Zeke and Pollard tandem works. And the Cowboys should leave it alone.
There isn’t a single stat that says Zeke Elliott should be the starting running back for a 4-1 NFL team, except the last one.
The Dallas Cowboys are 4-1.
Zeke is predictably aging like running backs do, but he should remain right where he is as this team’s starter.
Every eyeball that watches the Cowboys sees backup Tony Pollard has the gear, and moves, that Zeke no longer possesses.
And the Dallas Cowboys still can’t make Pollard their lead horse, because he’s not a Clydesdale. Pollard is a quarter horse.
On Sunday afternoon in Los Angeles, the Cowboys concluded their season-saving stretch without starting quarterback Dak Prescott with a 22-10 win against the defending Super Bowl champion L.A. Rams.
Without Dak, the Cowboys defeated the defending AFC Champion Bengals, division opponents New York and Washington, and now the Rams, too.
Not sure even Vegas bothered setting up one of those silly prop bets for such a preposterous scenario.
Credit the head coach. Credit the offensive coordinator. Credit the defensive coordinator. Credit the defense.
(OK ... fine. Credit the GM and his son, too.)
Credit Mr. Perfect himself, Cooper Rush.
The NFL has no answer for CRush time. Rush is now 5-0 in his career as the starting quarterback of the Dallas Cowboys.
Vegas definitely didn’t bother setting up a prop bet for that preposterous scenario.
The prop bet that may have legs, but shouldn’t, is the week Tony Pollard is named the starting running back over Ezekiel Elliott.
Don’t take the bet.
On Sunday, Pollard ran the ball eight times for 86 yards and a touchdown. Zeke ran it 22 times for 78 yards.
In there from Pollard was an electric 57-yard touchdown run in the first half.
The Cowboys have not seen a run like that since .... since Pollard ripped off a 58-yard touchdown run against the New Orleans Saints last season.
These are the types of runs Zeke made in his first three seasons in the NFL. That was way, way back in 2016, 2017 and 2018.
That Zeke is gone.
NFL running backs age about as well as your standard house fly (FYI - they live about 22 days).
We are likely watching Zeke in his final season with the Cowboys, and so far it’s been rough.
He averages less than 4 yards a carry; on Sunday, he averaged 3.5 yards per run.
Try, if you can, to ignore the stats with Zeke.
It’s hard. Those stats are ugly, especially considering he makes $12.4 million this season.
Against the Rams, he proved he does not have the fifth, or even fourth, gear but he can still play. Again, he carried the ball 22 times for 78 yards, his best game of the 2022 season.
He doesn’t go backwards. He can block just about anything in the NFL not named Aaron Donald, because no one can block Aaron Donald.
The Cowboys justifiably trust Zeke in pass protection whereas Pollard likely will never be enough in this vital category.
And you can keep giving Zeke the ball.
He’s bigger than Pollard. He will be more durable than Pollard.
At this point, he provides rest for Pollard, whose younger legs contain a pop Zeke’s do not.
On Sunday during the Fox on NFL telecast, former Dallas Cowboys head coach Jimmy Johnson said the Cowboys have to get Pollard more touches.
Jimmy is right.
A lot of people have clamored for this for the last two years.
M&M (Mike McCarthy and Kellen Moore) would be wise to give the ball to Pollard a few more times per game, but that’s it.
There is a reason why a quarter horse does what he does. A quarter horse is exceptionally fast in short bursts.
You don’t ask a quarter horse to run the entire length of a track. If you do, he’s going to slow down. And, eventually, break down.
Pollard in his career with the Cowboys and with the University of Memphis has excelled because he’s never been asked to do too much, and risk running down.
The Cowboys have the best thing going right now in the NFL with their defense, CRush, and their running backs.
Every single running stat says Pollard needs to start over Zeke, but that would be a panic move when it’s not necessary.
Keep Zeke as the starter, and let him take the load off Tony Pollard.
