"I think the score was 21-10 here at the half. And then we got back into the game, but it was just too much to overcome. Gave ourselves a chance to win. Didn't get it done. Credit to the Texans. They made a lot of good plays. They're a good football team," said Cardinals coach Jonathan Gannon.
Let's dive into the snap counts:
Evaluating Cardinals Snap Counts vs Texans
Offense
A total of seven players played each and every snap in Arizona, which featured the Cardinals' starting offensive line, Kyler Murray and Trey McBride, who has taken full control of the tight end room in the desert. He caught five receptions for 43 yards yesterday.
The only other player to play more than 75% of snaps was Marquise Brown (95%), who was relatively quiet on the day with just two receptions. Brown was open a few times but Murray underthrew his No. 1 target.
Greg Dortch (75%) out-snapped fellow slot receiver Rondale Moore by two plays on Sunday. With Michael Wilson out due to injury, Dortch led the team with six receptions for 76 yards.
It's no surprise to see James Conner lead the way in AZ's backfield with 69% of snaps. Tony Jones was the only other back to see the field as Emari Demercado was ruled out and new signing Michael Carter was inactive.
Defense
The two usual suspects (Budda Baker and Jalen Thompson) played every snap on Sunday. The only other players to play more than 80% were Dante Stills and Josh Woods at 55 (82%) snaps each.
Arizona's defense forced three interceptions from Texans quarterback C.J. Stroud, though the rookie passer still had a fairly successful day throwing the ball thanks in part to Marco Wilson's play (or lackthereof).
Rookie Garrett Williams led all corners with 52 (78%) snaps. Antonio Hamilton (51) and Marco Wilson (50) weren't far behind.
12 players in Arizona's front seven played 20 snaps or more, again showcasing the Cardinals' desire to keep a friendly rotation throughout the four quarters of action.