Ezekiel Elliott comments on Cowboys playoff berth will have fans hyped up

December 22, 2022 ndowd

The Dallas Cowboys clinched a playoff berth in Week 15, but running back Ezekiel Elliott explains why the team isn’t celebrating.

The Dallas Cowboys had a Week 15 performance they would like to forget. Despite taking a late 34-31 lead over the Jacksonville Jaguars, the Cowboys lost 40-34 in overtime on a pick-six by safety Rayshawn Jenkins. Yet, the Cowboys were able to clinch a playoff spot after the New York Giants defeated the Washington Commanders 20-12 on Sunday Night Football.

Even though the Cowboys are in the postseason for the second consecutive year, running back Ezekiel Elliott told the media on Wednesday that the team isn’t celebrating the accomplishment much. Why? Because Elliott and the Cowboys want to make a run this time around after suffering early exits.

The quote comes courtesy of Yahoo Sports’ Jori Epstein.

Cowboys aren’t celebrating playoff clinch much. Not the goal.

“You can make the playoffs and—we’ve seen it—lose in the first round,” Zeke said. “Does not taste good. Don’t feel good. It’s almost worse than not even going

“I’ve made the playoffs before. I want to make a run.”

— Jori Epstein (@JoriEpstein) December 21, 2022

Ezekiel Elliott explains why Cowboys aren’t celebrating playoff berth much

The Cowboys have been no strangers to making early exits. They haven’t made it to the NFC Championship Game since the 1995 season. Ever since, Dallas has only been able to reach the Divisional Round at most.

Elliott has been in the NFL since 2016 when he was selected fourth overall out of Ohio State, and made it to the playoffs three times.

In his rookie season, the Cowboys clinched a first-round bye with a 13-3 record, but they lost 34-31 to the Green Bay Packers in the Divisional Round.

Then, in 2018, Elliott earned his first playoff victory after they beat the Seattle Seahawks 24-22 in the Wild Card Round. However, they were then sent packing by the Los Angeles Rams in the following round.

Last year, the Cowboys were seemingly favorites in the NFC. However, they underperformed against the San Francisco 49ers. While they did attempt a late comeback, the clock ran out on them after a puzzling decision to run a quarterback sneak with no timeouts remaining, as they were unable to spike the football. The 49ers advanced by the score of 23-17 and made it to the NFC Championship Game.

The Cowboys have slim chances to win the NFC East or clinch the top seed in the conference. Once the Philadelphia Eagles win one of their remaining three games, both the division and first-round bye are theirs. Crazier things have happened, but the Eagles may or may not be without quarterback Jalen Hurts due to a sprained throwing shoulder heading into their Week 16 game against the Cowboys on Saturday.

Whatever playoff seed they get, Dallas hopes that they can finally have that deep run this time around.