Getty Ezekiel Elliott is confused about his workload.
The Dallas Cowboys defeated the Philadelphia Eagles by 20 points, but it was not enough for Ezekiel Elliott. The Cowboys running back admitted after the game that the Cowboys’ margin of victory should have been even larger. Elliott was asked what it means for the Cowboys to “impose their will” on a divisional opponent and the Dallas running back explained they could have, “put more points on the board.”
“That’s just our mentality,” Elliott told reporters after the win. “That’s the mentality of this team. We want to impose our will week in and week out. I think we took a step today, but we got a lot to clean up. We could have put more points on the board. It could have been a larger margin for victory.
Elliott had his best performance so far this season posting 17 rushes for 95 yards and two touchdowns while averaging 5.6 yards per carry. The veteran running back also added three receptions for 21 yards in the decisive victory.
Zeke: ‘We Gave Them More of a Chance Than They Should Have Had’
During his postgame press conference, Elliott emphasized on multiple occasions that the Cowboys should have scored more points. The Cowboys played their best game of the season, but Elliott believes the team has, “a lot we got to clean up.”
“I think today we came out hot, we got a fast start, but we left some points out there,” Elliott noted. “I think we gave them more of a chance than they should have. I think we played well, we got the win, but there’s definitely a lot we got to clean up.”
Elliott admitted that he felt the Cowboys rushing attack set a physical tone for the game. The Cowboys star cited it as a big factor in wearing down the Eagles, which was part of the team’s game plan heading into the Monday Night Football matchup.
“You can definitely tell, you can tell with the o-line pushing them all back five yards,” Elliott added. “You can tell when we’re going hurry up, and they’re still on the ground cramping up. So, they definitely felt us. It was an emphasis for us to run some tempo just to kind of wear those guys down and the o-line took over. ”
Dak on Zeke: ‘He’s All About the Team. He’s All About the Brotherhood.’
Heading into Week 3, there was a lot of discussion about a potential running back controversy in Dallas after Tony Pollard nearly split carries with Elliott in the team’s win over the Chargers. Dak Prescott came to the defense of his friend and teammate noting that Elliott, “has always been a very unselfish player.”
“Zeke has always been a very unselfish player and is going to do whatever it takes for his team’s success,” Prescott said, per The Dallas Morning News’ Calvin Watkins. “So, if there’s any misnomer about that, we probably should nix that and get rid of it now. He’s all about the team. He’s all about the brotherhood. He’s all about the team’s success.
“Obviously, individual success is great, but it’s not about that. I’ll continue to credit him and just our whole offense as a whole. There’s a few guys on our team that are paid well and that never comes into play. That’s never what this game is about. We all want to see each other succeed, and that’s the lack of egos we have that is going to be a key to our success.”