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It was four years ago that the Dallas Cowboys experienced great amounts of success throughout the rookie seasons of Dak Prescott and Ezekiel Elliott. One of the statement games of that year came on the road against the Pittsburgh Steelers, just a few days before Tony Romo’s iconic “football is a meritocracy” speech.
Dallas will meet Pittsburgh for the first time since that game on Sunday afternoon. This contest will take place at AT&T Stadium, but a lot has changed since then and a lot could change between now and kickoff.
We know that the Cowboys are severely banged up on the injury front. They have lost multiple starters on both sides of the ball for the season and unfortunately the hits just keep on coming.
Running back Ezekiel Elliott was the latest to pop up on the injury report this week with a hamstring issue. It appears as if this may be something that hinders him from playing on Sunday altogether.
The Dallas Cowboys are reportedly preparing to be without Ezekiel Elliott on Sunday
We have seen Zeke play every game for the Cowboys save for the six that he was suspended for three years ago. The first half of that stretch was particularly ugly for the Cowboys as they went three straight games scoring in the single digits for the first time in franchise history. Dallas has failed to breach double digits for two straight weeks and they might match that awful 2017 performance on Sunday, especially because they are reportedly preparing to be without their top running back.
Cowboys are preparing to be without RB Ezekiel Elliott (hamstring) on Sunday vs. Steelers. Team has elevated FB Sewo Olonilua from practice squad. More backfield depth behind Tony Pollard, Rico Dowdle if Elliott inactive. Mike McCarthy has said Elliott to have pregame workout.
— Michael Gehlken (@GehlkenNFL) November 7, 2020
To be fair, it isn’t like Elliott has been a top performer for the Cowboys in the time that they have been playing without Dak Prescott. In fact, he has come under criticism for not doing more to elevate the unit as a whole. Still, though, life without Zeke could theoretically be even more inefficient than life with him, although there is certainly a camp of people who would like to see what Tony Pollard could do with more touches.
The Cowboys are on bye next week so it is possible that they are going to give Zeke the added time off so that he can properly heal for when they return. Their first game back will be on the road against the Minnesota Vikings and they will have a quick turnaround shortly after against Washington on Thanksgiving. Pittsburgh is the lone undefeated team in the NFL at Week 9 so it was already going to be quite the challenge, but this news would hardly help.