It sure sounds like Ezekiel Elliott's time with the Cowboys is running out

Mike McCarthy has finally named a true starting running back. After nine games, three wins and a miserable run game, McCarthy has deemed Rico Dowdle to be the lead back for the Dallas Cowboys moving forward. 

Congratulations, another pointless move as the Cowboys search for answers in their lost season. Saying Dowdle is the feature back at this point in the season accomplishes nothing. 

It’s not going to change how bad the run game is. And it’s certainly not going to fill the void of not having Dak Prescott under center for the rest of the season either. 

Though, McCarthy didn’t need to say Dowdle is the guy moving forward because we all knew bringing back Ezekiel Elliott was more of an insurance move rather than a game-changing one. Hopefully this time when they let Zeke go, they don’t force him to snap the ball again. 

If this is the end of Ezekiel Elliott’s career in Dallas, it was an uneventful farewell

This season could very well be the last Zeke suits up for Dallas if they opt to not bring him back next season — which they shouldn’t. And if they don’t, it would be a very anti-climatic end to his NFL career and his time in Dallas. 

His second time around in Dallas will end up being one of the worst seasons in his NFL career. According to ESPN, he’s on pace for 323 rushing yards and four touchdowns. That would statistically be his worst season in the NFL. 

It would be a damper on his career and his last season in Dallas. It didn’t quite make sense why he was brought back to begin with. When Dallas let him leave two seasons ago it seemed like that door was closed. 

And bringing him back after a less than exciting season with New England didn’t make much sense. He obviously wasn’t as explosive as he was in his early years and he wasn’t going to be the workhorse, feature back he used to be either. 

If Jerry Jones and McCarthy thought he had enough left to significantly help their run game, there’s even more questions for both of them to answer. And handing the running game to Dowdle isn’t going to solve much either. 

This season, he has 374 yards and no rushing touchdowns. According to ESPN, he’s projected to have 706 yards this year and no touchdowns. By the numbers, it’s better than what he did last year. But he was also Tony Pollard’s back up last year. 

Only the Las Vegas Raiders have a worse rushing attack than the Cowboys and they’re tied with the Cleveland Browns for the fewest rushing touchdowns (three) this season. 

Neither Dowdle nor Elliott were going to save this season and neither were going to provide the production in the backfield to stop the bleeding. Hopefully this is a sign to Jones that they need a true feature back next season.