Ezekiel Elliott exploded for 152 yards on 25 carries while also contributing four catches for a team-high 88 yards and a touchdown Sunday in Dallas’ Week 4 win over the Lions. Zeke’s 240 yards from scrimmage—140 of which came after halftime—set a career-high. Elliott was, for large stretches of the afternoon, the Cowboys’ only source of offense. The third-year back got to stepping with a 38-yard touchdown off a screen pass late in the second quarter. He rumbled to a 41-yard run, his longest of the afternoon in the third quarter. Elliott made arguably his biggest contribution when he hauled in a 34-yard deep bomb from Dak Prescott, putting the Cowboys in field-goal range with under two minutes left in the fourth quarter. The Cowboys’ offensive line has mostly struggled this year, but they went all out for Zeke in Week 4. Elliott, who currently leads the NFL with 426 rushing yards, will look to stay hot when he faces the Texans next week on Sunday Night Football.
The one knock on Zeke that had been keeping him out of #1 overall pick discussion the last two years was his lack of usage in the receiving game. Now that Dallas has departed ways with both Dez Bryant and Jason Witten, the team hasn’t done anything on the outside to give the offense any help. Instead, Elliott is now picking up the slack in the passing game with 15 receptions through the first four games. His career high is 32 so he is on pace to smash that total and flirt with RB1 overall numbers. And for as improved as his numbers have been receiving wise, he’s smashing the league in rushing yards behind an offensive line that was thought or expected to take a step back this year. Elliott is the workhorse and target hog of this Cowboys team. Seriously, he leads the team in targets. I couldn’t believe it either.
