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Associated Press 7y

Overreactions: Move over Elliott, Ajayi is NFL's best back

NFL, Dallas Cowboys, Miami Dolphins, New York Jets, Minnesota Vikings, Atlanta Falcons, Philadelphia Eagles, Pittsburgh Steelers, New England Patriots, New York Giants, San Diego Chargers, Green Bay Packers, Chicago Bears, Indianapolis Colts, Tennessee Titans, Los Angeles Rams, Arizona Cardinals, Seattle Seahawks, Houston Texans, Denver Broncos, Cleveland Browns

Move over Ezekiel Elliott, Jay Ajayi is the NFL's best running back.

Ajayi tied a league record by surpassing 200 yards rushing for the second straight game, helping the Miami Dolphins win two in a row.

Ajayi ran for 214 yards in a win over Buffalo after totaling 204 yards a week earlier against Pittsburgh. He joins O.J. Simpson, Earl Campbell and Ricky Williams as the only players to have consecutive 200-yard games.

Now, the former fifth-round pick has to wait an extra week to break the record because Miami (3-4) has a bye.

Elliott leads the league in rushing, helping Dallas (5-1) to first place in the NFC East. But the rookie hasn't even had a 150-yard game yet.

Surely, he's no Ajayi.

By the way, Ajayi had 304 career rushing yards before his outburst. He also did it against two of the league's bottom-12 defenses against the run. Let's see how he does against the Jets on Nov. 6. New York is the fourth-ranked run defense in the league.

Here are other overreactions following Week 7:

OVERREACTION: The Vikings are the 2015 Falcons, who started 5-0 and finished 8-8.

REALISTIC REACTION: Minnesota wasn't going 16-0. Besides, the Eagles also dominated the Steelers in Philadelphia and the Vikings could go 9-7 and still outdo Atlanta's finish last year.

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OVERREACTION: Ben Roethlisberger is the most valuable QB in the NFL. Without him, the Steelers lost 27-16 to Pittsburgh.

REALISTIC REACTION: With Big Ben, Tom Brady and the Patriots still could've won that game.

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OVERREACTION: The Giants should make Landon Collins a running back. He showed more moves on a 44-yard interception return than any of New York's backs.

REALISTIC REACTION: There's a reason Collins is a safety.

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OVERREACTION: Don't count the Chargers out in the AFC West. They beat the Falcons on the road after knocking off Denver.

REALISTIC REACTION: Despite two good wins, San Diego (3-4) is still in last place.

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OVERREACTION: The Pack is back. Aaron Rodgers led Green Bay to an easy win over Chicago.

REALISTIC REACTION: Almost every team beats the Bears (1-6).

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OVERREACTION: Andrew Luck will never lose to the Titans. He's 10-0 against them.

REALISTIC REACTION: If Marcus Mariota learns to protect the ball, Luck's dominance against Tennessee eventually will end.

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OVERREACTION: Case Keenum should be benched after throwing four interceptions.

REALISTIC REACTION: Not every pick is on the QB. Three of Keenum's weren't his fault.

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OVERREACTION: The Cardinals-Seahawks 6-6 tie is indicative of how bad the NFL is this season.

REALISTIC REACTION: Russell Wilson is playing hurt and those are two excellent defenses.

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OVERREACTION: The Texans (4-3) are the worst first-place team in the NFL.

REALISTIC REACTION: They've lost to the Broncos (5-2), Patriots (6-1) and Vikings (5-1).

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OVERREACTION: The Browns really are going 0-16. They're on their sixth quarterback in seven games.

REALISTIC REACTION: Johnny Football is available and ... not much good news here, actually.

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AP NFL website: www.pro32.ap.org and www.twitter.com/AP-NFL

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Follow Rob Maaddi on Twitter: https://twitter.com/AP-RobMaaddi

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