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Cowboys hoping to keep Ezekiel Elliott rolling into Week 3

Ezekiel Elliott is off to a fast start, but he feels he can take it up a notch. After all, he was able to do that with strong Week 3 performances during his first two seasons. Matthew Emmons-USA TODAY Sports

FRISCO, Texas -- Ezekiel Elliott took some time to get rolling during his first two seasons. But by the third week, he found his stride.

Will that trend continue this week in Seattle?

Through two games this season, Elliott is seventh in the NFL in rushing with 147 yards and two touchdowns on 32 carries. As a rookie in 2016, he had 41 carries for 134 yards and two touchdowns in the first two games. In the first two weeks of 2017, he had 33 carries for 112 yards.

“I think it does feel that way, just the way we’ve progressed from Week 1 to Week 2,” Elliott said. “Finally kind of getting it together in Week 2 and getting a little momentum and now making sure that we take what we built up last week and carry it over.”

The Seattle Seahawks have the 23rd-ranked run defense.

In 2016, Elliott had 140 yards on 30 carries in a win against the Chicago Bears in Week 3. After being held to 8 yards on nine carries in Week 2 by the Denver Broncos last season, Elliott had 22 carries for 80 yards and a touchdown in a win against the Arizona Cardinals.

“I think we’re close,” Pro Bowl right guard Zack Martin said. “Looking at the tape, although we were better, I still think we left some yards out there. But we’re getting there. We’re getting better every week and that’s what you want to see. Hopefully we can take another step this week and we can continue to get better.”