Ezekiel Elliott could reach career milestone this Sunday vs Saints

The Dallas Cowboys will host the New Orleans Saints this Sunday, September 15 at AT&T Stadium with a 1 p.m. ET kickoff. For running back Ezekiel Elliott, that means it will be his first Game back at home with the Cowboys. After playing one season with the New England Patriots last year, Zeke is back with the ‘Boys. In last week’s regular season opener against the Cleveland Browns, he finished with 10 carries for 40 yards and a touchdown, plus two catches for nine yards in Dallas’ blowout victory on the road.

“It felt good to be out there, especially with the star on my helmet,” Elliott said after the game. “It was a great team win. I wish the offense finished a little stronger, but it is always first to get that first away win, and we can keep building on that.”

Zeke could reach career milestone vs Saints

It’s quite clear that Elliott is happy to be back with his old team. Even while he was away, he never seemed to harbor any bad feelings towards the Cowboys, giving hugs to his former teammates when the Patriots came to Dallas to play last year.

Now that he’ll be playing at home again for the first time since reuniting with the Cowboys, Zeke also has the chance to reach a huge career milestone - 9,000 career rushing yards. Currently, Elliott has 8,944 yards in his ninth year in the league. He was able to get 40 yards against the Browns. If he can get 56 against the Saints at home, he’ll reach the 9,000 mark.

Of all the Dallas Cowboys running backs throughout their history, Elliott already has the third-most rushing yards behind Emmitt Smith (17,162 in 13 seasons with Dallas) and Tony Dorsett (12,036 in 11 seasons with Dallas).

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If he reaches the 9,000-yard mark on Sunday, he’ll join Baltimore Ravens running back Derrick Henry as the only other active RB to have reached that milestone. Although the Cowboys are currently using a committee approach to their running back room, which may make it more difficult to reach 56 yards on Sunday, it’s clear that Dallas views Elliott as their RB1.

Eventually, Zeke could surpass Dorsett as the Cowboys’ second running back leader in total touchdowns. Smith leads the way by a landslide with 164, but Dorsett is second with 86. Elliott trails him by just five, with Week 1′s touchdown against the Browns bringing his total to 81.