Todd Archer, ESPN Staff Writer 5y

Ezekiel Elliott doing it all for the Cowboys

ATLANTA -- There’s really nothing Ezekiel Elliott can’t do for the Dallas Cowboys.

If they need him to make a big play in the passing game, he can get outside on a screen and pick up 34 yards, like he did on the Cowboys’ first scoring drive of the game Sunday against the Atlanta Falcons.

If the Cowboys need him to pick up the dirty yards on third-and-1, he can carry a defender for a yard, like he did in the third quarter on the Cowboys’ first touchdown drive.

If they need him to break a long run after patiently waiting for the hole to open, he can do that, like he did with his 23-yard run in which he ran by and through a defender for the Cowboys’ last touchdown.

And if the Cowboys need him to pick up a free defender rushing Dak Prescott, he can step up and pick off a defender, like he did on a key Dak Prescott completion on the drive that ended with Brett Maher’s 42-yard field goal in the Cowboys’ 22-19 win against the Atlanta Falcons.

“That’s what Zeke has done since Day 1,” Prescott said. “Zeke’s a great pass-blocker in protection ... If he’s not cleaning up the protection himself, he’s usually getting out and giving me somewhere to get it out of my hands fast. He’s just a great player, and as I said, as much as we can get him touches with the ball, he plays as well as he does without the ball in his hands. This offensive team usually has a lot of success.”

The Cowboys find themselves back in the playoff chase because they found Elliott again.

The Cowboys had 323 yards against the Falcons on 63 offensive plays. Elliott had 23 carries for 122 yards, including a 23-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter after a Leighton Vander Esch interception. Elliott also had seven catches on eight targets for 79 yards.

Nearly half of the Cowboys’ plays ran through Elliott.

Elliott responded with his second straight 100-yard rushing game. It was his fourth game with 200 scrimmage yards, tying him with Emmitt Smith and DeMarco Murray for the most in team history, and he has played just 36 games.

Since 2016, no player has more games with 200 scrimmage yards than Elliott, and he missed six games last season because of a suspension.

“It’s really just what he does week in and week out,” coach Jason Garrett said. “We want to get him the ball running it. We want to get him the ball throwing it to him. Made some big plays in the passing game, some plays that keep the ball moving. Kept him in some valuable situations, and then as the game goes on our ability to run the football, control the line of scrimmage and give him the rock, that’s big.

"We built our team that way. He came up big again and is a great competitor. Great instincts and feel for the game. He wants the ball in his hands during the critical moments until the game is through.”

He wanted it a little more Sunday because of what he missed when the Cowboys visited Mercedes-Benz Stadium last November. It was the first game of his six-game suspension, and Elliott had to watch the Cowboys’ season spiral after a 27-7 loss.

“I mean, it was so hard to watch them go out and lose that ballgame and the way the game went,” Elliott said. “It feels great being here for these guys and getting this win.”

During the bye week, the Cowboys made a big change, moving on from Paul Alexander as offensive line coach and promoting Marc Colombo, but it did not pay a benefit immediately with the Cowboys’ Nov. 5 loss to the Tennessee Titans.

In the past two games, it has. Elliott has 273 yards rushing and two touchdowns.

“I just feel like we got back to our old selves,” Elliott said. “We got back to our old calls, old plays that we were good at. Those guys, those offensive linemen, they’ve been good for the past five, six years. I think we kind of got away from ourselves at the beginning of this year, and we’ve done a good job getting back to what we’re comfortable doing and what we do best.”

In 10 games, Elliott has 953 yards rushing on 190 carries. His 273 yards in the past two wins are the fifth-most he has had in back-to-back games in his career. He has a career-high 42 catches for 341 yards.

“We know he’s a difference. He’s a difference-maker for the opponent,” owner and general manager Jerry Jones said. “He’s a difference-maker for us. He took it on his shoulders. We put it on his shoulders. He basically did everything that you could ask for to win that game. I’m sure they’d tell you the same thing. He was the difference.”

If the Cowboys are to continue this push, they will need Elliott to continue to be a difference-maker as a runner, receiver and protector.

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