Ezekiel Elliott wants to keep the Dallas Cowboys running game on track

By Dwain Price, NDG Special Sports Contributor

Now that he’s coming off his best game in the NFL, Dallas Cowboys running back Ezekiel Elliott would like to keep the train rolling perfectly down the tracks on Sunday when they hit the road to play the Washington Redskins. In running roughshod over the San Francisco 49ers, 40-10, this past Sunday, the Cowboys racked up a season-high 501 yards in total offense.

“I think that’s what our offense should look like,” Elliott said on Wednesday. “We have some momentum right now, so we’re going to have to keep that rolling.”

Elliott was the big star in the win over the Niners as he rushed for 147 yards on 26 carries and scored two touchdowns, and also had one reception which carried for a long 72-yard TD. The combined 219 all-purpose yards are the most Elliott’s accumulated in his 23-game career.

Also, the Cowboys have scored 101 points in the past three games and appear to be clicking on all cylinders offensively. That includes a 30-point game against the Los Angeles Rams and a 31-point outing against the Green Bay Packers, although they lost both of those games.

“I wouldn’t say all cylinders, but we’re definitely going in the direction that we want to go,” quarterback Dak Prescott said. “Basically, now we’re playing up to our standards and our expectations of the way we expect to move the ball and the way we expect to get points and it’s been going well.

“If anything, we’ve just continued to keep faith and keep confidence in ourselves and we’ve continued with the same game plan we’ve been doing early off in the season. It’s just starting to pick up and we’re getting into a groove and we’re all getting comfortable.’’

Of course, Sunday’s game against the NFC East Division rival Redskins take on a new meaning, since a win or loss basically means a two-game swing in the standings.

“The division is good, the division is talented,’’ Prescott said. “We know how good this Redskins team is.

“This is a division team and a division rivalry, we know what they’re going to do and they know what we’re going to do, and it’s going to be a great matchup. We’re 1-0 in our division and now it’s important just go get another win, and that’s our only focus.”

Elliott said its critical that the Cowboys (3-3) find a way to survive and get out of Redskins country with a victory.

“Every game is vital, and, it’s a division game,” Elliott said. “We’ll just go out there and try to get another win.

“Division games are always fun. They know your offense as well as you do, you know their defense, as well as, they do so it’s always fun. It just really comes down to who makes the least mistakes.”

By the way, Elliott will be in New York on Monday for a hearing on a preliminary injunction for the six-game suspension the NFL handed him this summer. When asked if he’s looking forward to that hearing and a final resolution, to his case Elliott bluntly said: “I’m looking forward to Sunday.”

Likely the biggest challenge facing the Cowboys against the Redskins will come with their kicking game. Regular kicker, Dan Bailey, suffered a hamstring injury against San Francisco and was sidelined most of that game, with safety Jeff Heath taking over the kicking duties.

But the Cowboys signed free agent kicker Mike Nugent this week to kick the field goals, extra points and kickoffs.

“It’s very good opportunity just to get back out on the field,” Nugent said. “I was lucky enough to be signed with the (New York) Giants in training camp and get to work with some good guys there and get some good exposure.

“The way I look at it, even though I’m older than Dan., he’s the best, so I get to hang out with the best every single day. I’m excited just to hear certain situations he’s been in and how he’s handled it, because I’ve seen it just on film or on TV.”

The Cowboys will have to try and contain Redskins quarterback Kirk Cousins, who has completed 135 passes in 198 attempts for 1,637 yards and 12 touchdowns. Meanwhile, center Travis Frederick explained that the Cowboys’ primary focus on offense is not to get too far ahead of themselves.

“For us our mindset as an offensive line is to go out and try and get our blocks right,” Frederick said. “We don’t think about the bigger picture.

“Our focus is never on the future picture, or what is going on in the game or what the score is, or if we have to score a touchdown or get a field goal. Our job is to simply go out and get our assignments right on that play with the correct technique and do that and beat the guy across from you.”

Which is what the Cowboys have been doing on offense the past three games.