Across the Shield: Ezekiel Elliott Scores Twice in Ohio Homecoming While Michael Thomas, Terrelle Pryor and Jalin Marshall Find Paydirt

Homecoming

Sunday, Ezekiel Elliott played his first game inside the Buckeye state since his time at Ohio State when the Cowboys visited the Browns in Cleveland.

In a bittersweet game for many Buckeye fans who root for the Browns on Sundays, Elliott ran all over Cleveland, tallying 18 carries for 92 yards and two touchdowns.

Here's a complete look at Elliott's day:

Elliott sure seemed to enjoy his time back in Ohio. The former Buckeye back flashed an "O-H-I-O" on a number of occasions, including after an acrobatic diving touchdown run.

"Ohio means a lot to me, kind of like a second home," Elliott said after the game. "Just the memories I had here and the friends I made while at Ohio State and just the other things I accomplished at that great university. Ohio means a lot to me so it was very important for me to come here, have a good game and play in front of these great fans."

Ezekiel Elliott enjoyed his return to Ohio today. https://t.co/sx80Pl4aVI pic.twitter.com/AnoGqEVYu1

— Eleven Warriors (@11W) November 7, 2016

Pryor Keeps it Positive

On the flip side of Elliott's thunderous return to the Buckeye state was Terrelle Pryor.

Pryor has been one of the few brights spots of the Browns' winless 2016 campaign, and he continues to remain shockingly optimistic week after week. Sunday's game against Dallas was no different.

Browns receiver Terrelle Pryor feeling good ahead of this game yells "Ready for an upset?" #CowboysBrowns#NFLNetwork

— Jane Slater (@SlaterNFL) November 6, 2016

Of course, there was no upset. In fact, the Browns didn't even come close to beating the 7.5 point spread (why didn't somebody tell me about this line before the game), as they suffered 35-10 home beatdown.

Pryor did score the Browns only touchdown though, which is emblematic of Cleveland's entire season.

Can't Guard Mike

Weekly reminder: Michael Thomas is an absolute freak.

The former Buckeye had his first multi-touchdown touchdown game Sunday, finishing with five catches for 73 yards and two touchdowns.

The clip you just watched is far from the most impressive thing Thomas did Sunday afternoon, but we'll get to that in a bit.

Thomas leads all rookies with 573 yards receiving and five touchdowns. He's on pace to rack up over 1,000 yards receiving in his first season in the NFL.

Michael Thomas is currently pacing towards 1,143 receiving yards. That'd be fifth-best by a rookie wideout since the merger.

— JJ Zachariason (@LateRoundQB) November 7, 2016

It Feels Like the First Time

Jalin Marshall had the best game of his young NFL career Sunday afternoon, finishing with three catches for 59 yards and his first professional touchdown. Marshall also had 10 yards in punt return yardage.

If you haven't noticed by now, the NFL's social media policy is bad and it makes finding and sharing videos quite difficult. So I give to you two pretty horrible looks at Marshall's touchdown in hopes that you can piece together enough information to imagine it beautifully in your mind.

Marshall earned his spot on the roster as the Jets' starting return man and soon found his way into the receiver rotation.

Of course, his day wouldn't be complete without some sort of adventure. Naturally, the Buckeye put the ball on the turf once during the game, although he was lucky enough to recover it himself.

Play of the Week

Michael Thomas made an absolute circus catch for a 34-yard touchdown Sunday afternoon.

Drew Brees threw up a deep ball for Thomas in the corner of the end zone and the former Buckeye wideout reached behind 49ers cornerback Tramaine Brock to try to make a play.

After a series of bounces, the ball ended up in Thomas' hands for a touchdown.

"I don't know what it hit," Thomas said after the game. "I know it hit my hands, and I got 6 points."

The catch will undoubtably look familiar to Buckeye fans who watched Noah Brown do something similar during Ohio State's win against Oklahoma earlier this year.

"That was just being Mike. Money-making Mike. Can't guard Mike," Former Buckeye teammate Vonn Bell said after the game. "That's what he does."

Just another day at the office.

Ohio Against the World

Things are looking bleak, folks.

Another week, another loss. After this week, I will be 0-9 on the season.

Although you could argue that if Carlos Hyde was healthy and Mike Nugent weren't on a BYE, I would have won this matchup handily (I would not have won). 

I need a big game out of Nick Vannett tonight to pull out a win. Let's do this.

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