Against the New Orleans Saints, Cowboys star Ezekiel Elliott once again reveals problems. Running back Tony Pollard, on the other hand, impresses with his next touchdown run. In Dallas, there are signs of a changing of the guard in the backfield.

Munich/Dallas – While his teammates celebrated the away win at the New Orleans Saints, Ezekiel Elliott looked a bit banged up after the game.

The running back visibly struggled against a poisonous Saints defence, only rarely was he able to really create much space. At the end of the game, he had just 45 rushing yards on 13 attempts.

The 26-year-old does not want to use a knee injury, which has hindered him for several weeks, as an excuse: “That wasn’t the reason. They have a lot of good players. It was very difficult today,” he said after the match.

The problem: It was not the first disappointing performance of the actual offensive star.

Disappointing season from Ezekiel Elliott

After a strong start, the two-time NFL rushing leader is playing arguably his weakest season in a Cowboys jersey. Despite Dallas being on a playoff run and putting together strong team performances on the field week in and week out, Elliott has been able to contribute very little for seven games.

He hasn’t topped 70 rushing yards since the game against the New York Giants in October – Elliott has even failed to reach the 50-yard mark in four games. His lack of dash is particularly noticeable here.

Although some other running backs have shown signs of wear and tear over time, the transformation in the Cowboys star is almost startling. In Elliott’s sixth NFL season, he finally seems unable to return to his old days.

However, his deficiencies only become more apparent when compared to actual backup running back Tony Pollard, who also overshadowed Elliott against the New Orleans Saints.

Tony Pollard takes few chances

With the score 13-10 from the Cowboys’ point of view, quarterback Dak Prescott passed the ball to Pollard at his own 42-yard line. Moments later, Cowboys players cheered on the sidelines. Like a hot knife through butter, the 24-year-old slipped past the Saints defender and sprinted into the end zone.

In doing so, he showed off his incredible run, with which he outwitted several linebackers at the same time. With all due respect, if Ezekiel Elliott had been on the field here, it’s hard to imagine at this point that he would have been able to convert this attempt into a touchdown.

And therein lies the problem of the matter: while Pollard makes much of it with only a few opportunities, little comes of it with Elliott despite a few attempts. That’s easy to prove with statistics.

Elliott has 765 rushing yards over the season, while Pollard “only” has 602 rushing yards. The decisive factor, however, is the number of running attempts. Pollard received just 107 opportunities here, while Elliott was only involved in the Cowboys’ run game significantly more often with 173 attempts.

Inexpensive contract probably prevents separation

In a situation where other teams would have pulled the ripcord long ago, the Cowboys’ hands are more or less tied. Even if Pollard were to finally take the reins in the Dallas backfield later this season, the franchise is still tied to Elliott.

Two years ago, the Cowboys made him one of the league’s highest-paid running backs. Elliott could earn up to $90 million by 2026. Only before the 2023 season would an early separation make sense from Dallas’ point of view, before that the team would not save any money with a release or a trade.

That leaves the Cowboys with little choice but to hope for a second spring for their one-time workhorse. Until then, it wouldn’t be surprising if the ever-looming change is made this season – and Pollard gets the bigger share of the opportunities in possible playoff games, too.

Then there will also be the question of whether Elliott would accept a second-row role without grumbling. At least after the Saints win he came across as a team player: “We got the plays we needed. In the end, it’s about celebrating the win,” he concluded.

Still: The change of power in the Cowboys backfield was initiated at the latest since the Saints game.