Ezekiel Elliott has fumbled 5 times, losing 4 of them. He’s lost only one fewer fumble in his first six games than he lost in the first four years of his career. That’s weird.
Elliott fumbled 3 times last year, losing two of them. In each of his first three seasons, he lost just 1 fumble (12 fumbles in those three seasons, but he lost only 3 of them).
But the fumbles are coming now. He fumbled 3 times in the first five games, and then in prime time on Monday night, he fumbled twice, playing a huge role in that game getting away from Dallas. Both set up touchdowns for the Cardinals, allowing them to pull away.
I don’t expect this will be a problem for Elliott going forward. He hasn’t had problems with fumbles in the past, and no doubt he’ll be more careful going forward about securing the ball. (Just hope he’s not too careful, with the distraction potentially contributing to the problem.)
I did run the numbers on this. Only five times since 2016 has a running back lost 2 fumbles in a game. It didn’t happen at all in the 2016 or 2018 seasons. It happened with Nick Chubb and Melvin Gordon last year.
RUNNING BACKS LOSING 2 FUMBLES (last 10 years) | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Year | Player | Opp | Result | Fum | FL |
2010 | Marshawn Lynch, Sea. | at N.O. | L 19-34 | 2 | 2 |
2010 | Tim Hightower, Ariz. | at St.L. | W 17-13 | 2 | 2 |
2010 | Frank Gore, S.F. | Phil. | L 24-27 | 2 | 2 |
2011 | Isaac Redman, Pitt. | at Clev. | W 13-9 | 2 | 2 |
2011 | Matt Forte, Chi. | at Phil. | W 30-24 | 2 | 2 |
2011 | LeGarrette Blount, T.B. | at Ten. | L 17-23 | 2 | 2 |
2011 | Cedric Benson, Cin. | Ariz. | W 23-16 | 2 | 2 |
2012 | Bryce Brown, Phil. | Car. | L 22-30 | 2 | 2 |
2012 | Chris Johnson, Ten. | Chi. | L 20-51 | 2 | 2 |
2012 | Jamaal Charles, K.C. | S.D. | L 20-37 | 2 | 2 |
2012 | Toby Gerhart, Min. | S.F. | W 24-13 | 2 | 2 |
2013 | Alfred Morris, Was. | at Atl. | L 26-27 | 2 | 2 |
2013 | David Wilson, NYG | at Dall. | L 31-36 | 2 | 2 |
2013 | Joique Bell, Det. | at Phil. | L 20-34 | 2 | 2 |
2014 | Bobby Rainey, T.B. | at Atl. | L 14-56 | 2 | 2 |
2015 | Chris Johnson, Ariz. | at Clev. | W 34-20 | 2 | 2 |
2015 | Darren McFadden, Dall. | at Was. | W 19-16 | 2 | 2 |
2015 | Doug Martin, T.B. | Chi. | L 21-26 | 2 | 2 |
2015 | Jamaal Charles, K.C. | Den. | L 24-31 | 2 | 2 |
2015 | Jeremy Hill, Cin. | S.D. | W 24-19 | 2 | 2 |
2017 | Jalen Richard, Oak. | at Phil. | L 10-19 | 2 | 2 |
2017 | Jonathan Stewart, Car. | Atl. | W 20-17 | 2 | 2 |
2017 | Mark Ingram, N.O. | Chi. | W 20-12 | 2 | 2 |
2019 | Nick Chubb, Clev. | at N.E. | L 13-27 | 2 | 2 |
2019 | Melvin Gordon, LAC | Min. | L 10-39 | 2 | 2 |
2020 | Ezekiel Elliott, Dall. | Ariz. | L 10-38 | 2 | 2 |
Statistics compiled using search tools atPro-Football-Reference.com
—Ian Allan