FRISCO, Texas – The Dallas Cowboys made history last week with their 20-17 win over the Pittsburgh Steelers.

It was the 19th straight game without a 100-yard rusher, which is now the longest streak in franchise history.

From Halloween 1965 to November 20, 1966, the Cowboys played 18 games with Don Perkins’ 100-yard rushing. From 2009 to 2010 and 2012 to 2013, the Cowboys went 17 games without a 100-yard rusher.

The only team with a longer current winning streak is the Denver Broncos with 22 games. Their last 100-yard game came in Week 18 of the 2022 season against the Los Angeles Chargers when Latavius ​​Murray finished with 103 yards.

The last Cowboy to rush for more than 100 yards in a game was Tony Pollard (122 yards), in a Week 3 loss to the Arizona Cardinals last season.

As the Cowboys prepare to face the Detroit Lions on Sunday (4:25 p.m. ET, CBS), there may be hope.

Perhaps.

Potentially.

Of course, the Cowboys ran for just 61 yards on 21 carries in their win at AT&T Stadium against the Lions last season, but let’s not dwell on a possible save.

Against the Steelers, Rico Dowdle’s 87 yards on 20 carries marked the closest a Dallas running back had reached since Pollard’s win. Both Pollard (against the Washington Commanders) and Dowdle (against the New York Giants) had 79 yards rushing last season, which was the previous best.

Through five games this season, the Cowboys have averaged 81 rushing yards, which ranks 31st. Part of this is due to the large deficits the Cowboys faced in losses to the New Orleans Saints and Baltimore Ravens.

Some of it is just poor execution.

“It’s definitely not up to our standard,” right tackle Terence Steele said. “I won’t lie. But the beauty of it is that what (12) games do we still have? not far away at all.

Steele made the comment before the Cowboys played the Steelers, who ranked fourth in run defense, and when the Cowboys completed an 80-yard drive against the Giants.

The Cowboys left Acrisure Stadium early Tuesday morning feeling even better.

“We had to find the run and stay with the run, and (I) think we found our rhythm in Pittsburgh against a great run defense,” Dowdle said, “and it worked.”

The lack of success in the ground game has raised many questions about how the Cowboys handled it in the offseason. Pollard joined the Tennessee Titans as a free agent on a three-year, $21.75 million contract that included $10.49 million guaranteed. And as Cowboys fans know, they didn’t call Derrick Henry, who accepted a two-year contract with the Ravens with $9 million guaranteed. Henry leads the NFL with 572 yards (including 151 against the Cowboys in Week 3) and has six rushing touchdowns.

Dallas has 410 yards rushing as a team.

The Cowboys signed Ezekiel Elliott to a one-year deal worth $2 million with $1.625 million guaranteed. He has 30 carries for 98 yards and a touchdown, but he has played 47 snaps in the last three games. Dowdle played 100.

On August 29, the Cowboys signed Dalvin Cook to the practice squad, but he has not yet been signed to the active roster.

Owner and general manager Jerry Jones was asked about Elliott’s role as he was bypassed in two critical short-yardage and goal-line situations against the Steelers and whether Cook would be promoted this week.

“It’s a long season,” Jones said before repeating himself. “It’s a long season. Therefore, carefully managing senior players’ snaps is an important part of the overall show.”

When the Cowboys signed Elliott, they knew they wouldn’t put as much pressure on him as they did in his first round. In each of his first seven seasons with the Cowboys, Elliott had at least 81 appearances in five games. As a rookie, he rushed for 546 yards in his first five games.

“I think everyone wants to see the ball more,” Elliott said. “(It’s) just the way the games have been going and us just falling behind and not really being able to run the ball.”

Coach Mike McCarthy hasn’t seen Elliott react negatively to the lack of work. He and offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer said Elliott’s workouts over the last two weeks were his best.

“I think we see the best of Zeke in my time with him. He’s a great teammate. He’s probably one of the most popular players in the locker room,” McCarthy said. “He brings great energy every day…And sometimes the games don’t reflect what’s going on in practice.”

For the offensive line, it doesn’t matter who carries the ball.

“My attitude doesn’t change depending on who’s in there,” Tyler Smith said. “The biggest thing for us is executing our tasks. We know everybody back there – Zeke, Rico, Deuce (Vaughn), (practice squad running back Malik Davis) – anybody back there can get the job done. It’s up to us.” open the way for him.

But there has to be a symmetry between the running back and the line, and that’s something Dowdle struggled with earlier this season.

“Being a running back is different than being a receiver. A receiver comes off the ball and usually runs as fast as he can go vertically,” Schottenheimer said. “If you’re a runner, there’s a certain pace. We call it going slowly, or slowly to the hole, (then) quickly through the hole. So you’re slow to the hole, but as it develops you’ll have to speed up, speed up.”

Schottenheimer said Dowdle’s game against the Steelers was his most disciplined game of the season. McCarthy added that Elliott helped Dowdle see the bigger picture.

“If anything, (Dowdle) might just need to slow down, and that comes with experience,” McCarthy said. “And Zeke was really good for him. Because Zeke has all this experience. Zeke was the guy who carried the load. That’s a very healthy combination for us.”

The Lions may not be the best defense for the Cowboys, who are once again trying to end their 100-yard streak. Detroit gives up 90.8 rushing yards per game, fourth-best in the NFL. Twice the leading opposing rusher against the Lions was a quarterback (Baker Mayfield, Kyler Murray).

But in their last game, against the Seattle Seahawks, they allowed 133 rushing yards and three rushing touchdowns, with Kenneth Walker III gaining 80 yards on 12 carries.

There may be hope that the series could end.

Perhaps.

Potentially.

“Obviously we want to look at the last two weeks,” McCarthy said. “As with all statistics, we emphasize that we played five games. Two of them were unbalanced. We want to play balanced in terms of the opportunities we offer our players when it comes to running and passing.” But the efficiency of the last two weeks, the running efficiency, you want to live with that.”