ATLANTA – The Atlanta Falcons’ defense has one primary goal entering today’s home game against the Dallas Cowboys: Slow down Ezekiel Elliott and make Dak Prescott try to beat them with his arm.
The Falcons will need all their resources to corral Elliott, who leads the NFL with 93 runs of 10 or more yards over the past three years.
Atlanta coach Dan Quinn said his defense, which gave up 211 rushing yards in last week’s road loss to the Cleveland Browns, must maintain gap control against such a patient, powerful running back.
“He can wait to set up a block and stick his foot in the ground and really explode,” Quinn said. “Oftentimes, you can see him take a handoff and see a read about to happen, then he can change the direction and really explode. I would say the second piece of that is he’s really effective as a pass catcher, too.”
Both teams are 4-5 and trying to maintain fading hopes of staying in the playoff hunt.