FRISCO, Texas — The Dallas Cowboys made history in last week’s 20-17 win against the Pittsburgh Steelers.
It marked their 19th straight game without a 100-yard rusher, which is now the longest streak in franchise history.
From Halloween 1965 to Nov. 20, 1966, the Cowboys went 18 games between 100-yard efforts from Don Perkins. From 2009 to 2010 and 2012 to 2013, the Cowboys went 17 games without a 100-yard rusher.
The only team with a longer current streak is the Denver Broncos at 22 games. Their last 100-yard game came in Week 18 of the 2022 season against the Los Angeles Chargers when Latavius Murray finished with 103 yards.
The last Cowboy to eclipse 100 yards in a game was Tony Pollard (122 yards) in a Week 3 loss last season to the Arizona Cardinals.
As the Cowboys prepare to take on the Detroit Lions Sunday (4:25 p.m. ET, CBS), there might be some hope.
Maybe.
Potentially.
Of course, the Cowboys ran for just 61 yards on 21 carries in last season’s win at AT&T Stadium against the Lions, but let’s not rain on a potential parade.
Against the Steelers, Rico Dowdle‘s 87 yards on 20 carries marked the closest a Dallas running back has been to the century mark since Pollard’s conquest. Both Pollard (against the Washington Commanders) and Dowdle (against the New York Giants) had 79 yards last season, which had been the previous high mark.
Through five games this season, the Cowboys are averaging 81 rushing yards, which ranks 31st. Some of that is because of the big deficits the Cowboys faced in losses to the New Orleans Saints and Baltimore Ravens.
Some of it is just poor execution.
“It’s definitely not to our standard,” right tackle Terence Steele said. “I’m not going to lie. But the beauty of it is we’ve got, what [12] more games? … Each week we’ve been building more and more and more and, trust me, we’re not far off at all.”
Steele made that comment before the Cowboys played the Steelers, who were ranked fourth in run defense, and when the Cowboys were coming off an 80-yard effort against the Giants.
The Cowboys left Acrisure Stadium early Tuesday morning feeling even better.
“We had to find the run and stick to the run, and [I] think we found our rhythm against a great run defense in Pittsburgh,” Dowdle said, “and it worked out.”
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The lack of success in the ground game has raised plenty of questions about how the Cowboys dealt with it in the offseason. Pollard left as a free agent for the Tennessee Titans with a three-year, $21.75 million contract that included $10.49 million guaranteed. And as Cowboys fans know, they did not make a phone call to Derrick Henry, who accepted a two-year deal with the Ravens with $9 million guaranteed. Henry leads the NFL with 572 yards (including 151 against the Cowboys in Week 3) and has six rushing touchdowns.
Dallas has 410 yards rushing as a team.
The Cowboys signed Ezekiel Elliott to a one-year deal worth $2 million with $1.625 million guaranteed. He has 30 carries for 98 yards and a touchdown, but in the past three games, he has played 47 snaps. Dowdle has played 100.
On Aug. 29, the Cowboys signed Dalvin Cook to the practice squad, but he has not been elevated to the active roster yet.
Owner and general manager Jerry Jones was asked about Elliott’s role, since he was bypassed in two critical short-yardage and goal-line situations against the Steelers, and if Cook would be elevated this week.
“It’s a long season,” Jones said before repeating himself. “It’s a long season. And so judiciously managing snaps of veteran players is a big part of the whole show.”
When the Cowboys signed Elliott, they knew they weren’t going to work him like they did in his first go-round. In each of his first seven seasons with the Cowboys, Elliott had at least 81 carries through five games. As a rookie, he had 546 yards rushing in his first five games.
“I think everyone wants to see the ball more,” Elliott said. “[It’s] just the way the games have played out and just us getting behind and not really just being able to run the ball.”
Coach Mike McCarthy has not seen Elliott react negatively to the lack of work. He and offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer said Elliott’s practices the past two weeks have been his best.
“I think we’re seeing the best of Zeke in my time with him. He’s a great teammate. He’s probably one of the most popular players in the locker room,” McCarthy said. “He brings great energy each and every day … And sometimes the games don’t reflect what’s going on in practice.”
To the offensive line, it doesn’t matter who carries the ball.
“My mindset doesn’t change based on who’s in there,” Tyler Smith said. “Biggest thing for us is executing our assignments. We know any guy back there — Zeke, Rico, Deuce [Vaughn], [practice squad running back Malik Davis] — anybody back there can get the job done. It’s on us to open up a way for him. We’re leading the way.”
But there has to be a symmetry between the running back and the line, and that’s something Dowdle struggled with early this season.
“When you’re a running back, [it’s] different than a receiver. A receiver comes off the ball and normally he’s going as fast as he can go vertically,” Schottenheimer said. “When you’re a runner, there’s a tempo to it. We call it slow to go or slow to the hole, [then] fast through the hole. So you’re slow to the hole, but as it develops, you’ve got to accelerate, speed up.”
Schottenheimer said Dowdle’s game against the Steelers was his most disciplined of the season. McCarthy added that Elliott has been a help to Dowdle in seeing the big picture.
“If anything, [Dowdle] just needs to maybe slow down, and that comes with experience,” McCarthy said. “And Zeke has been really good for him. Because Zeke has all that experience. Zeke’s been that guy that’s carried the load. That’s a very healthy combination for us.”
The Lions might not be the best defense for the Cowboys to face as they try to again to end their 100-yard streak. Detroit is giving up 90.8 rushing yards per game, fourth best in the NFL. Twice, the leading opposing rusher against the Lions was a quarterback (Baker Mayfield, Kyler Murray).
But in their last game, against the Seattle Seahawks, they allowed 133 rushing yards and three rushing touchdowns, with Kenneth Walker III gaining 80 yards on 12 carries.
There might be some hope the streak could end.
Maybe.
Potentially.
“Clearly the last two weeks is what we want to look at,” McCarthy said. “Like everything with these statistics, something we emphasize is we’ve played five games. Two of them were out of balance. We want to play with balance as far as the opportunities that we present to our players, as far as run and pass offensively. But the efficiency the last two weeks, the run efficiency, that’s where you want to live.”
