Elliott, a 21-year-old first-round draft pick, leads the league with 412 yards rushing and is single-handedly out-running half the teams, including the Cincinnati Bengals, whom he will face Sunday in Texas.
“I wouldn’t say I’ve surprised myself,” Elliott said in a conference call with Bengals media Wednesday. “I think I’ve done a good job going out there, getting better every week, getting in the film room, watching and seeing what my weaknesses are, what I need to get better at and working on that during the week so I can do that better in the next game.”
Elliott was the Buckeyes’ second-leading rusher in program history (behind Archie Griffin), recording 3,961 yards in three seasons, and already is on pace to set a Dallas franchise record for yards by a first-year running back.
BENGALS WEEKEND FORECAST: First look at the Dallas Cowboys
The 6-foot, 225-pound back rushed for 51 yards on 20 carries in an opening loss to the Giants, but gradually improved the following weeks to help Dallas carry a three-game win streak into Sunday’s matchup. He carried for 138 and 140 yards the past two games.
“I really wasn’t running patient early on,” Elliott said. “If you watch me in the first game and you watch me in the fourth game, I look like a completely different back.”
Bengals coach Marvin Lewis said Elliott is everything he thought he would be.
“(He is) fast, strong, great vision, great cutter, has an ability to make people miss within the hole, speed to the perimeter, runs behind his pads,” Lewis said. “He has all the great qualities we watched up the road (at Ohio State).”
Stopping Elliott will be the biggest task for the Bengals defense this week. While rookie quarterback Dak Prescott has been flawless in terms of his passing, throwing for 1,012 yards with no interceptions, Dallas’ offense starts with its ground attack.
Cincinnati’s rush defense ranks 14th, surrendering 97.5 yards per game, and hasn’t allowed a 100-yard rusher since Week 5 last year when Seattle’s Thomas Rawls carried for 169 yards — a streak that sits at 16 games, third-longest in the league.
“(Elliott) is a good, strong runner, and we have to go out there and stop him and force Dak to win the game,” Bengals defensive end Carlos Dunlap said.
Defensive coordinator Paul Guenther said the Bengals defense played like he envisioned it could last week in a 22-7 win over Miami in which the Dolphins ran for 62 yards.
The return of linebacker Vontaze Burfict from suspension clearly helped and will continue to play a factor going forward; however, Cincinnati’s success Sunday could come down to how well the defensive line handles one of the best offensive lines in the league.
Dallas’ offense has produced even without left tackle Tyron Smith, who missed the last two games with a back injury and was limited in practice Wednesday, and left guard La’el Collins, who is on injured reserve following toe surgery. Veteran Ronald Leary has stepped in for Collins and Chaz Green for Smith, joining right tackle Doug Free, right guard Zack Martin and center Travis Frederick.
“I believe I run behind the best offensive line in the NFL,” Elliott said. “They do a good job of wearing guys down, removing them and getting them off the line of scrimmage.”
The Bengals defensive line looks forward to the challenge.
“They play really well together as a unit, so we just have to make sure our unit does the same thing,” defensive tackle Domata Peko said. “We have to make sure we play well together, that we all maintain our gaps and play with gap integrity and we just have to attack these guys and get after them.”
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