{"id":784,"date":"2024-11-15T00:38:44","date_gmt":"2024-11-15T00:38:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=784"},"modified":"2024-11-15T00:38:44","modified_gmt":"2024-11-15T00:38:44","slug":"breaking-dallas-cowboys-announce-major-change-at-running-back-for-the-rest-of-the-season","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=784","title":{"rendered":"BREAKING: Dallas Cowboys Announce Major Change at Running Back for the Rest of the Season!"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\"Dallas<\/a><\/p>\n
Sep 8, 2024; Cleveland, Ohio, USA; Dallas Cowboys running back Ezekiel Elliott (15) celebrates his first down run against the Cleveland Browns during the fourth quarter at Huntington Bank Field. Mandatory Credit: Scott Galvin-Imagn Images<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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The\u00a0Dallas Cowboys\u00a0season is effectively over as they have almost no shot of making the postseason. While they will have a lot to figure out to have a better season next year, they are making a huge change at the running back position for the rest of this season. They are demoting their once-great back,\u00a0Ezekiel Elliott.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Dallas Cowboys Have New Starting Running Back<\/h2>\n
\"Oct
Oct 6, 2024; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; Dallas Cowboys running back Rico Dowdle (23) celebrates a touchdown pass from quarterback Dak Prescott against the Pittsburgh Steelers during the fourth quarter at Acrisure Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Barry Reeger-Imagn Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The backfield for the Cowboys has been an issue all year and they have had one of the worst run games in the league. Per\u00a0Matt Hladik from The Spun:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Dallas went into the year with Rico Dowdle and Ezekiel Elliott as the team\u2019s primary running backs, electing to not pursue star Derrick Henry in free agency. Overall, Dowdle has been solid, if not spectacular, but Elliott has looked his age (29) and has\u00a0drawn the team\u2019s ire\u00a0for \u201chabitual tardiness\u201d and other issues.<\/p>\n

So far, Dowdle has gotten more work than Elliott, but the Cowboys have taken a running back-by-committee approach\u2013until today.<\/p>\n

Head coach Mike McCarthy told reporters Thursday that Dowdle will be the team\u2019s lead back moving forward, beginning Monday night against the\u00a0Houston Texans.<\/p>\n

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\u201cDefinitely, you have to get him the ball. That\u2019s my focus to continue to get him opportunities. He\u2019s the lead back,\u201d McCarthy said,\u00a0via Clarence Hill Jr.\u00a0of All Dlls.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Dowdle has been the better of the two backs but not by that much. He has appeared in 8 games for the Cowboys so far and was the starter in 7 of those games. He has totaled; 374 yards on 83 carries, caught 24 passes for 166 yards, and three touchdowns. He has still not yet gotten a rushing score.<\/p>\n

Elliott on the other hand, has been playing poorly, to say the least. The team has been free-falling after a mediocre start landing at a 3-6 record that is just going to get worse. They are on track for their first losing season since 2020, and only the second losing season in the last 14 years!\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

With Dak out for the season, they are primarily focused on next year, and even\u00a0Micah Parsons has already started speaking about what the team can do to fix things for next year.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe just need to stay the course,\u201d\u00a0said McCarthy, \u201cand make sure we\u2019re giving the players what they need, and putting them in positions to be successful, and just keep working on our execution.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

McCarthy should be gone by the end of the year but so far\u00a0Jerry Jones is maintaining that McCarthy\u00a0will be the coach going forward.<\/p>\n

Cowboys fans think that this change took way too long to come, and by now it is way too late at their season is basically over:<\/p>\n

\u201cTook McCarthy long enough to realize that Rico Dowdle is giving you more than the rest of the room,\u201d\u00a0one fan said.<\/p>\n

\u201cMcCarthy should have done this in Week 1. It was clear as day in camp that Rico didn\u2019t need to be shackled in a timeshare,\u201d\u00a0said another fan.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis definitely seems like a decision you make in Week 11. Credit to 30 year old Zeke and the electric Deuce Vaughn for holding him off that long,\u201d\u00a0one fan added.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s why the Cowboys are annoying. Should not have taken 10 weeks to come to this decision,\u201d\u00a0another fan said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis would\u2019ve been nice to have with Dak still around,\u201d\u00a0said one fan.<\/p>\n

\u201cCowboys declaring FINALLY that Rico Dowdle is the true, definitive, No. 1 lead running back after their season has already turned into pixie dust is hilarious, this team makes me sick,\u201d\u00a0one fan added.<\/p>\n

\u201cOver ten weeks?? It\u2019s took Mike, Jerry, and the whole lot of idiots to decide something everybody and their mama knew to do before the szn started,\u201d another fan said.<\/p>\n

Jerry Jones Scrambles to Calm the Micah Parsons Controversy<\/h2>\n
\"Dallas
Sep 22, 2024; Arlington, Texas, USA; Dallas Cowboys linebacker Micah Parsons (11) drops back in coverage during the fourth quarter against the Baltimore Ravens at AT&T Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Andrew Dieb-Imagn Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Sep 8, 2024; Cleveland, Ohio, USA; Dallas Cowboys running back Ezekiel Elliott (15) celebrates his first down run against the Cleveland Browns during the fourth quarter at… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":803,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-784","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nfl"],"yoast_head":"\nBREAKING: Dallas Cowboys Announce Major Change at Running Back for the Rest of the Season! - 24\/7 News America<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=784\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"BREAKING: Dallas Cowboys Announce Major Change at Running Back for the Rest of the Season! 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