4. Ezekiel Elliott gets back to eating
There was a lot made about the usage — or lack thereof — for Ezekiel Elliott in the Cowboys Week 1 game against Tampa Bay. He finished with only 35 total yards on 11 rushes and two receptions. It was hardly what anyone expected out of him after a preseason full of hype following his work to get into much better shape.
Now to be fair to Elliott, and Dallas for not giving him more touches, the Bucs front line was a major problem. They’re stacked up front with Vita Vea and Ndamukong Suh giving up nothing easy in the run game. Throw into the mix the absence of Zack Martin and things were rough in the ground game. That’s not a slap in the face to Connor McGovern either, who played incredibly well at right guard in Martin’s place. He’s just not a bulldozer in the run game the way Martin can be.
Looking ahead to Week 2, the Cowboys aren’t exactly playing pushovers in the Chargers, but they’re not the Bucs front line. In Week 1, they faced the Washington Football Team and surrendered 127 yards on 27 carries. That’s an average of 4.7 per attempt and they allowed 4.5 to Antonio Gibson who ended the day with 90 yards on 20 carries.
This should give Elliott and the Cowboys a reason to believe things will be better for them. They also won’t likely be playing from behind as much as they were against Tampa Bay so they will be able to stick to their game plan — which will still probably be very pass-heavy but will include more plays for No. 21.