Dallas Cowboys: Zeke leap of faith: Ezekiel Elliott embodied what Cowboys were all about with one play vs. Eagles

PHILADELPHIA — There were more reasons to think this would be a bad night for Ezekiel Elliott than a great night. But I suppose you could say the same about an entire team that came to town under .500 with its season on the line against the defending Super Bowl champions.

One sizable leap of faith for Zeke. One step closer to relevance for the Dallas Cowboys.

In a game that left both teams with 4-5 records, two games behind Washington for the NFC East lead, the Cowboys escaped Lincoln Financial Field with a 27-20 victory Sunday night. After a slow start, both teams provided all kinds of fireworks during the second half — the Eagles desperately advancing inside the Cowboys’ 10-yard line on the final play — but the bottom line was this night belonged to Zeke.

Elliott ran 19 times for 151 yards, the fifth time in his three pro seasons he has topped the 150 mark. No other back can make that claim. He scored touchdowns on the ground and through the air. He did it against a highly ranked run defense, and he did it behind an offensive line that, for a stretch while Zack Martin was injured, had Adam Redmond, Joe Looney and Xavier Su’a-Filo in the middle.

But the memorable play, even if it was not the game’s most decisive, came early in the second quarter when Elliott broke free up the middle and executed a perfect (but dangerous) leap over safety Tre Sullivan. It turned what might have been a 15-yard gain into 32 yards. Even if it merely set up a field goal to raise Dallas’ lead to 6-0, it embodied what the Cowboys were all about in the second quarter and on this night.

The second quarter began with head coach Jason Garrett determined to go for a first down on fourth-and-1 at the Dallas 40. A false start penalty against Geoff Swaim required the Cowboys to punt, but on their next possession, one that looked like it would end with a fourth-and-2 at the Dallas 31, Jeff Heath ran 3 yards up the middle on a daring fake punt play.

Just a handful of plays later came Elliott’s leap of faith as the Cowboys — by play calls or player risks — showed that this was a night to throw everything they had at the Eagles, to make sure that the Super Bowl champs did not right their own troubled ship and essentially end all Cowboys hopes in one evening.

“I think if we don’t take some of those risks,” Cowboys owner Jerry Jones said, “we don’t come out of here with a win.”

That’s not to say that two games behind Washington is a great position to inhabit. The Cowboys host the Redskins and Eagles in the next month and understand they probably need to win both games as well as many others to entertain a chance of winning the division.

Elliott understood what was at stake. “It was absolutely mandatory that we went and got the win if we wanted to keep our hopes up for winning the division and making the playoffs,” he said.

It was not smooth.

Dak Prescott was sacked four more times Sunday, raising his total to 32. That’s the highest in the league, at least until the 49ers go after Eli Manning Monday night. But Prescott survived those bumps and his own occasional inadequacies to throw for 270 yards and keep the offense churning throughout a busy second half.

It was after the Eagles had rallied from 10 points down to tie the game 13-13 that offensive coordinator Scott Linehan realized it was time to saddle up Elliott. The Cowboys reclaimed the lead 20-13 on a nine-play, 75-yard drive in which Zeke handled the ball on all but two plays.

The first five plays were all Zeke runs or receptions, gaining 45 yards. He was allowed to catch his breath while Prescott threw 15 yards to Cole Beasley and handed the ball once to Rod Smith. But a Zeke run and then a swing pass to No. 21 gave Dallas the upper hand.

The Cowboys’ final scoring drive was more democratic with Amari Cooper (six for 75 in his second Cowboys game), Allen Hurns and even Dalton Schultz involved for nice gains. But once the Cowboys reached first-and goal, it was Zeke, Zeke and one more Zeke for the touchdown.

With a long way to go and few mistakes to be tolerated, the Cowboys kept their season from freezing up on a chilly night in Philly. Zeke gained 4 yards on his first three carries as it looked like this might be a repeat of the Washington and Tennessee games, when he was held to 94 yards on 32 carries.

All it took to change this game, all it requires to believe in this team, is one giant leap of faith.