Across the Shield: Ezekiel Elliott Breaks 1,000 Yards in First Three-Score Game, Noah Spence Finds Success & Some Buckeye on Buckeye Crime

Lots of Yards Through the Heart of Pittsburgh

You may have a hard time believing this, but Ezekiel Elliott had another monster game this weekend, and this one was his best yet.

Elliott sliced through the Pittsburgh Steeler defense for 114 yards and two touchdowns on the ground and 95 yards and a touchdown through the air. Most of the receiving yardage came on one monster screen pass where Elliott showed off his track speed, torching the Pittsburgh defense on his way to the end zone.

Later in the game, with the Cowboys trailing 30-29 with under a minute to play, Elliott broke a 32-yard run to the end zone to giving Dallas a 35-30 victory.

The Cowboys are now 8-1 on the season and currently sit in first place. Expect them to stay there because evidently Elliott doesn't know how to lose. 

Told Ezekiel Elliott his team's are 86-9 since his soph. year of HS. Said he's been playing since he was 7. Hasn't lost 15 games in his life

— Jon Machota (@jonmachota) November 14, 2016

Elliott now has 1,005 rushing yards on the season, which is the third most rushing yards through a rookie's first nine games in NFL history, trailing only Eric Dickerson (1,096) and Adrian Peterson (1,081).

Speaking of Dickerson, Elliott has a legitimate chance to break his rookie rushing record of 1,808 yards and is the runaway favorite for the NFL's offensive rookie of the year award. There's even talk of Elliott being named the league MVP.

This little guy @EzekielElliott is leading the NFL in rushing pic.twitter.com/i3Hy7HwtBC

— Mark Pantoni (@markpantoni) November 14, 2016

Buckeye on Buckeye Crime

A few former Buckeyes went at it on the field, Sunday, and when an unstoppable force meets an immovable object, things get interesting.

Ezekiel Elliott and Ryan Shazier went at it as the Steelers took on the Cowboys. First, it was Elliott getting the better of Shazier with a crushing block, but the former Buckeye linebacker got his revenge with an impressive tackle for a loss.

Michael Thomas and Bradley Roby spent much of Sunday night matched up against each other, and Roby had the rookie's number.

First, Roby played excellent coverage on Thomas, tipping the ball in the air to force an interception.

The very next drive, he chased Thomas down and knocked the ball out of his hands force a fumble.

Thomas had a less than stellar day, overall. He caught four passes for 40 yards, but he also lost two fumbles and dropped a pass that resulted in an interception. However, he's still the top rookie receiver in the league.

Noah Spence Finds Success

Noah Spence may not have finished his career at Ohio State, but Buckeye blood runs thick. Given that, it will come as no shock to you that Spence is also tearing up the league.

Saturday he had a critical strip-sack of Bears quarterback Jay Cutler.

The sack was Spence's fourth of the season, tying him for the lead among rookies.

WEek 9 Flashback

There were some things we missed last week that certainly need to be addressed.

First, Tyvis Powell killed a man.

Kids, if you want to know how to make an NFL roster as an undrafted rookie, there's a pretty solid blueprint.

Second, Johnathan Hankins beat a man so badly he thought he was intentionally unblocked on a screen pass.

Johnathan Hankins beat LG Stefen Wisniewski so badly he thought it was a screen. It was not. pic.twitter.com/YqDroD1uMv

— Mike Renner (@PFF_Mike) November 8, 2016

Play of the Week

Earlier, we mentioned Ezekiel Elliott's 83-yard screen pass touchdown. I wouldn't be doing my job if I didn't show it to you.

Turns out, Elliott's speed is still fast in the NFL.

Ohio Against the World

Folks, if you ever wondered how it would turn out if the Browns drafted Ezekiel Elliott, here you have it. 209 total yards and three touchdowns in another loss for a winless team.

Elliott scored 40 points and I still lost because Michael Thomas, Terrelle Pryor and Carlos Hyde decided to have close to season low games all on the same day.

To be fair, Mike Nugent could pull out the victory for me on Monday night. 

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