News: BTB: DeMarco Murray Is Rushing Into The Record Books

[NewsBot]

DeMarco Murray is on the brink of surpassing some long-standing NFL records, but that's not high on his mind.

DeMarco Murray had 32 carries for a season-high 179 yards and a career-high nine catches for 49 yards in the win at Chicago.

• His 41 touches made him the first NFL player to go over 40 touches in a game since Jerome Harrison of the Browns had 41 touches in of 2009, and the first running back to have 40 offensive touches in a game since Shaun Alexander in 2006.

• Per Jeff Sullivan (‏@SullyBaldHead), Murray is the first player in NFL history with 1,600 rushing yards and 50 receptions through his team's first 13 games.

• A 2,000-yard rushing season is within reach for Murray, who has 1,606 rushing yards on the season. He'd have to average 131.3 yards over the final three games to get to 2,000.

• Murray is 500 yards shy of breaking Eric Dickerson’s single-season record of 2,105 rushing yards, and would need to average 167 yards over the last three games to break the record.

• His 1,606 rushing yards are also just 167 yards away from Emmitt Smith's Cowboys single-season rushing record.

• Murray now has 11 100-yard rushing games for the season, which ties Emmitt Smith's Cowboys record for most 100-yard games in a season (11). If he gets 100 yards in each of the next three games, he’ll tie Barry Sanders’s NFL record of 14 100-yard rushing games in a season. If he "only" reaches 13 such games, he'd be No. 2 behind Sanders in NFL history.

But as much as Cowboys fans may revel in these numbers, the numbers don't mean all that much to Murray, as Eric Edholm of Shutdown Corner recounts:

His 41 touches were six more than he ever had in a game in college, too. Had Murray ever toted the rock that many times in a high school game maybe?

"I don't know," Murray told Shutdown Corner after the media throng left his locker. "I don't count."

"I am just coming out here and running plays, whether it's running or passing," Murray said. "It's not about yards. Whatever happens at the end of the year happens. We're just trying to come up with some wins."
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With the accolades pouring in from all sides, there's also growing concern about the long-term effects such a workload could have on Murray and his health. Not a concern for Murray either:

"I feel great," Murray said after rushing for a season-high 179 yards and a score and gaining another 49 yards on receptions. "I don’t take a lot of hard hits. I protect myself out there. The carries might be up, but I don’t get a lot of damage, so that’s good."
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