With Cowboys running back Ezekiel Elliott out today nursing a knee injury, backup Troy Pollard ran wild, carrying 14 times for 131 yards and three touchdowns. So does that mean the Cowboys’ offense doesn’t actually need Elliott?
Not according to Cowboys owner and General Manager Jerry Jones, who insisted after the game that you can’t even make the case that Pollard should be the starting running back in Dallas.
“There’s no argument,” Jones said. Z"eke’s ability to punish, Zeke’s ability to deliver, Zeke’s ability, what he does for us in pass protection, and, frankly, Zake’s ability to make big plays are there, and we’re going to go where Zeke goes. He’s that integral to our success.”
The reality is, Jones will never admit that Pollard is more than capable of handling the running back job in Dallas, because if Jones admitted that he would be admitting that the enormous contract he gave to Elliott was a mistake. The Cowboys have made Elliott the highest-paid running back in the NFL, at the expense of using all that salary cap space elsewhere, and so Jones will continue to insist that the Cowboys’ offense goes where Elliott goes. Even on a day when the Cowboys’ offense went very far without Elliott.