The Dallas Cowboys’ run game was always going to be a topic of hot discussion, and through five weeks, the trepidation surrounding it has gone.
Javonte Williams has quietened down all the naysayers, rushing for 447 yards and five touchdowns to be the driving force behind Dallas boasting one of the best run games in football.
With Williams running behind a makeshift offensive line against the New York Jets, with four of the five starters missing, many weren’t sure if the group could hold up against the Jets’ defensive line.
Well, they did, and Javonte feasted en route to a 135-yard, one-touchdown game as he averaged a crisp 8.4 yards per carry.
For young tackle Nate Thomas, it was a team effort with the standard being upheld once again.
“It was a team effort,” Thomas said. “Understanding that we come in every day, no matter who it is, we come in and we work. That’s what it is around here. We come in, we work, and we get better every day. Understanding that no matter who’s in the game, there’s a standard to be upheld, and we hold the standard no matter who’s in.”
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Cowboys’ run game gone from weakness to strength
Remember when Rico Dowdle and Ezekiel Elliott were running with cement in their cleats to begin last year? Now, Williams has been rolling through five weeks and doing it routinely.
Oh, how times change.
As such, the Cowboys average 134.4 rushing yards per game (ranks eighth), have the third-best yards per carry (5.4), are fifth in touchdowns (seven), and Williams is third in the league for rush yards, just 33 behind Jonathan Taylor of the Indianapolis Colts.
That is some transformation from the disaster we saw at the beginning of last season (Rico did get rolling towards the end of the year).
Credit to Brian Schottenheimer, Klayton Adams, and Conor Riley, because what was once a glaring weakness is now an obvious strength, with Javonte at the heart of it.
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