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IRVING, Texas — Wide receiver Dez Bryant and running back DeMarco Murray are in the final year of their contracts.
Both are looking for long-term extensions from the Dallas Cowboys.
And, based on their play and potential, they deserve to be paid commensurate with the top players at their respective positions.
Murray has been on an NFL-record pace all season.
With 225 carries for 1,133 yards, already a career high, Murray is the league’s leading rusher by a wide margin.
Bryant ranks 10th in the NFL in receptions with 50 catches for 635 yards and six touchdowns. He ranks second in targets with 87 and is tied for seventh in touchdowns.
But it's one thing to show out when everything is going great, and all the pieces are in place.
It's another to do it when your team is short-handed, and you are really needed be the game-breaker and difference-maker you are purported to be.
That’s what the Cowboys need now.
Dallas is reeling on a two-game losing streak and hoping against hope that quarterback Tony Romo and his injured back will come to the rescue against the Jacksonville Jaguars Sunday in London.
The Cowboys have little confidence that backup quarterback Brandon Weeden can get the job done if he's trotted out there again.
Romo sat out the 28-17 loss to Arizona Cardinals with two cracked transverse processes in his back.
The possible return of Romo would be uplifting and certainly better than anything Weeden could offer.
But even if Romo plays, he will likely be limited.
The injury remains sore and painful, and there is no guarantee Romo even gets on the practice field this week.
With or without Romo, the Cowboys need Bryant and Murray to show up, show out and carry the load.
Weeden was an abject failure against the Cardinals, completing 18 of 33 passes for 183 yards with one touchdown and two interceptions.
Bryant caught just two passes for 15 yards and a touchdown against the Cardinals. Both came in the final two minutes of the game.
While Weeden's inaccuracy and incompetence were Bryant's biggest undoing, outside of being defended by Pro Bowl cornerback Patrick Peterson, he also didn't help his quarterback with a dropped pass early in the game.
Bryant was targeted 10 times in the game and came up with two balls.
It was the second straight game that Bryant struggled with Weeden subbing for an injured Romo.
He caught just three passes for 30 yards against the Washington Commanders and couldn't come up with slants on his hands on back-to-back plays in the end zone. They could have been game-changing plays.
The Cowboys had to settle for a 21-yard field goal on that drive. The Cowboys lost 20-17 in overtime.
“You’ve got to understand, you know, when you don’t have everybody it can make a difference. It showed today,” Bryant said. “Truthfully, of course, I missed (Romo). But I believe in Weeden too. I believe in him. Things didn’t go our way. We’ve got to go back to the drawing board and fix what we need to fix. It is what it is. It's very frustrating.”
With Romo out, the Cowboys hoped to lean heavily on Murray and the running game against the Cardinals. But he rushed for just 79 yards on 19 carries.
It ended an NFL-record eight-game streak of games with at least 100 yards to open the season.
The Cardinals loaded up to stop the run as expected. But the Cowboys have been the league's best run offense behind Murray all season. This time it was different.
"I think it was a combination of things," coach Jason Garrett said. "They obviously came into the game trying to stop the run. That’s their style of defense anyway. I think their defensive statistics indicate that. I think they’re third against the rush in the NFL and close to the bottom against the pass.
"They want to have a lot of guys up there around the line of scrimmage to force you to become a one-dimensional team. We feel like it’s important to continue to persist and be stubborn with the running game
The Cowboys usually stubbornly impose their will on everybody."
Against the Cardinals, without Romo, the Cowboys needed Murray and the ground game to come through like never before.
Yet, they failed for much of the game and especially when it mattered most.
Down 14-10 in the fourth quarter, the Cowboys went for it on fourth-and-1 from the Cardinals' 34. Murray was stopped for no gain.
The Cardinals made the score 21-10 on the ensuing drive to salt the game away.
“They did a good job shooting down low, they got a good push on us and I wasn’t able to get the first down,” Murray said. "It was hard to run the ball against those guys with 10 guys in the box. We need to make more plays."
With or without an injured Romo, the Cowboys need their playmakers such as Bryant and Murray to make plays to get them back on the winning track.
Clarence Hill covers the Cowboys for the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. All quotations obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted.
Read more Dallas Cowboys news on BleacherReport.com
Continue reading...
Both are looking for long-term extensions from the Dallas Cowboys.
And, based on their play and potential, they deserve to be paid commensurate with the top players at their respective positions.
Murray has been on an NFL-record pace all season.
With 225 carries for 1,133 yards, already a career high, Murray is the league’s leading rusher by a wide margin.
Bryant ranks 10th in the NFL in receptions with 50 catches for 635 yards and six touchdowns. He ranks second in targets with 87 and is tied for seventh in touchdowns.
But it's one thing to show out when everything is going great, and all the pieces are in place.
It's another to do it when your team is short-handed, and you are really needed be the game-breaker and difference-maker you are purported to be.
That’s what the Cowboys need now.
Dallas is reeling on a two-game losing streak and hoping against hope that quarterback Tony Romo and his injured back will come to the rescue against the Jacksonville Jaguars Sunday in London.
The Cowboys have little confidence that backup quarterback Brandon Weeden can get the job done if he's trotted out there again.
Romo sat out the 28-17 loss to Arizona Cardinals with two cracked transverse processes in his back.
The possible return of Romo would be uplifting and certainly better than anything Weeden could offer.
But even if Romo plays, he will likely be limited.
The injury remains sore and painful, and there is no guarantee Romo even gets on the practice field this week.
With or without Romo, the Cowboys need Bryant and Murray to show up, show out and carry the load.
Weeden was an abject failure against the Cardinals, completing 18 of 33 passes for 183 yards with one touchdown and two interceptions.
Bryant caught just two passes for 15 yards and a touchdown against the Cardinals. Both came in the final two minutes of the game.
While Weeden's inaccuracy and incompetence were Bryant's biggest undoing, outside of being defended by Pro Bowl cornerback Patrick Peterson, he also didn't help his quarterback with a dropped pass early in the game.
Bryant was targeted 10 times in the game and came up with two balls.
It was the second straight game that Bryant struggled with Weeden subbing for an injured Romo.
He caught just three passes for 30 yards against the Washington Commanders and couldn't come up with slants on his hands on back-to-back plays in the end zone. They could have been game-changing plays.
The Cowboys had to settle for a 21-yard field goal on that drive. The Cowboys lost 20-17 in overtime.
“You’ve got to understand, you know, when you don’t have everybody it can make a difference. It showed today,” Bryant said. “Truthfully, of course, I missed (Romo). But I believe in Weeden too. I believe in him. Things didn’t go our way. We’ve got to go back to the drawing board and fix what we need to fix. It is what it is. It's very frustrating.”
With Romo out, the Cowboys hoped to lean heavily on Murray and the running game against the Cardinals. But he rushed for just 79 yards on 19 carries.
It ended an NFL-record eight-game streak of games with at least 100 yards to open the season.
The Cardinals loaded up to stop the run as expected. But the Cowboys have been the league's best run offense behind Murray all season. This time it was different.
"I think it was a combination of things," coach Jason Garrett said. "They obviously came into the game trying to stop the run. That’s their style of defense anyway. I think their defensive statistics indicate that. I think they’re third against the rush in the NFL and close to the bottom against the pass.
"They want to have a lot of guys up there around the line of scrimmage to force you to become a one-dimensional team. We feel like it’s important to continue to persist and be stubborn with the running game
The Cowboys usually stubbornly impose their will on everybody."
Against the Cardinals, without Romo, the Cowboys needed Murray and the ground game to come through like never before.
Yet, they failed for much of the game and especially when it mattered most.
Down 14-10 in the fourth quarter, the Cowboys went for it on fourth-and-1 from the Cardinals' 34. Murray was stopped for no gain.
The Cardinals made the score 21-10 on the ensuing drive to salt the game away.
“They did a good job shooting down low, they got a good push on us and I wasn’t able to get the first down,” Murray said. "It was hard to run the ball against those guys with 10 guys in the box. We need to make more plays."
With or without an injured Romo, the Cowboys need their playmakers such as Bryant and Murray to make plays to get them back on the winning track.
Clarence Hill covers the Cowboys for the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. All quotations obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted.
Read more Dallas Cowboys news on BleacherReport.com
Continue reading...