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Week 13, 2016: Gameday Thread

Behind Dak Prescott, Ezekiel Elliott, and an incredible offensive line, the Dallas Cowboys running game has been really, really good. In week 1, Dallas was outrushed by the Giants in the team’s only loss this year, 113-101. But since then, the Cowboys have outrushed their opponent in every game.

No team has ever outrushed its opponent in all 16 regular season games. And only two teams have outrushed their opponent in 100% of all games, with both instances occurring in 1969. Ironically, one of those teams was the Cowboys, who led the NFL in both rushing yards and rushing yards allowed; on average, Dallas outrushed its opponents that year by 88 yards per game. Calvin Hill and Walt Garrison powered the offense, while Bob Lilly, George Andrie, Lee Roy Jordan, and Chuck Howley were the stars of the front seven.

In the AFL, Kansas City did the same thing in every game that year, including the playoffs. Like Dallas, the Chiefs led their league in both rushing yards and rushing yards allowed; for KC, a three-headed monster of Mike Garrett, Robert Holmes, Warren McVea handled the load on offense, while just about everyone was a star in the KC front seven.  No, really: Curley Culp, Buck Buchanan, Bobby Bell, and Willie Lanier all made the Pro Bowl, and Jerry Mays (Pro Bowler every year from ’64 to ’68) and Jim Lynch (’68) were Pro Bowlers the prior year.

Dallas could become the 10th team to outrush its opponents in 15 of 16 games. If so, the 2016 Cowboys would join the 2015 Panthers, 2014 Seahawks, 2001 and 2004 Steelers, 1998 Broncos, and 1984, 1985, and 1986 Bears.  Chicago holds the record for consecutive regular season games of outrushing opponents, at 18, from early in ’85 to the sixth game of ’86. The Bears also hold the record if you include playoffs, at 21 (the ’85 Bears, unsurprisingly, won the rushing battle in all three postseason games).

With that historically background out there, feel free to post about whatever you want in the comments today.

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