Austin Huns unveil schedule
on offense, but obviously it starts with stopping the run,” Packers linebacker Clay Matthews said. “Great running back, great offensive line, really — so, we’ll have our work cut out for us, but we’re up for the challenge.”
Elliott gashed the Packers for 157 yards on 28 carries. Going into the game, the Packers had the top-ranked run defense while allowing only 42.8 yards a game.
But Elliott and the Cowboys had no trouble establishing the run. As a team, the Cowboys finished with 191 yards on 33 carries.
“That was when I was starting to get really roll- ing,” Elliott said. “We’ve just got to watch that film and see what made me so successful in that game.”
Green Bay, on the other hand, feels much more confident in its ability to slow down Elliott this time around.
This is a team that has played better down the stretch with seven consecutive wins. It finished the season ranked eighth in rushing defense (94.7) and held the New York Giants to only 70 rushing yards in the wildcard round on Sunday.
As nose tackle Letroy Guion said, “Packers are doing good right now, so let’s go. Elliott is doing a good job, hats off to the rookie, but Pack coming to town, baby.”
Elliott acknowledged that the Packers are playing better than when the teams met earlier this season, although he and the Cowboys’ offen- sive line won’t be short on confidence.
The Cowboys pride them- selves in being a physical team and setting a tone early in games. They love the idea of wearing a defense down by the time the fourth quar- ter rolls around.
“There’s nothing like going out there and playing four quarters of tough football,” Elliott said. “There’s noth- ing better than seeing you take your opponent’s will. I mean, that fourth quarter and start taking those big runs.”
Outside of that, Elliott also must protect the football. It’s something he has done well all season, losing only two fumbles in Week 2 at Washington.
One of the most pivotal plays in the Packers’ victory over the Cowboys two years ago in this playoff round was when veteran defensive end Julius Peppers stripped the ball from ex-Cowboys running back DeMarco Murray early in the third quarter. It led to a Green Bay field goal.
Peppers, 36, continued to be a thorn in the Cowboys’ side in October as the only player who sacked quarterback Dak Prescott.
“You want to improve throughout the season and I think that’s where we’re at,” Peppers said after he recorded another sack in the wild-card game against the Giants.
“At the midway point we had a rough stretch, but we stood tall. We trusted the process and I think now we’re better because of it.”
We’ll find out Sunday how that translates in regards to the Cowboys’ running game.
The Austin Huns, transitioning to professional rugby, announced Wednesday a 14-match schedule in 2017 for their newly formed Elite Team that begins Jan. 21 at the Dallas Harlequins.
The home opener Jan. 28 brings a marquee attraction, San Diego’s Old Mission Beach Athletic Club. That match starts at 3:30 at Huns Field, 4107 Nixon Lane, in Southeast Austin.
OMBAC has won seven USA Rugby Sevens championships
USA Fifteens titles and groomed national team
Todd Clever, the U.S. Eagles captain and a Huns investor.
The Huns will play teams from California, Colorado,
Michigan and Louisiana in addition to Texas squads. They will compete concurrently in the pro Major Rugby Championship and the amateur Red River Rugby Confer
The MRC is a four-team group with NOLA (New Orle
Rugby Utah (Salt Lake City) the Glendale (Colo.) Raptors. The RRRC includes the Austin Blacks, Dallas Reds,
Harlequins and Houston Athletic Rugby Club. The semipro Austin Blacks
reached the Division I national finals two years in row, losing narrowly each The Huns and Blacks will
off twice this season. In an effort to turn pro, the Huns have invested to upgrade their staff and ros
They hired former South African junior national team coach Eugene Eloff to mold a roster beefed up by several international signings. The team also has an affiliation with noted French club Racing 92 of Paris.