Cowboys to have Elliott for Sunday
FRISCO, Texas — Ezekiel Elliott will get at least one more game before another court ruling in his fight against the NFL over a six-game suspension on domestic violence allegations.
Beyond that, the Dallas Cowboys aren’t sure.
They just know they could use their star running back over a four-game stretch that includes two division rivals (Washington and Philadelphia), a team tied for the best record in the AFC (Kansas City) and defending NFC champion Atlanta.
The Cowboys (3-3) don’t have the luxury of the fast start that carried them to the best record in the conference last season. That belongs to the NFC East-leading Eagles.
“I don’t like to think about playing ballgames without Zeke,” owner and general manager Jerry Jones said after Sunday’s 40-10 win at San Francisco. “We don’t need reminding. He’s an integral part to our team and he’d be an asset to anyone playing football.”
Elliott, last year’s NFL rushing champion as a rookie, had a career-high 219 yards from scrimmage against the 49ers. That included a season-high 147 yards rushing and a 72-yard touchdown on a screen pass. His three TDs tied a career best.
Cardinals preparing without Palmer
TEMPE, Ariz. — The Arizona Cardinals went to London hoping to put an uneven start to the season behind them and pull into a tie for the NFC West lead.
The trip abroad did not go as planned.
The Cardinals (3-4) not only were overmatched by the Los Angeles Rams in a 33-0 beatdown on Sunday, but also they may have lost quarterback Carson Palmer for the season.
Palmer broke his left arm in the first half Sunday and is expected to have surgery. He is projected to be out eight weeks, which would put him in danger of missing the rest of the season.
Palmer is the fourth Cardinals player to go down with a broken left arm, joining running backs David Johnson and T.J. Logan and long snapper Aaron Brewer.
“It sucks because you know you’ve got a good football team that you’re excited about,” Cardinals coach Bruce Arians said Monday. “We went through a really tough camp injuryfree and now we’ve got four broken left arms. It’s kind of crazy. But nobody’s going to throw a pity party for Green Bay and no one’s going to throw one for us.”
Confidence growing for surging Saints
METAIRIE, La. — New Orleans defensive tackle Sheldon Rankins couldn’t resist the temptation to remind some of the Saints’ biggest critics how shortsighted they look now.
Rankins readily concedes that his team — and particularly the defense on which he starts — struggled mightily during two lopsided losses to open this season. But he also isn’t shy about expressing how much he has enjoyed seeing the Saints turn the corner during a four-game winning streak that has lifted New Orleans from worst to first in the NFC South Division.
“After the first two games, everybody and their mamas were calling for our (defensive) coordinator’s head and completely trying to say we need to abandon everything we’ve done,” Rankins said Monday. “We have confidence in what our coordinator and our coaches lay out for us to do. … We just weren’t able to execute in those first couple games, but we found a rhythm.
“Guys are playing with confidence,” Rankins continued. “Guys are having fun. Guys are flying around.”
Pats’ run game shows production
FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — The New England Patriots turned a corner in capturing their third straight victory on Sunday night, this time taming the Atlanta Falcons in a dominating 23-7 win.
The biggest leap forward for the Patriots, though, was probably made in the run game, which helped them control the game after being mostly underwhelming for most of the season.
Offseason acquisition Rex Burkhead was back after missing the four previous games with an injury to his ribs. It gave New England a full complement of running backs for the first time since Week 2.
It paid off with the Patriots rushing for a season-high 162 yards, their highest output since their season-opening loss to Kansas City. Dion Lewis led all rushers with 76 yards on 13 carries.
Bryant a no-show for Steelers
PITTSBURGH — The Pittsburgh Steelers laughed along with Martavis Bryant a week ago as the talented but erratic wide receiver downplayed reports he requested a trade.
It’s not quite so funny anymore.
Bryant stayed home on Monday with an illness. The timing looked considerably curious after Bryant defended himself on social media and took a shot at rookie teammate JuJu Smith-Schuster following another ineffective performance in an otherwise dominant victory over Cincinnati.
Bryant was limited to one carry for 2 yards and one reception for 3 yards while splitting snaps with Smith-Schuster in Pittsburgh’s 29-14 victory. Seven games into his return from a yearlong suspension for violating the league’s substance abuse policy, Bryant has 18 receptions for 234 yards and a score, well off the numbers he posted while becoming one of the NFL’s premier big-play threats in 2014 and 2015.