Dallas Cowboys: 3 Big takeaways from loss vs. Texans in Week 5
By Randy Gurzi
When Zeke struggles, the whole team struggles
On offense, there’s only one elite player. That’s running back Ezekiel Elliott, the No. 4 overall pick in the 2016 NFL Draft out of Ohio State. When Elliott is rolling, the offense is hard to stop. However, defenses know with the lack of talent around him, they can zero in on Zeke and make his life miserable.
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That’s what happened on Sunday Night as the Texans were loading the box in an effort to slow Elliott down. It worked as he was having to fight for each and every yard and was well below his normal output for the season.
With him unable to get rolling, the rest of the offense struggled to make anything happen. Elliott gave it all he had — and despite again looking hobbled as he was last week — he ran it 20 times and caught it seven more. He finished with just 54 yards on the ground and 30 receiving.
It wasn’t an ideal night for him, but that’s what happens when you have a strong defense on one side, and an offense that’s based on one elite player and a bunch of other spare parts around him. If they want to start getting the most out of Elliott, they need someone to take the pressure off.