ELLIOTT RUNS WILD AGAINST NINERS
Ezekiel Elliott gained 219 yards from scrimmage and tied a career high with three touchdowns just days after a legal reprieve put his suspension on hold as the Cowboys pounded the winless 49ers 40-10 on Sunday.
Elliott was granted his second temporary restraining order on Tuesday, putting his six-game suspension over domestic violence allegations on hold and then gave the Cowboys a big boost on the field.
Elliott matched his season total of rushing touchdowns with two in the first quarter and then took a short pass from Dak Prescott 72 yards for another touchdown on Dallas’ first possession of the second half to put the 49ers away. Elliott ran for 147 yards on 26 carries to go with the big catch, setting a career high in scrimmage yards in a game.
That performance spoiled the starting debut of rookie quarterback C.J. Beathard , who was sacked five times, lost two fumbles and failed to lead the 49ers to the end zone until he scored on a run with the game out of hand in the fourth quarter.
SUNDAY’S HIGHLIGHTS
Jared Goff ran for a touchdown and threw for another and Greg Zuerelein made four field goals as the Rams won for the first time in three appearances in London, beating the Cardinals 33-0. Cardinals quarterback Carson Palmer broke his left arm. Palmer will require surgery on the arm; coach Bruce Arians said he expects the quarterback to miss eight weeks. That leaves Drew Stanton, who has been Palmer’s backup since the two joined the team prior to the 2013 season. Palmer was attempting a deep throw to receiver J.J. Nelson with 5:48 remaining in the first half when he took a hard hit from Rams linebacker Alec Ogletree. … Tom Brady threw for 249 yards and two touchdowns as the Patriots beat the Falcons 23-7. Atlanta was shut out until Matt Ryan connected with Julio Jones on a 1-yard touchdown pass with 4:09 left in the game. … Latavius Murray rushed for 113 yards and a touchdown and Kai Forbath kicked six field goals to lift the Vikings to a 24-16 victory over the Ravens. Forbath made kicks of 52, 51, 43, 43, 34 and 32 yards to back another suffocating effort from the defense for the Vikings. Minnesota sacked Joe Flacco five times and allowed just 208 total yards. Everson Griffen had two sacks and has nine for the season. Flacco completed 26of-38 passes for 186 yards and a 13-yard touchdown to Chris Moore as time expired. … Blake Bortles threw for a season-high 330 yards and one touchdown, and T.J. Yeldon scored on a 58-yard run, leading the Jaguars past the Colts 27-0. Bortles and the offense looked good on a day when they played without rookie Leonard Fournette, the NFL’s second-leading rusher. Fournette was inactive because of a sprained right ankle. Jacksonville got its first shutout since a 41-0 victory over the New York Jets on Oct. 8, 2006. … Ben Roethlisberger threw for 224 yards and two touchdowns, Le’Veon Bell added 192 total yards and the Steelers’ defense dominated the Bengals in the second half of a 29-14 victory. The Steelers relied on their stars to take the lead, then on their reinvigorated defense to blunt Cincinnati.Two weeks after openly questioning whether he still “had it,” Roethlisberger hit Antonio Brown for a 7-yard touchdown to cap Pittsburgh’s first drive, found a wide-open JuJu Smith-Schuster for a 31-yard score in the second quarter and threw a perfectly placed 23-yard deep out to Brown late in the second quarter. … Russell Wilson threw three second-half touchdown passes and the Seahawks limited the Giants’ receiver-depleted offense to 177 yards in a 24-7 win. Wilson hit Doug Baldwin with a go-ahead 22-yard TD pass midway through the third quarter. He put the game away with a 38-yard TD throw to Paul Richardson on a play that had to be reviewed because of simultaneous possession, and he closed out the scoring with a 1-yard toss to Jimmy Graham with 2:14 to go. The Seahawks limited the Giants to just 46 yards rushing.