Across the Shield: Joey Bosa Shines in Debut, Ezekiel Elliott Runs Wild Again & Adolphus Washington Turns Heads

Zeke Runs Wild

Turns out, Ezekiel Elliott is good at football, actually.

After a relatively average debut followed by a game where he put the ball on the turf twice, there was growing concern that Elliott may not live up to the (admittedly impossibly high) expectations. A few weeks later, he actually seems to be exceeding them.

Sunday, Elliott notched his third-consecutive 100-yard rushing game, gashing the Bengals for 134 yard and a touchdown with just 15 carries.

Elliott now has more rushing yards than any Dallas Cowboys running back ever through their first five games, topping names like Emmitt Smith and Tony Dorsett.

With 546 yards on the season, Elliott leads the NFL in rushing and has the fourth-most rushing yards by a rookie in his first five games, trailing only Billy Sims (560), Adrian Peterson (607) and Erick Dickerson (645).

Elliott's also has more rushing yards by himself than 23 NFL teams do total.

At this point, it seems like there's only one person who can stop him.

I see @EzekielElliott balling I'll tackle yo ass lol

— Cardale Jones (@Cardale7_) October 10, 2016

Maybe the secret to stopping Ezekiel Elliott is putting Cardale Jones at linebacker? At this point, it may be worth a shot because nothing else seems to be doing the job.

Come get it then 12 lol never scared of the police https://t.co/fWSYnpJgcs

— Ezekiel Elliott (@EzekielElliott) October 10, 2016

Big Bear Makes Noise

Ezekiel Elliott's former roommate finally got his chance to make some noise this weekend.

After a lengthy contract dispute during which some wondered if he would even play a snap this season then a lingering injury, Joey Bosa finally saw the field this weekend.

Spoiler alert: he's still good.

Bosa played just 27 snaps in his debut, but he made them count, amassing two sacks, one quarterback hit, four quarterback hurries two run stops and five total tackles. Basically, Bosa made meaningful a play every third snap, which is good, I hear.

As Tony Gerdeman pointed out, Bosa is already just 4.5 sacks shy of Jadeveon Clowney's career sack total through just one game.

Here's a look at Bosa's first NFL sack (and yes, he did hit his famous shrug celebration afterwards):

His second sack came at a critical time late in the fourth quarter forcing the Raiders into a difficult third at a time when the Chargers desperately needed the ball back.

“I mean there are a number of plays you look at and say, ‘Wow.,’" Chargers head coach Mike McCoy said after the game. "There's the wow factor in him. He played lights out."

It almost seems like drafting former Buckeyes is a good idea... ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Adolphus Washington Love

Adolphus Washington had the best game of his young NFL career Sunday, and the Twitterverse took notice.

Adolphus Washington with another play that catches your eye. Best game for the rookie, for sure

— Sal Maiorana (@salmaiorana) October 9, 2016

Adolphus Washington is the scariest name i've ever heard

— Cravenstein (@TweetsYouCraven) October 9, 2016

Adolphus Washington be like... pic.twitter.com/0OJNivoI6z

— Sam Rodriguez (@SammyR0d) October 9, 2016

What a great play by Adolphus Washington. Didn't fall for fake, makes the deflection.

— Tom Martin (@4TomMartin) October 9, 2016

Adolphus Washington having himself a game.

— Andy Young (@AndyTWCNews) October 9, 2016

Adolphus Washington is all over the place.

— Sam Farmer (@LATimesfarmer) October 9, 2016

You could hear Adolphus Washington swat Case Keenum's last pass from all the way up in the press box.

— Jack Wang (@thejackwang) October 9, 2016

Adolphus Washington. #Bills pic.twitter.com/p5iyfE8YMq

— Bradley Gelber (@BradleyGelber) October 9, 2016

I'm not 100 percent certain what the GIF in the last Tweet means, but I'm fairly confident it's good. Probably.

Washington got the start after Marcell Dareus, who was expected to make his season debut this week, injured his hamstring in practice. The former Buckeye recorded three tackles, one sack and had one key pass-breakup.

With the way Washington played this week, it may be difficult to justify keeping him off the field even after Dareus' return.

Play of the Week

Ezekiel Elliott was always known as a home run hitter during his time at Ohio State, and now he has a long touchdown run in a Cowboys' uniform.

60 Yards Through the Heart of Southwest Ohio doesn't quite have the same ring to it.

Ohio Against the World

So much of fantasy football comes down to your opponent's performance. If I would have faced off against this team the previous two weeks, I would have won handily both times. Instead, thanks to a few subpar performances, I'm likely going to lose a very winnable game.

Nonetheless, I'm continually surprised by how possible this is. Despite a BYE week for one of my top receivers, I'm within striking distance going into Monday night.

I need 18 points between Ted Ginn Jr. and Philly Brown to pull out a win. It's a stretch, but it's not out of the realm of possibility. 

***Player listed as "Injured/Physically Unable to Perform"