With all of the backstories, injuries and developments in a given week in the NFL, it is tough to know what to look for Sunday. Here are five things to watch:
Red-hot runner to watch
Pegged in the offseason as the favorite for the NFL’s Offensive Rookie of the Year award, Ezekiel Elliott continues to live up to the hype in Dallas.
Not only does Elliott lead the league with 703 rushing yards, which is more than the rushing total of 15 teams, but the No. 4 overall pick from Ohio State also has romped for at least 130 yards in each of the past four games.
Elliott is the first rookie in NFL history to accomplish that feat, and now Eric Dickerson’s all-time single season rookie rushing record of 1,808 yards with the Rams in 1983 looks to be in danger.
Elliott, who faces the Eagles and their 14th-ranked run defense Sunday night at home in an NFC East showdown, is averaging 117.1 yards a game on the ground and on pace to break Dickerson’s mark at 1,874 yards overall.
No wonder Jerry Jones wasn’t willing to trade out of the fourth overall spot in the draft last spring. Elliott combined with arguably the best offensive line in football looks like a dream combination, potentially for years to come.
Statistical oddity to watch
The Raiders continue to defy logic with both their 5-2 start and NFL-best 4-0 road record this season.
Oakland is tied for first in the AFC West and on track for its first playoff berth since the 2002 season despite ranking at or near the bottom in every major defensive statistical category — a fact that’s even more curious considering coach Jack Del Rio is a former NFL linebacker and defensive coordinator.
The Raiders are last in total defense, last in passing defense, 28th in rushing defense and 22nd in scoring defense, yet they keep winning as they head into Sunday’s matchup with the Buccaneers in Tampa.
A plus-eight turnover margin helps to explain the disconnect with the Raiders, and quarterback Derek Carr continues to play a major role in that.
Carr has thrown just three interceptions in the first seven games, and his 13 touchdown passes are the most by a quarterback this season with three picks or fewer.
Touchdown machine to watch
The Chargers aren’t dead yet, despite repeatedly blowing late leads in a 1-4 start, and they can thank second-year running back Melvin Gordon for helping save them from early oblivion.
The 15th overall pick out of Wisconsin last year, Gordon appears to have solved his ridiculous fumbling problem as a rookie and enters Sunday’s visit to the AFC West-rival Broncos leading the league in touchdowns.
Gordon’s two rushing TDs and one receiving TD last week proved crucial in a 33-30 comeback win in overtime against the Falcons, and he now has an NFL-best 10 scores overall (eight rushing and two receiving).
Much of Gordon’s emergence can be traced to him getting a handle on the football. Gordon lost an eye-popping six fumbles in 14 games as a rookie but has lost just two fumbles in 3-4 San Diego’s first seven games this year.
That’s not to say it has been easy sledding for Gordon this year. The Chargers’ offensive line remains a mess, which has resulted in Gordon averaging just 3.3 yards per carry. He also has been stuffed for no gain 18 times, most in the league.
But that’s a problem San Diego no doubt is willing to live with as long as Gordon keeps finding the end zone.
One that got away to watch
It looks like the Giants will have reason to rue missing out on Leonard Floyd in the draft last spring.
Big Blue were all set to take the Georgia outside linebacker with the 10th overall pick when the Bears swooped in to grab Floyd at No. 9 by trading up two spots, prompting the Giants to take Ohio State cornerback Eli Apple instead.
It was Chicago’s first trade up in the first round in 20 years.
Floyd got off to a bit of a slow start but was a force in last week’s 26-10 loss to the Packers, recording a career-high two sacks, forcing a fumble and recovering a fumble. The recovery was in the end zone, giving Floyd his first career TD to go along with his 2.5 sacks on the season.
Despite the Bears’ dismal 1-6 start heading into Monday night’s NFC North matchup at home with the Vikings, Floyd was worth the extra effort on draft night — especially with the injury-plagued Apple giving the Giants relatively little by comparison.
Hot return team to watch
If any team other than the Eagles returns a kickoff for a touchdown this week, it will be a big deal.
If Philadelphia does it against the Cowboys on Sunday night, it will just be business as usual.
Not only are the Birds the only NFL team to run back a kickoff this season, but they have done it in back-to-back weeks. Josh Huff’s 98-yard TD return last week against the Vikings came on the heels of Wendell Smallwood notching an 86-yard scoring return in Week 6 against the Redskins.
Philadelphia is just the fifth team since the 1970 merger to record kickoff-return TDs by a different player in consecutive weeks.