WHILE MOST OF the talk after Dallas’s comprehensive victory over the Cincinnati Bengals on Sunday night revolved around whether or not the Cowboys had a quarterback controversy, Ezekiel Elliott had yet another impressive showing at running back.
After a difficult start, the former Ohio State back has averaged 137 yards and a touchdown in each of his last three games.
Against the Bengals, 60 of his 134 yards came on one run that resulted in a touchdown.
If you missed it, here’s how it looked on TV:
Pre-snap read: Offence
The Cowboys are lined up in their 12 personnel grouping with two tight ends — Jason Witten (red) and Geoff Swaim (blue) — and a running back — Elliott (yellow) — in a single-back formation.
The twist on this formation is that it is known as a ‘H-Back’ set (though most call it a two tight end set these days).
Developed by Joe Gibbs, former head coach of the Washington professional football team, the formation sees one tight end employed in the traditional blocking role while the other is available as a pass catcher should the need arise.
Before the snap, Swaim makes his way from the right of the Dallas offensive line to the left, causing a shift in the defence that shows quarterback Dak Prescott that they are playing zone defence.
Pre-snap read: defence
The Bengals are in Cover 2 meaning two safeties — Shawn Williams (#36) and George Iloka (#43) — each responsible for covering half of the field on a deep pass.
Up front, Cincinnati are in their base 4-3 formation with Karlos Dansby (orange), Rey Maualuga (purple) and Vontaze Burfict (green) the Sam (strong-side), Mike (middle) and Will (weak-side) linebackers respectively.
The Sam linebacker is the one lined up on the side of the field with the tight end, or in the case of two tight ends, the side with the most offensive personnel.
At the snap
Here’s where we must give credit to the fat guys up front.
The Dallas offensive line is ranked by Football Outsiders as the best run-blocking front-five in football and they prove why on this play.
From left to right — Tyron Smith (#77), Ronald Leary (#65), Travis Frederick (#72) Zack Martin (#70) and Doug Free (#68) — they all execute their blocks perfectly.
As you can see below, Leary even manages to throw a quick block on Domata Peko (#94) before moving on to Dansby (#56) while Martin – ranked by Pro Football Focus as the second-best guard in the league — easily accounts for the Bengals’ biggest threat on the defensive line, Geno Atkins (#97).
However, the run could still have been stopped in the backfield were it not for the blocking of the tight end Swaim, who moves across the line to stop Carlos Dunlap (#96) from even getting a hand on Elliott.
Free’s heads-up block of Maualuga (#58) should also be noted.
What happens next?
Elliott runs very, very fast.
His 4.47 40-yard dash time at the NFL combine was nothing to write home about but he clocked a top-speed on this run of 34.6 kph.
To put that in context, Usain Bolt’s 100m world record was run at an average speed of 44.7 kph. He wasn’t wearing pads though.
Elliott’s top-speed was the second fastest rushing touchdown of 2016 — Isaiah Crowell hit 35.35 kph earlier this year — but it meant the Rookie of the Year candidate was almost impossible to catch.
And none of it would have been possible without the fat guys ahead of him creating the space in the first place.
Notes
The role of Jason Witten on this play should not be understated.
The veteran tight end may not have blocked anybody but, as you can see below, he occupied two defenders — Iloka and Burfict — either of whom could have easily made a tackle on Elliott had they not been preoccupied with #82.
