Ezekiel Elliott, Cowboys still smarting after Vikings stuffed the run

Rowdy

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Mar 18, 2019
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Ezekiel Elliott has had only three games with fewer rushing yards than he had Sunday. Those three came on the road, so his 47 yards on 20 carries against the Vikings was the fewest rushing yards he ever has had at AT&T Stadium.

“You never expect to have a performance like that but just got to take it,” Elliott said Wednesday. “Take it with that chip on your shoulder and use it as fuel when you go back to work the next week and try to not let it happen again.”

With less than two minutes remaining, the Vikings stopped Elliott for no gain on second-and-two from the Minnesota 11 and for a 3-yard loss on third down.

Center Travis Frederick took the blame on the third-down run, blaming a miscommunication between Frederick and left guard Connor Williams against a front they had not seen on film.

“We need to work on our communication as a whole,” Frederick said. “We didn’t know what happened there. That was something we hadn’t talked about before. It’s a look we hadn’t practice before. It’s an adjustment we needed to make on the run as well as we could have. That comes down to everything, being able to execute in a crunch time situation you have never seen before.”

The Cowboys, who are No. 1 in total offense, rank third in passing offense and fifth in rushing offense. That’s not the norm for the Cowboys since they drafted Elliott in the first round and Dak Prescott in the fourth round in 2016.

“I just think that we have to play better,” Elliott said. “I don’t really look at it as they did something. I look at it as us not going out there and doing what we need to do.”

Elliott, a two-time rushing champion, ranks only eighth in rushing yards with 788. He trails league-leader Dalvin Cook by 203 yards.

He has not lost his confidence.

“I’m confident. Yeah, I’m confident. Yep,” he said.
 
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