Rowdy
Well-known member
- Mar 18, 2019
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USA TODAY Sports
The Cowboys didn’t have Dak Prescott and his 371.2 passing yards per game.
And Ezekiel Elliott‘s two fumbles — which came in a three-play span in the second quarter — got the Cowboys in a hole they couldn’t dig out of without their star quarterback.
“I don’t think we can use that as an excuse,” Elliott said of playing without Prescott. “I’m just going to keep saying it over and over. I started the game out with two fumbles, gave the ball away and that gave them all the momentum they needed to go and take off. I want to say I’m sorry, and this one is one me. I need to be better for this team.”
The Cardinals used Elliott’s two fumbles for touchdown drives of 54 and 27 yards and a 14-0 lead.
Elliott now has five fumbles this season, losing four. No other running back even has three.
Elliott said he has worked on keeping the ball tight in practice. It obviously hasn’t worked, and he conceded, “I need to figure something out.”
Elliott has never lost two fumbles in a game or more than two fumbles in a season.
“Honestly, I can’t really even…,” Elliott said, not finishing the sentence. “I don’t know why. I’ve got to be better with it.”
Elliott stayed on the sideline the next time the Cowboys got the ball after his second fumble, with Tony Pollard replacing him.
“Zeke is our bell cow, and we need to get it right,” Cowboys coach Mike McCarthy said. “He’s part of the plan. He’s going to be part of our success. So, we have to get it right. We have to take care of the football. That’s for everybody that touches the football on our team.”
Elliott finished with a season-low 12 carries and 49 yards and has gone six games without a 100-yard game, the longest stretch without one in his career.
“I think it was me,” Elliott said. “I’m supposed to be a guy that this team can rely on. I’m supposed to be a guy that this team can lean on when times get rough. I just wasn’t that today. I got us started off to a terrible start. . . . I killed our momentum. I can’t do that. I can’t.”
The Cowboys have 15 giveaways and three takeaways for an NFL-worst minus-12 turnover ratio.