Can Dallas win a Super Bowl with RB By Committee?

[The Quest for Six]

What's amazing to me is how short a career many of those backs listed actually had.

and that's why you never over pay and give running backs long term contracts....it was a smart move not giving into Murray's demands after his one good year....the Marion Barber contract proved that!

 

[The Quest for Six]

To answer the titled question... Of course Dallas can win a SB with a RB committee approach. Its only been proven several times over the last decade. Hell, the Patriots didn't even have a RB over 500 yards! So I just shake my head when I hear all the talk about how important Murray is...Its the commitment to the run game (not Murray) that's important. I didn't hear all these folks clamoring about how vital Murray was this time last year. No, Murray took advantage of his opportunity as he should have during a contract season. I keep hearing how Murray is the one that made Dallas last year.. oh yeah, so what about the seasons before last year? People purposely over look all the help Murray had to obtain his Rushing Title. Its kinda like how a lot of folks still don't consider Romo elite, although he holds multiple records, was the top rated Qb, and is top five alltime! My point is.. please, lets not act like Murray is anything remotely close to a "Emmitt" like RB. Yes, Murray had a good year, but he also had the best rated QB in the league, the best rated OL in the league, arguably the best WR in the league, the best overall TE in the league, and a team committed to finally run the ball. Oh, and did I mention it was a contract year. Amazing isn't it, how players have "breakout" season when they know they're about to get paid. Fact is, any RB in the league knows that blocking up front is the only way to have a opportunity to be successful. This is exactly why FA RB's have been basically begging the Cowboys to give them a chance.
I'm not trying to take anything away from Murray bc I always felt like he had the skillset to lead the league, but I'm tired of people acting like Dallas is doomed without him. If Murray was in McFadden's shoes in Oakland.. well, I'd be willing to bet he would have struggled too. Opportunity is the name of the game. And like proven last year, defense wins championships. In my opinion, the FO did a hell of a job this off season and on "paper" we look to be a top notch defense. The Combo of McFadden, Randle, Williams, and the forgotten Dunbar are easily talented enough to win a SB. The real question is... Is our defense improved enough to stop guys like Aaron Rodgers in the playoffs?

Exactly, you nailed it!!

 

[MichaelWinicki]

You are missing the point. Ball control puts a huge amount of pressure on the offense. When you eat up time you limit possessions for both teams meaning you have to score at a higher percentage of drives to be successful. 40 minutes of TOP means squat if you don't get TDs on your drives.

Like it or not we left points on the field because of Murray's style last year, and that style means you will play a lot of close games. And anytime you play close games luck, injuries or mistakes will all be magnified.

Yes Emmitt was not taking runs to the house every game but he sure as hell was not turning 50 yard runs into 15 yard ones because he tried to run people over like Murray did way too many times. For me I will trade off 4.5 ypc for 4.0 ypc with some long ones sprinkled in and as we saw last year both Randle and Dunbar can make explosive runs, so if McFadden or Williams can plod for that 4.0, we can still be balanced, control TOP without having one back getting all those touches, and get those explosive plays at hopefully an increased rate with increased touches.

This.

For all the accolades about the offense last season it wasn't ranked any higher in the league when it comes to points scored than the prior season (5th in scoring).

 

[DandyDon52]

seems 2 of the RB's are already hurting, Dmc and williams, which leaves randle and dunbar, and the other guys recently added.
Right now the committee doesnt look too good.

I dont see how players have a problem in no contact drills.

 

[iceberg]

I posted in another thread that the Cowboys have never won a SB with an RB by committee. They won SB's with Duane Thomas, Tony Dorsett and Emmitt Smith leading the way. I believe if the Cowboys are going to be as good a team as they were last season or have a chance to be even better one of their backs is going to have to step up and be the one the team counts on in critical games/situations and down the stretch. These backs are going to be given a great opportunity and one of them needs to emerge.

and i missed it.

there is a god.

 

[SPCowboysfan9]

Many ways to look at this. Can they win with more than one guy carrying the load? The answer has to be YES. But does that mean they rely less on the run game? Absolutely not. They can't. Their success came from the team sticking to the run game and winning the LOS battle. Murray was the workhorse and will be missed. But the strength of this team is the OL. If they continue to dominate up front and stick to the run game, it doesn't necessarily have to be one guy carrying the load for this team to do what they need to do. My opinion.

 

[DallasDomination]

Can Brad Johnson become a decent back up in this league? Oh wait he won a superbowl.

Can a shooting team win in the nba? Say what, the top 4 teams are all shooting teams.

Anyone can win of they have a good team.

 

[KJJ]

and i missed it.

there is a god.

You can miss them all by putting me on ignore.

 

[jnday]

Wrong, Romo is at his best when the defense is not giving away games. Kind of why we did not over-spend for Murray and added on all 3 levels of D in FA and the draft.

Romo is a much better QB when the pressure is off him and he is not out in the position where he tries to force things. I have never been a Murray fan, but he made Romo a better QB. As it stands, there is not a proven RB on the roster. It could cost Dallas several games if one of them don't step up and fill Murray's role on this offense. The sucess that the team had last year was due to having a RB capable of shouldering the load and taking pressure off of Romo and the defense. Dallas should have taken a RB in the draft, but it is easy to see that things just didn't come together for that to happen and it will hurt the team to an extent this season.

 

[DandyDon52]

If the Cowboys don't run the ball as well (consistently) then I don't see adding more big plays in the running game helping a great deal. It's the playing keep away (time consuming drives) that made the running game so effective last season. Emmitt wasn't breaking off one long run after another during his heyday it was him being consistent that made him and the running game so effective. The Cowboys won the time of possession battle in a number of their games last season which greatly helped the defense. By maintaining the ball it helped wear down the opposition. You can take the will out of a defense by consistently picking up 4, 6 and 12 yards on the ground. The Cowboys don't need a lot of homeruns just a lot of base hits to keep them at bat. In the past the Cowboys have had more big plays in the running game with Julius Jones and to a lesser extent Felix Jones but it's been the consistent 5-8 yard runs that have moved the chains and helped the Cowboys maintain possession.

Go back to the 06 season vs the Saints when Julius Jones broke off a long run and scored. The Cowboys still got blown out due to their defense and not being able run the ball consistently. It's going to come down to the Cowboys defense and the offense picking up the tough yards on the ground especially in critical situations that's going to make or break their season. Murray was very consistent on 3rd and 2's and 3's keeping Romo from having to put the ball up in those situations. If the Cowboys struggle to pick up the tough yards or end up in a lot of long down situations Romo won't be as efficient as last season. I just don't see the Cowboys breaking off a bunch of long TD runs. Sure they'll make some big plays in the running game no question about it but trust me the key to having a successful season will be running the ball "consistently" keeping the chains moving and the defense off the field. That was the recipe for success last season.

good post, also murray was good getting 5 or more on 1st down many times setting up a easier 2nd or 3rd down.

many did not see this, including jerry and his kid. That is why they let murray go, all they saw was the fumbles and the emerging OL and they like others think any RB will do.
This could be the case, but we will know by game 6 or so.

My main beef with not keeping murray is we knew for sure what we had in him and what he was capable of etc.
Now we are in the situation of not knowing anything "for sure" about our current RB's

Also with Murray we had a established offense and run game other teams feared and are now going to emulate.
WE lost that, and now "have to go back to basics".

 

[GimmeTheBall!]

(Originally posted by ekitchin):

*****​

Here is a look back at the primary running games of the last ten Super Bowl champions:


Attempts Yards
05 Pittsburgh:
Willie Green 255 1022
Jerome Bettis 110 368
Verron Hayes 74 274


2006 Indy:
Joseph Addai 226 1081
Dominic Rhodes 187 641


2007 NYG:
Brandon Jacobs 202 1009
Derrick Ward 125 602
Reuben Droughns 85 275


2008 Pittsburgh:
Willie Parker 210 791
Mewelde Moore 140 588


2009 New Orleans:
Mike Bell 172 654
Pierre Thomas 147 793
Reggie Bush 70 390


2010 GB:
Brandon Jackson 190 703
John Kuhn 84 281
Aaron Rodgers 64 356


2011 NYG:
Ahmad Bradshaw 171 659
Brandon Jacobs 152 571
Danny Ware 46 163


2012 Baltimore:
Ray Rice 257 1143
Bernard Pierce 108 532


2013 Seattle:
Marshawn Lynch 301 1257
Russell Wilson 96 539
Robert Turbin 77 264


2014 NE:
Shane Vereen 96 391
Stevan Ridley 94 340
Jonas Gray 89 412
Lagarrett Blount 60 281


Most are pointing to questions about the run game as the greatest worry about this team. In my opinion Dallas has a superior offensive line to any of the past ten champs and our current backs are comparable to most of them from a talent perspective. Unless a great deal drops in our lap (AP), I'm content to let this play out in order to see what we have on the roster, we can always make moves later if needed and still get it done.

Not this team

 

[big dog cowboy]

good post, also murray was good getting 5 or more on 1st down many times setting up a easier 2nd or 3rd down.

many did not see this, including jerry and his kid. That is why they let murray go, all they saw was the fumbles and the emerging OL and they like others think any RB will do.
This could be the case, but we will know by game 6 or so.

My main beef with not keeping murray is we knew for sure what we had in him and what he was capable of etc.
Now we are in the situation of not knowing anything "for sure" about our current RB's

Also with Murray we had a established offense and run game other teams feared and are now going to emulate.

Don't fool yourself, we let Murray go over one thing - money.

Did we know what we had in Murray? Could he have repeated what he did last year or is the injury bud just about to bite? Nothing is guaranteed so saying we are in a situation of not knowing for sure about our current RB's is true with any position on the field. Including if we had resigned Murray.

 

[Doomsday101]

Don't fool yourself, we let Murray go over one thing - money.

Did we know what we had in Murray? Could he have repeated what he did last year or is the injury bud just about to bite? Nothing is guaranteed so saying we are in a situation of not knowing for sure about our current RB's is true with any position on the field. Including if we had resigned Murray.

Injury but your right can happen to any, but there is a talent issue. Sorry I can't sit here and say wow these RB are impressive. Dallas ran Murray last season because he got the job done and they trusted him. They did not do that with Randle they did not even try to take some of the load and put it on Randle. People claimed Murray as fragile what would you call Williams who has been nothing but an injury since he was drafted in 2011? McFadden currently is dealing with a Hamstring strain, that in and of itself not a big deal except for the fact he has had a history of hamstring issues, much like Miles Austin, it became a constant.

I hope it all works itself out but for those of us who are concerned, I think there is legit reasons for it. Heck as long as I have been at this sight being called a homer, kool drinker and rose colored glasses wearer so I don't make these comments of concern lightly. My biggest hope is I am wrong, my biggest fear is I am right.

 

[Craig]

Is willy green a combo of willie parker and joe greene?

 

[KJJ]

You are missing the point. Ball control puts a huge amount of pressure on the offense. When you eat up time you limit possessions for both teams meaning you have to score at a higher percentage of drives to be successful. 40 minutes of TOP means squat if you don't get TDs on your drives.

Like it or not we left points on the field because of Murray's style last year, and that style means you will play a lot of close games. And anytime you play close games luck, injuries or mistakes will all be magnified.

Yes Emmitt was not taking runs to the house every game but he sure as hell was not turning 50 yard runs into 15 yard ones because he tried to run people over like Murray did way too many times. For me I will trade off 4.5 ypc for 4.0 ypc with some long ones sprinkled in and as we saw last year both Randle and Dunbar can make explosive runs, so if McFadden or Williams can plod for that 4.0, we can still be balanced, control TOP without having one back getting all those touches, and get those explosive plays at hopefully an increased rate with increased touches.

Ball control wears defenses down and keeps the opposing offense off the field plus it helps keep your defense fresh. Ball control can keep your scoring down but winning the time of possession battle is an effective way to win games as the Cowboys showed last season. The Cowboys went 12-4 last season winning a playoff game and some of you act like they just came off another disappointing 8-8 season. If you have defensive issues like the Cowboys have controlling the ball keeps your defense from being exposed as much which is a big reason the defense showed some improvement from 2013. Murray had a great season an MVP caliber season but many amongst Cowboy Nation have done nothing but make it appear he was a liability last season.

Here you are complaining that he ran over people lucky you're not a Seahawks fan you would hate Marshawn Lynch. Murray had to run over some people to keep the chains moving. He had carries where there was nowhere to run and he made something out of nothing many times. He had the most productive season in franchise history for an RB and has received nothing but disrespect and criticism from his own fan base. Better hope he hasn't paid this board a visit seeing all the crap being tossed on him it would increase his motivation even more when facing the Cowboys in 2015.

 

[Rockport]

Obviously. It's been done many times in the past most recently this year.

 

[xwalker]

(Originally posted by ekitchin):

*****​

Here is a look back at the primary running games of the last ten Super Bowl champions:


Attempts Yards
05 Pittsburgh:
Willie Green 255 1022
Jerome Bettis 110 368
Verron Hayes 74 274


2006 Indy:
Joseph Addai 226 1081
Dominic Rhodes 187 641


2007 NYG:
Brandon Jacobs 202 1009
Derrick Ward 125 602
Reuben Droughns 85 275


2008 Pittsburgh:
Willie Parker 210 791
Mewelde Moore 140 588


2009 New Orleans:
Mike Bell 172 654
Pierre Thomas 147 793
Reggie Bush 70 390


2010 GB:
Brandon Jackson 190 703
John Kuhn 84 281
Aaron Rodgers 64 356


2011 NYG:
Ahmad Bradshaw 171 659
Brandon Jacobs 152 571
Danny Ware 46 163


2012 Baltimore:
Ray Rice 257 1143
Bernard Pierce 108 532


2013 Seattle:
Marshawn Lynch 301 1257
Russell Wilson 96 539
Robert Turbin 77 264


2014 NE:
Shane Vereen 96 391
Stevan Ridley 94 340
Jonas Gray 89 412
Lagarrett Blount 60 281


Most are pointing to questions about the run game as the greatest worry about this team. In my opinion Dallas has a superior offensive line to any of the past ten champs and our current backs are comparable to most of them from a talent perspective. Unless a great deal drops in our lap (AP), I'm content to let this play out in order to see what we have on the roster, we can always make moves later if needed and still get it done.

Looking at these numbers make it appear that teams don't win SBs do it the way the Cowboys did it in 2014.

Even Seattle only gave Lynch 63% of the carries.

Dallas gave Murray 83% of the carries.
Murray 392
Randle 51
Dunbar 29

 

[KJJ]

good post, also murray was good getting 5 or more on 1st down many times setting up a easier 2nd or 3rd down.

many did not see this, including jerry and his kid. That is why they let murray go, all they saw was the fumbles and the emerging OL and they like others think any RB will do.
This could be the case, but we will know by game 6 or so.

My main beef with not keeping murray is we knew for sure what we had in him and what he was capable of etc.
Now we are in the situation of not knowing anything "for sure" about our current RB's

Also with Murray we had a established offense and run game other teams feared and are now going to emulate.
WE lost that, and now "have to go back to basics".

Since Murray departed many seem to ignore or refuse to acknowledge the yards he gained on first and second down that left the Cowboys with manageable 3rd downs. Once it became apparent it was going to cost the farm to keep him many put his success on the emerging OL and made him out to be a liability due to his fumbles and lack of great speed. Once he signed with Philly many have completely discounted what he did for the Cowboys last season with some even going as far as to spin McFadden will prove to be an upgrade and the Cowboys will be a much better team without Murray. Jerry decided to bank on his OL that's been touted as the best in the league by many believing that any back or a combination of backs can do what Murray did. We'll soon find out.

 

[jnday]

Looking at these numbers make it appear that teams don't win SBs do it the way the Cowboys did it in 2014.

Even Seattle only gave Lynch 63% of the carries.

Dallas gave Murray 83% of the carries.
Murray 392
Randle 51
Dunbar 29

I had the feeling that the team had no intention of resigning Murray because they figured that some team would overpay , so they used him up. Sure, he wore down as the season went on, but I think they honestly got everything out of Murray that he had left. It was a harsh way to do business, but it was best for the team. It is going to shorten Murray's career, but they knew that the chances of resigning him were slim. I fully expect Murray to have more injuries in the future and this last season was the high point of his career. I am glad the Eagles didn't realize this and they will regret it soon. Good for them .

 

[big dog cowboy]

I hope it all works itself out but for those of us who are concerned, I think there is legit reasons for it. Heck as long as I have been at this sight being called a homer, kool drinker and rose colored glasses wearer so I don't make these comments of concern lightly. My biggest hope is I am wrong, my biggest fear is I am right.

I've been called those name also so I completely agree with this. But I also think if we get halfway thru preseason and it's clear what we have isn't going to work that the FO will make a move. Possibly sooner.