The back and forth battle between Ezekiel Elliott and Todd Gurley for the 2018 NFL rushing title has taken another turn. And now, they have a thoroughbred in their rear view closing in on the two of them down the home stretch.
With three games to go for each, Elliott has regained the NFL rushing lead after 13 weeks of action. He now sits at 1,262 yards on the season, just 59 ahead of Gurley’s pace. Closing in fast is the New York Giants sensational rookie Saquon Barkley, with 1,124.
The Cowboys gave Elliott the rock to tote 28 times in their 29-23 overtime victory over the Philadelphia Eagles. He turned that into 113 rushing yards on the day. Gurley, who had taken the lead back from Elliott the week prior, was limited by his own coaching staff. Playing a close game in Chicago, Gurley saw just 11 carries for 28 yards against the tough Bears defense. The game was knotted at six at the half, so even though they weren’t running with much success, there were still opportunities to feed him the ball.
Barkley had no such issues. He torched Washington for 170 yards on the day and a touchdown in a 40-16 blowout victory.
In fact, out of all three explosive backs, Barkley has been the big-play man. The three have combined for seven rushing plays of 40 yards or longer.
Barkley has six of them with Elliott having the only other. As bad as the Giants have looked, Barkley has them remaining in playoff contention, albeit by a hair, in the NFC.
Still, the rushing title is Elliott’s to lose. He is looking to win the second of his career, and his third straight title with the most rushing yards per game. If it weren’t for his six-game suspension in the middle of 2017, he’d be the crowned king.
Elliott’s skill in the passing game as a check-down star where he has 502 receiving yards, has vaulted him into first place overall in yards from scrimmage with 1,764. He’s just 230 yards shy of his career mark of 1,964 set as a rookie.
His lead in that category is even more tenuous as Barkley sits just 11 yards behind him in that category.
