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Zeke Elliott was tearing up the league, averaging nearly 100 yards rushing per game when he was suspended following the Cowboy's win against the Chiefs back on 11/5. Now in the 3 games since he's been serving his suspension, the 'Boys have lost all 3 and have failed to manage more than 250 yards of total offense or score more than 9 points.

Is Elliott that good? We've been told for years, rather we've been told for decades that this is a quarterback's game, that the day of the running back has faded away into history, that running backs are two down players. Is that not true?

BTW, guess which game Elliott will return from his 6 game suspension.

In this case, yes he does make that big of a difference.
He takes a whole lot of pressure off of Prescott who isn't yet ready to do much more than manage a game as well as provides good pass blocking.
Their OL is also hurting a bit, too so it's a combination.

RiverDog wrote:Zeke Elliott was tearing up the league, averaging nearly 100 yards rushing per game when he was suspended following the Cowboy's win against the Chiefs back on 11/5. Now in the 3 games since he's been serving his suspension, the 'Boys have lost all 3 and have failed to manage more than 250 yards of total offense or score more than 9 points.

Is Elliott that good? We've been told for years, rather we've been told for decades that this is a quarterback's game, that the day of the running back has faded away into history, that running backs are two down players. Is that not true?

BTW, guess which game Elliott will return from his 6 game suspension.

Well, lets answer that question this way....

What was our rushing in the Atlanta game with Davis Running the ball? After he got hurt what was it?
What was our rushing the first couple games until our RB got hurt and we tried, Lacey, Rawls, etc. to fill those shoes.

Yeah, I think a good RB can make that big of a difference.

YES! Consider one Marshawn Lynch, though our current O-Line is no where as "good" as the O-Line that Lynch ran behind his first 3 seasons playing for our Hawks he STILL gained more yards on his own than any lesser RB would have. He (both Lynch and Elliot) also helped make their young QB's much better than they otherwise would.

Dak Preston misses Elliot just as Russell Wilson misses a younger, healthier Marshawn Lynch.

That said, I SURELY hope that Elliot is RUSTY and out of sync when we play the Cowboys on XMAS day. Who knows? Maybe Jerry Jones will be looking toward the Draft at that point and actually rest DP and maybe even not play Z.E. too much to make sure that neither gets injured in a game that winning it would be pointless and self defeating considering their position in the 2018 Draft.

If, however the Cowpokes still have a chance to make the playoffs when we play them LOOK OUT, Zeke just might set a new single game record, or a record for coming off of a suspension and/or injury. Zeke will be wanting to make a statement that he is STILL the best RB in the NFL. Heck, even IF Dallas is out of it Zeke will be wanting to make that statement. This is one of those games that scares the crap out of me, especially since we seem to "play down" to an inferior team's level at times.

GO SEAHAWKS!!!

Depends on the team as to the degree, but yes, one RB can make a huge difference. I recall a study showing that a quality RB improves the run game far more than a quality offensive line. Quality RB makes everyone look better. Then again a quality player at almost any position has some kind of effect on the team. We lost Sherm and I expect our defense to increase PPG by 4 points or so, which is likely to cost a few games or more.

It would on our team, yes.
With no relief in sight for our inept OL, you need to get a guy who can maximize whatever 'space' there is inside the tackles.

We would have 2 more wins - and a much better shot at being a legit SB contender - If we were able to run the ball. It's no coincidence that our offense has had Zero rhythm all season because of a 'mediocre' backfield, to put it in Sherman ease.

It depends on the team and how it is built. For the Cowboys yes as that is how they are built, For us yes and no because it depends on how our coaches call the game. We have shown we can win without a run game if our coaches call that kind of game, but if they dont then we are hurting.

Its not just the loss of the woman beater. The line play has also been bad. It makes me love Russell even more watching the golden boy Dak Prescott suddenly in Russ's situation. Lousy backs and bad line play and he's completely befuddled and a turnover machine. Fans are calling for his benching.I hope he doesn't figure it out over the next 5 weeks.

I feel bad for him. He seems like a nice kid but the look on his face says how he feels right now.Then compare that to Russ's situation and compare the stats.
Yes a great back like a healthy Lynch, health Rawls and seemingly Carson and for a while Davis shows. But ultimately it's the line, skill guys, the scheme and the guy under center most of all.

Dak is having a hell of a sophomore slump.Jerry just gave Jason Garrett the dreaded vote of confidence. With or without Zeke this game is one of the least scary left on the schedule for seattle now IMO.

The Cowboys have had their problems on defense, too, particularly with Sean Lee being out. They've gone 27 straight defensive possessions without a sack, 29 without a take away.

Dak had a horrible game against the Chargers, bad decisions, bad throws. I saw a tidbit showing that Dak is the 4th QB in the last decade to put up 3 straight games under 10 points, the others being Brady Quinn, JaMarcus Russell, and Zach Mettenberger, not the kind of company you want to be associated with. Plus it seems that Dez Bryant is becoming less and less effective. They didn't even target him in the first half.

It's reassuring to see a team with worse problems than we have, particularly when that team just happens to be the Cowboys.

When isn't Sean Lee out?? Tony Romo probably wishes he had stuck around watching the Superman getting a full dose of kryptonite.

Dak is having the sophomore blues while our Russell Wilson hoisted a Lombardi. Just shows how special a QB we really have and how rare it is when one of the "great" ones comes along.

P.S. I STILL can't stand Tony Romo and I resent how sports pundits are agitating to get him into Canton. If Romo is enshrined then they will have to enshrine Mudbone and we all know THAT won't happen.