Who Won The NFL Weekend? Ezekiel Elliott, A Legit MVP Candidate

With the Cowboys’ embarrassment of rookie riches, it was difficult for awhile this season it was hard to say which Dallas youngster was more special — quarterback Dak Prescott or running back Ezekiel Elliot. But after the minor QB controversy of the past couple of weeks, the answer has become clear: it’s Elliott, the shoo-in for the Rookie of the Year and a legitimate MVP candidate.

When the Cowboys’ 11-game winning streak came to an end at the hands of the New York Giants, it was the third week in a row that Prescott had looked like a rookie, and the calls for Tony Romo to return began to be heard. After the Boys got back on track on Sunday night by taking down a tough Bucs team, 26-20, those calls have been quieted. Prescott had one of the most accurate nights for a quarterback ever (32-36, an 89 percent rate), but they were also rendered moot by what Zeke and that offensive line can do.

Look at this combination of blocking and burst through the hole:

The Cowboys’ line is the best unit in football, but even they can’t do much blocking at the second level. From there, it’s all Zeke, and he’s consistently shown the ability to beat defenders there either with speed or by breaking tackles, and the results have been devastating.

Elliott ran 23 times for 159 yards, bringing his total through 14 games up to 1,551, with 351 receiving yards and 14 total touchdowns. He’s 257 rushing yards short of Eric Dickerson’s rookie record with two games to go, which means he only needs to beat his yards per game average by about 15 each game to do it. He’s averaging more yards per carry and receiving yards than Dickerson did as well, and he’s doing so in an era where his workload makes him a serious outlier. Even in the most recent loss to the Giants, Elliott was impossible to stop — it was Prescott that New York was able to take away to get the win.

Which brings us to the MVP conversation. Tom Brady is once again having an incredible season in defiance of the suspension that made it start late, but the Patriots were 3-1 without him (and 3-0 with Jimmy Garoppolo at QB). As good as Dallas’ offensive line is, it’s hard to imagine backup Alfred Morris approaching 2,000 total yards through 14 games. The Cowboys’ defense has been inconsistent, but it also has avoided being exposed because of the time of possession the Cowboys can eat up with their running game.

Elliott also allows Dallas to keep Dak throwing short, easy passes without defenses being able to jump the routes, because they have to worry so much about the run game. Brady would be a decent choice for MVP, but Elliott should be right up there with him and another Week 15 winner getting first-place votes as the postseason nears.

Other Week 15 winners

Matt Ryan: Yes, the 49ers are nearly as bad at the Browns, especially defense, and we’ve had a season-long policy that you don’t get to win a week by beating the Browns. Still, what Ryan did in San Francisco should give one pause — he had a 97.6 QBR, a damn near perfect rating, and averaged an absurd 12.4 yards per attempt in his second game without superhuman WR Julio Jones. The Falcons’ defense has given away plenty of games they should have won, but they’re at 9-5, in first place in their division, thanks to the best passing attack in the NFL. It’s a passing league nowadays, and due respect should be given to your third true MVP candidate of the season. Ryan has proved a lot of doubters wrong with his 14-game line of 4,336 yards, 32 touchdowns, only 7 interceptions, a 114.8 rating, and passes like this:

Shout-out to Devonta Freeman as well, with 139 yards and three touchdowns to keep the offense balanced, but the Niners’ run defense is even worse than their pass defense.

Ty Montgomery: The Packers’ four-game win streak to catapult them back into playoff contention has come in stages: Before it even started, Aaron Rodgers got his mojo back. Then, the defense got a little bit healthier and stopped hemorrhaging points quite as much. Now, it seems as if the final piece of the puzzle has fit with Montgomery fully assuming the role of lead running back in Green Bay. He may wear number 88, but he’s been a running back on the depth chart for weeks now — it just took Mike McCarthy until this week to finally give him a proper back’s workload. Montgomery responded with 162 yards on 16 carries, a mind-boggling 160 of them after first contact (according to Pro Football Focus). The kid is legit, and he certainly runs like a running back:

He even got noted Packers fan Lil Wayne’s attention:

Olivier Vernon: The Giants finally look like something more than a paper tiger after back-to-back wins against teams with winning records, and once again the defense was the star. Jason Pierre-Paul is out for the year (unless New York gets deep into the playoffs), and yet the defensive line has remained effective at pressuring the quarterback thanks to Vernon. Like he has all year, Olivier performed better than his sack totals would suggest, as he got only half a sack against Detroit but five total pressures and a fumble recovery. Once again, he also performed spectacularly in the running game as well, where he’s been one of the best defensive ends all season. Like Damon Harrison and Janoris Jenkins (who left the game with a back injury), Vernon has been worth every penny the Giants paid him this offseason.