3 impressive Cowboys performances despite offensive struggles vs Lions

1. Ezekiel Elliott, RB

Ezekiel Elliott had quite the day. He looked like his 2016 self and it wasn’t even all rainbows and sunshine.

The RB1 struggled in the first quarter, just like the rest of his teammates. However, in the second quarter, Elliott was able to break free for a 14-yard gain. Unfortunately, that big play ended with Lions safety Deshon Elliott’s helmet colliding directly with Elliott’s knee. The Cowboys’ RB was down on the field, which is something we rarely see from the physical player.

He was eventually able to walk off the field, but fans were panicked that the 27-year-old may be badly hurt. He remained on the white part of the sideline and never received medical attention, but it was still a scary site to see.

It seemed like the back would likely be subbed out for a few plays or limited, but that absolutely wasn’t the case.

In the second half, the Cowboys clearly made some halftime adjustments and Elliott was back and better than before. Early in the third quarter, he impressed the home crowd with this hurdle move which made everyone feel significantly better after seeing his knee injury, which he later said he thought was likely a contusion.

This exciting maneuver eventually led to the Cowboys going up 10-6 on Detroit. But that wasn’t all from Elliott.

After the Cowboys’ third takeaway of the game from Jourdan Lewis, which sadly ended up in an injury, Pollard and Elliott worked together to lead this team down the field to get all the way to the one-yard line. Eventually, the RB1 scored yet another power touchdown.

The multi-score game for Elliott marked his first two-touchdown game since Week 10 of the 2021 season. It gave Dallas a 17-6 lead on their way to the 24-6 victory.

Moore needs to continue to use these players and make sure that the rest of the offense is complimenting them as well. There were times when this team made Detroit look better than they were, and that can’t happen. Prescott and the WRs need to make things happen if they want to be a more complete team.