How do you stop Ezekiel Elliott? Following a tough start to his rookie campaign, Elliott has really turned it on, rushing for 134 yards or more in four consecutive games. Now, the primary objective for opposing defenses every week is to find a way to slow down the Dallas Cowboys' running game. While on 97.5 The Fanatic, NFL Network analyst Brian Baldinger offered up a suggestion that the Philadelphia Eagles should absolutely, positively not take him up on.
"Well he hasn't been hit by an Eagle yet. He hasn't been tattooed into that pretty little turf that Jerry built down there. This is the guy that we gotta hurt. This is the guy that we gotta take out of the game," Baldinger said, according to Dallas News. "There's gotta be 10 guys that want to hurt him every single play. In fact, we may even put a little bounty on Ezekiel Elliott. Let's get to Alfred Morris." Wait, what? A "little bounty"? As in, the type of bounty that initially got former New Orleans Saints defensive coordinator Gregg Williams suspended indefinitely, and head coach Sean Payton suspended for the entire 2012 season?
If it wasn't clear enough that he wants to take Elliott out of the game, Baldinger followed that up by saying, "I'm sick of hearing everybody talk about how good the offensive line is, and how good this guy is. This is the guy that makes them go. This is the guy we've gotta take out." If you want to stop the Cowboys' rushing attack, maybe you load up the box and force Dak Prescott to repeatedly beat you in the air. How about that for a defensive game plan? It's sure as hell better than suggesting that you purposely try to injure Zeke, no?
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