I think many people miss the truth here. Yesterday's performance by Zeke (yes, the line was fantastic too but just talking about Zeke) was a masterpiece. Statistically, looked good but not masterpiece. But its the hidden beauty that needs to be appreciated. His runs for 3-4 yards where he is twisting, squirming & pushing the pile keep the offense on pace. I don't think there is another back in the league that will just keep hitting it like Zeke. They will hit it a few times then shrink.
The plays where there appears to be no hole but somehow he slithers thru. Keeping his balance while being hit and keeps going forward. Those are beautiful. The fact that they don't make highlight reels doesn't diminish their true value. Early in the game when he had trucked the LB's\Safeties a couple times you could already see their will to take him on straight up fading.
I love Pollard and a lot of other backs in this league but they ain't doing these things play after play.
Great post. Don’t know which word fits when describing Zeke if using desire or motivation. Or in some cases maybe the line’s inability to match previous years point of attack dominance.
But what you describe here, referred to as the “dirty yards” is why I always thought he was the best too. Those zero, one and two yard gains that are somehow turned into four and five are his masterpiece.
His pass blocking is a notch above all runners as well.
BUT...Not to be all sunshine and rainbows, I must admit I would like to see his 2016 burst return.
AND for overall consistency.
Remember when Randy Moss said back in the day, how did it go, something like, I do take plays off or I play hard when I want to.
I think Zeke has a little bit of that in him at times too. I want max effort all the time.
Again, great post though.
