Ezekiel Elliott Will Eat With Eagles Best Run Defender Out

The Philadelphia Eagles have one of the best front sevens in the NFL when it comes to stopping the running game, but they will have to step up their game this week against the league’s leading rusher, Ezekiel Elliott.

To make things even more difficult for the Eagles defensive front, they will be without their best run defender, Bennie Logan.

Coach Pederson: Bennie Logan (groin) has officially been ruled out for #PHIvsDAL.

— Philadelphia Eagles (@Eagles) October 28, 2016

With Logan out of the game, the Eagles will likely have to rely on the 6’3″, 330 pound third year defensive tackle, Beau Allen. Allen is a former teammate of Travis Frederick’s at Wisconsin and has played a similar number of snaps to Logan, so there might not be much of a drop off.

Defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz likes to use that Wide-9 alignment with his defensive ends, so they rely heavily on those big bodies in the middle to stop the running game. That is where Bennie Logan and Beau Allen are relied upon the most.

I however believe that Logan is by far the superior player and his absence is certainly good news for Ezekiel Elliott and the running game for the Dallas Cowboys.

Elliott is leading the NFL with 703 rushing yards through eight weeks and has averaged at least 130 yards on the ground in the last four games. He should be really close to making it five weeks in a row of rushing for at least 130 yards Sunday night against the Philadelphia Eagles.

Bennie Logan’s absence isn’t the only reason I believe Elliott will have success in the running game. Dez Bryant is expected to make his way back on the field after being sidelined with a small fracture in his knee.

With Bryant back on the field, the Eagles will have to devote extra attention to covering him in the passing game, and that means they can’t stack the box like teams have been doing in the running game against the Cowboys.

As you can see, with Bryant’s return, Logan’s absence, and the Wide-9 defensive alignment for the Eagles, things are shaping up for Ezekiel Elliott to eat in the prime time matchup between the division rival Philadelphia Eagles and Dallas Cowboys.

Do you think Ezekiel Elliott will eat against the Philadelphia Eagles?

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