Cowboys’ Elliott rumbles his way to Player of the Game honors in Week 5

The Cowboys’ running back is back to running away from defensive linemen on a regular basis. Another big day for the always hungry Elliott.| From @TimLettiero

In yet another dominant second-half performance, the Dallas Cowboys were finally able to kick the visiting New York Giants out of their house after letting them hang around for two quarters. The club once again was able to run over, around and through an opponent, as Dallas ran for over 200 rushing yards for the second consecutive game. The attack started on the ground and ended on the ground and over the course of the game Dallas dealt body blow after body blow en route to a 44-20 division victory.

The Giants were daring the Cowboys to run early on, keeping their coverage players back as they feared another game with quarterback Dak Prescott carving them up. That happened anyway, but only after Ezekiel Elliott, the Cowboys offensive line and Kellen Moore forced them to respect the league’s best running game. Elliott led the way again, running the rock 21 times while catching two balls for a total of 112 yards from scrimmage and a pair of scores.

Early on, Elliott was used as a workhorse. The key factor to head coach Mike McCarthy’s “run until they stop it” motto this week, Elliott gained chunk plays here and there while also being a factor in the passing game, although his most impressive catch along the sideline got called back for an offensive penalty. Elliott stretched out to haul in a sideline pass for a first down, but an illegal shift call negated the gain.

In the game’s first half, Elliott was the central point of the offense, gaining 71 yards on 12 rushes while the passing game was working on getting untracked.

One of Elliott’s best traits is his pass blocking ability. It often gets overlooked but he shows it here as he helps Prescott find CeeDee Lamb for the first touchdown of the game.

In the second half, Moore dipped into his bag of tricks. On this fake option play, Elliott is left wide open for the swing pass. Paying homage to his jersey-number twin Deion Sanders, Elliott high-stepped his way into the end zone.

Prior to the play, Elliott broke off a big run that saw him launch toward the first-down marker, landing awkwardly on his back. There was concern as he had to be tended to on the sideline, but a few plays later he was back in the game.

Later in the game, Elliott trusted his speed and patiently waited for blocks to develop as he bursts outside, getting into the end zones virtually untouched to ice the game.

Elliott continues to be on fire early in the young season, continuing to silence doubters who had grown loud over the last couple seasons.

He’s now up to over 450 yards on the ground through five games, on pace for over 1,500 yards in the new 17-game season. Continuing to find consistency the Dallas Cowboys and Elliot will look to keep rolling next week in Foxborough, Massachusetts when they take on Bill Belicheck’s New England Patriots.

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