One thing Cowboys could hang hats on? Ezekiel Elliott has been a horse down the stretch
Ezekiel Elliott needs 10 yards to reach the 1,000-yard mark for the third time in four seasons.
He could do that early tonight when the Dallas Cowboys take on the Chicago Bears at Soldier Field.
The only reason Elliott isn’t about to collect his fourth-consecutive 1,000-yard season is because of the six-game suspension he served in 2017. He still rushed for 983 yards and seven touchdowns in 10 games.
With a strong finish to the season, beginning tonight, Elliott could surpass his league-leading 1,434 yards in 15 games from a year ago.
He’ll need a huge finish to pass his rookie total of 1,631 yards and 15 touchdowns. If he pulls that off, then we witnessed something really special.
Especially considering that Elliott has gone four consecutive games without rushing for at least 100 yards for the first time in his career. He’s only once had a three-game stretch in which he failed to get to 100 yards. That was early in the 2017 season when he rushed for 8, 80 and 85 yards.
So has 2019 really been a down year for Elliott? It has been a common narrative for much of the season. Statistically? Not really.
He’s averaging 4.4 yards a carry, which is just a tick below his 4.7 average in 2018, but above the 4.1 average in 2017. With a few big receptions, Elliott could also set new personal highs in receiving yards. He has 326 receiving yards on 39 catches entering tonight’s game.
He set a career-high with 567 receiving yards in ‘18.
As for rushing, Elliott has typically saved his best for last. In his final four regular-season games in each of his first three seasons, he’s never rushed for fewer than 75 yards. In those 12 games, he has five 100-yard games, including games with 150 and 159 yards, and has scored eight rushing touchdowns.
