It was as recently as a month ago that some Cowboys observers were openly questioning why the team was keeping Ezekiel Elliott around. The two-time rushing champ was coming off his worst statistical season, and he kicked off the 2021 campaign with a measly 33 yards on just 11 carries against Tampa.
But the Cowboys have known all along what kind of a tool they have in their backfield. A heavy dose of Elliott is like a sledgehammer. Breaking it out isn’t necessary for every single project, but when a sledgehammer is required, it’s the only thing that will do.
Elliott’s attempts, rushing yards, and yards-per-carry have gone up in every single outing so far this season. On Sunday, he logged 20 totes for 143 yards and a touchdown, gashing the top-ranked Panthers run defense for 7.2 yards a carry.
“We need Zeke every week, but these are the games that we really need Zeke the most,” wideout Amari Cooper told reporters after the win over the Panthers. “It was the number-one defense versus the number-one offense. Their front seven is pretty stout; they’ve been making a whole bunch of plays throughout the first quarter of the season. But Zeke, man, he hurts guys when he runs. We really needed him this game, and he made all the plays that we all know he can make.”
The backfield’s per-carry average was the highest Dallas has put up in a game since September 2018. And the team’s 245 total rushing yards in Week 4 was just the fifth time they’ve hit that mark in the last two decades.
Football in general has become incredibly pass-happy in recent years, and that trend certainly took hold in Dallas, too. But ground performances like Sunday’s show this is where the Cowboys want to be.
“The only experience I have is last year,” head coach Mike McCarthy said after the 36-28 win, “and I think just, as a whole, everything is better: the understanding of how we want to run the football, the commitment to the run. These last three weeks have been outstanding. Just so many good things come off of the run game. Just to have Zeke and Tony [Pollard] to bang all day, obviously it’s a real strength for us these last three weeks.”
Perhaps no play better reminded Cowboys fans of Elliott’s importance than his 47-yard burst in the third quarter, his longest rush since he was a rookie in 2016.
Cowboys RB Ezekiel Elliott deserves ample credit on this 47-yard run, a great example of his vision and patience but also his offseason conditioning in action.
But let’s slow it down to observe his blocking. Doesn’t get much better across the board. A complete effort. pic.twitter.com/T8iDNe13P7
— Michael Gehlken (@GehlkenNFL) October 4, 2021
“The O-line, they dominated the line of scrimmage today. By the end of the game, those guys really didn’t want any more to run,” Elliott raved after the Week 4 win. “But I think we’ve got a really nice system going right now, just me and TP in there, keeping each other fresh, I think we’re going to keep this thing going.”
After a near 50-50 workload split between the pair in Week 2’s victory, Elliott has taken more of a lead role over the past two games. On Sunday, he doubled up on Pollard in both carries and yardage.
“Yeah, I definitely can tell that he keeps me fresh,” Elliott noted. “We definitely play off each other very well, too, and it’s tough on those defenses.”
It’s especially tough when both backs are on the field at the same time. But it proved to be an impossible choice for the Carolina defense when Elliott and Pollard both handled the ball on a triple-option-type look on a critical 3rd-down-and-1 when reaching the sticks would ice the game.
2⃣1⃣2⃣0⃣ Ezekiel Elliott and Tony Pollard finish off Carolina with an option play and the Offensive Line gets to do the Landry shift to end the game. #CowboysNation #DallasCowboys #Cowboys #CARvsDAL pic.twitter.com/QDqxJZxGb6
— Dallas Cowboys Collaboration (@mailman_phil) October 3, 2021
“We’re hitting a pretty good rhythm right now,” McCarthy said of of his offense. “It’s early. We’ve only played four games, but I really like the way we’ve run the ball here in the last three weeks.”
Balance is a word that gets tossed a round a lot when it comes to offense. But the Cowboys’ coaches know that doesn’t mean simply calling the same number of passes and runs. It’s about being able to do both things equally well, as needed, depending on what the defense is prepared to stop. And after Prescott’s 58 pass attempts in Week 1, Week 4’s run commitment showed the other end of the pendulum swing.
It was inevitable for a team that strives for true balance, and it was never more important than at the end of the game as Dallas tried to chew up the clock to end Carolina’s comeback bid.
“There’s a point in every football game [when] you have to go run the football,” McCarthy explained. “You have to go run the football when everybody knows you’re going to run it. And that’s what good teams- good run teams- do. We’ve been doing it, and we’re going to have to do it again in seven days against the Giants.”
But does that mean Elliott will be called on to be the sledgehammer again in Week 5? Maybe. The Giants have given up the fifth-most ground yards in the NFL through four games, allowing 4.5 yards per rushing attempt.
Or maybe it’s Pollard’s turn.
But the beauty of the 2021 Cowboys is that the offense could decide to attack the next team in some other way. And they more than likely have a tool that’s perfect for that job, too.
Like Prescott. Or Cooper. Or CeeDee Lamb. Or one of the tight ends. Or someone else entirely.
“I think the best thing that we do have going is Zeke doesn’t have to go out and carry it 30 times every week or 25 times a week,” McCarthy said. “The most important thing is we’ve got to win games. That’s the priority, but we want to make sure those guys are healthy for the long-term, too.”
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