Ezekiel Elliott has had the worst season of his five NFL seasons. He has played through hamstring and calf injuries and last week missed the first game of his career for injury.
But the Cowboys running back had his best game of the season when they needed him most.
He rushed for a season-high 105 yards on 19 carries and caught four passes for 34 yards. His 139 yards from scrimmage also was a season best.
“I think just the biggest for me is just that I felt, I feel healthy,” Elliott said. “I’ve been feeling a little dinged up in past weeks and this week I feel healthy, and uh, I felt like myself.”
Elliott led the league in rushing in two of his first three seasons. But he entered Sunday’s game averaging a career-worst 3.9 yards per carry and 64.0 yards per game and leading non-quarterbacks in fumbles. His long run this season before Sunday was 26 yards.
But with 3:54 remaining, Elliott went for 31 yards to set up CeeDee Lamb’s 19-yard touchdown run. That iced the Cowboys’ 37-17 victory that kept their NFC East hopes alive.
“Man, it felt great, you know?” Elliott said. “It felt great to come out and lean on those guys a little bit. We knew it was going to be tough sledding at first, but, you know, we had to grind them out and we knew the big ones were going to come toward the end of the game.”
