How badly did we mess up the RB situation?

[Bleu Star]

Its misleading to base stats on MacFadden vs. Murray just to justify a season thats tanking.

First of all We could have still had MacFadden if we signed Murray and could have used MacFadden as our change of pace back. He may have ran for a a few hundred yards for than Murray has this juncture, but he is quickly running out of steam. Murray + MacFadden would have been a very lethal combo.

Secondly, I don't believe we would be in a losing predicament if we had signed Murray. Murray would have been in their to block on first down when Romo got injured. Thus our season would probably had been more successful if Romo didn't get hurt and we probably leading the division by now.

All this crap about McFadden is better than Murray or that its the injury to Romo thats caused our season to tank is nothing more than being in denial.

The fault lies in the FO in letting Murray go without a suitable replacement. Then thinking they can make do with and RBBC system that we've tried before and failed.

Randle gets injured and we go back to our one back system using McFadden and voila! our run game is back to where it was just like last year. Which goes to show you the FO messed up - letting Murray go without a replacement - and going with an RBBC that crippled our run game for almost half the season.

Brick walls don't comprehend. Fact.

 

[Bleu Star]

Well just read that McFadden is now injured.

Looks like Murray at 8 mil. per. year would have been the right move after all.

These people actually think those of us that rue the monumental faux pas now known as the decision to let Demarco go as some sort of agenda.... Silly to say the least.

2014: So close.
2015: Yet, so far.

& we did it to ourselves. . .

 

[JohnnyTheFox]

Of course we messed it up, Dmac is nothing more than a temporary band aid and now we can add the position of RB to our needs in the offseason, which is as follows, QB,DT,SS,CB and that's the minimum

 

[Nightman]

Of course we messed it up, Dmac is nothing more than a temporary band aid and now we can add the position of RB to our needs in the offseason, which is as follows, QB,DT,SS,CB and that's the minimum

you can add FS, RT and SLB

 

[Stash]

You are ignoring the particular of the Giants game, i.e. gifting them three turnovers and having to comeback. 100+ yards against the Eagles is good, as they are notoriously difficult to run against.

Not at all. You can go back and look at the play by play of that game. Despite having Romo and Bryant on the field, the Cowboys' running game was not doing well, even when the game was very tight.

 

[NextGenBoys]

Where I think we messed up was not going for Peterson.

Had we acquired him I think he saves our season without Romo. He is truly a guy that can overcome having Garrett as a coach and no Romo on the field.


Anyone else available to us and I think we're still 0-7 without Romo.

Yes. Was beyond stupid not to go all in on Peterson. We have 3 more years max with Romo. Go for it all and bring in Peterson. There was no reason not to. A 1st round pick? So what, he's arguably top 5 all time, and we had just established our winning ways with running the ball, why not make the move?

 

[Nightman]

Yes. Was beyond stupid not to go all in on Peterson. We have 3 more years max with Romo. Go for it all and bring in Peterson. There was no reason not to. A 1st round pick? So what, he's arguably top 5 all time, and we had just established our winning ways with running the ball, why not make the move?

MINN is 7-2 with Bridgewater at QB. I wanted AP badly but the 12m was not doable.

 

[KJJ]

McFadden has been the starter for 4 games and has went over 100 total yards 3 times in that span. Without his starting qb. In that short amount of time McFadden has outrushed Murray who has been the starter since week 1. The same Murray who was held to 12 yards against the cowboys. He will not finish with more yards than McFadden.

Despite Murray being the starter he's been in a 3 back rotation with Mathews and Sproles who've combined for 114 carries this season. Murray only had 29 carries in the first 3 games this season. He's only had 3 games all season where he's had 20 or more carries with 22 carries being his season high. Not only has he not been getting nearly as many opportunities to carry the ball with Philly that he had with the Cowboys but he doesn't fit their zone scheme. It's resulted in defenders meeting him in the backfield a number of times which is what happened against the Cowboys. The Cowboys run a power scheme which Murray excelled at. Even though he's in a rotation with 2 other backs and missed a game due to an injury he's only 53 rushing yards behind McFadden and has 2 more TD's. McFadden has been the Cowboys workhorse since he replaced Randle.

Prior to last week McFadden had 3 straight games of 20+ carries amounting to 76 carries which is the most he's had in a 3 game stretch in his entire career. The 29 carries he got vs the Giants was one carry off his career high 5 years ago. Despite receiving the workload the past 4 games he's only averaged 3.8 a carry this season with 2 TD's. As a receiver out of the backfield Murray has out produced McFadden with 35 receptions for 268 yards and a TD including a 44 yard reception. Murray's longest run from scrimmage this season was 30 yards compared to McFadden whose longest run was 22 yards. During the summer many said McFadden would provide longer runs than Murray and that hasn't happened. Although the Cowboys QB situation hasn't been good with Romo out Philly's hasn't been very good either with Bradford who's been a disappointment. Now that he's hurt they're stuck with Sanchez.

With the addition of Collins McFadden is running behind an even stronger OL than Murray ran behind last season and hasn't been consistent. It was obvious last week that the amount of carries are taking their toll on McFadden who hasn't received a workload like this in years. Unless Murray goes down he'll end up with more rushing yards than McFadden because Romo is going to have to carry the team with the passing game like he did on opening day. The Cowboys need to start becoming more explosive and score more points to overcome their defense that can't make critical stops and that won't happen with McFadden and the running game that's been inconsistent all season. McFadden's legs aren't going to hold up much longer and Romo is going to have to try and save this season with his arm. With Sanchez at QB in Philly they're going to depend on the running game because most of what Philly is trying to accomplish on offense revolves around their ability to run the football.

 

[Jstopper]

Despite Murray being the starter he's been in a 3 back rotation with Mathews and Sproles who've combined for 114 carries this season. Murray only had 29 carries in the first 3 games this season. He's only had 3 games all season where he's had 20 or more carries with 22 carries being his season high. Not only has he not been getting nearly as many opportunities to carry the ball with Philly that he had with the Cowboys but he doesn't fit their zone scheme. It's resulted in defenders meeting him in the backfield a number of times which is what happened against the Cowboys. The Cowboys run a power scheme which Murray excelled at. Even though he's in a rotation with 2 other backs and missed a game due to an injury he's only 53 rushing yards behind McFadden and has 2 more TD's. McFadden has been the Cowboys workhorse since he replaced Randle.

Prior to last week McFadden had 3 straight games of 20+ carries amounting to 76 carries which is the most he's had in a 3 game stretch in his entire career. The 29 carries he got vs the Giants was one carry off his career high 5 years ago. Despite receiving the workload the past 4 games he's only averaged 3.8 a carry this season with 2 TD's. As a receiver out of the backfield Murray has out produced McFadden with 35 receptions for 268 yards and a TD including a 44 yard reception. Murray's longest run from scrimmage this season was 30 yards compared to McFadden whose longest run was 22 yards. During the summer many said McFadden would provide longer runs than Murray and that hasn't happened. Although the Cowboys QB situation hasn't been good with Romo out Philly's hasn't been very good either with Bradford who's been a disappointment. Now that he's hurt they're stuck with Sanchez.

With the addition of Collins McFadden is running behind an even stronger OL than Murray ran behind last season and hasn't been consistent. It was obvious last week that the amount of carries are taking their toll on McFadden who hasn't received a workload like this in years. Unless Murray goes down he'll end up with more rushing yards than McFadden because Romo is going to have to carry the team with the passing game like he did on opening day. The Cowboys need to start becoming more explosive and score more points to overcome their defense that can't make critical stops and that won't happen with McFadden and the running game that's been inconsistent all season. McFadden's legs aren't going to hold up much longer and Romo is going to have to try and save this season with his arm. With Sanchez at QB in Philly they're going to depend on the running game because most of what Philly is trying to accomplish on offense revolves around their ability to run the football.

We will have to see who has more yards at the end of the season. Otherwise we'll just keep debating back and forth.

 

[KJJ]

We will have to see who has more yards at the end of the season. Otherwise we'll just keep debating back and forth.

Currently Murray has more yards and TD's from scrimmage than McFadden. Trust me, if both Murray and McFadden don't miss any games the remainder of the season Murray will out rush him based on the situation both teams are in and the fact McFadden is beginning to wear down. The Cowboys are going to have to put the ball up to win games and Philly being in a much better position 2 games up will try and run the ball especially due to their QB situation. This is an easy one to estimate.

 

[Jstopper]

Currently Murray has more yards and TD's from scrimmage than McFadden. Trust me, if both Murray and McFadden don't miss any games the remainder of the season Murray will out rush him based on the situation both teams are in and the fact McFadden is beginning to wear down. The Cowboys are going to have to put the ball up to win games and Philly being in a much better position 2 games up will try and run the ball especially due to their QB situation. This is an easy one to estimate.

Murray has already gotten hurt this year. If you say McFadden is wearing down I say Murray has too. With Romo back I don't see is having to abandon the run the way you say. We have been running consistently with no qb and now with Romo it should be even easier. But as I said we'll have to wait some more weeks to see who turns out right.

 

[Craig]

Murray has already gotten hurt this year. If you say McFadden is wearing down I say Murray has too. With Romo back I don't see is having to abandon the run the way you say. We have been running consistently with no qb and now with Romo it should be even easier. But as I said we'll have to wait some more weeks to see who turns out right.

I think the stats will show that Murray has not run a single yard for dallas since he left. Proof positive that it was a mistake to let him go.

 

[KJJ]

Murray has already gotten hurt this year. If you say McFadden is wearing down I say Murray has too. With Romo back I don't see is having to abandon the run the way you say. We have been running consistently with no qb and now with Romo it should be even easier. But as I said we'll have to wait some more weeks to see who turns out right.

Haven't seen Murray's legs look dead like McFadden's did last week. Murray has no reason to wear down he's not being used near as much this season as he was last season with the Cowboys while McFadden hasn't been used this much in 5 years. You call averaging 5.2, 3.2, 4.3 and 1.9 last week running consistently? Not saying we're going to have to abandon the running game but Romo is going to have to put the ball up a lot. He put the ball up 45 times in the opener which was more attempts than in any game last season. He was on pace for another 40+ attempt game when he was injured vs Philly.

 

[Jstopper]

Haven't seen Murray's legs look dead like McFadden's did last week. Murray has no reason to wear down he's not being used near as much this season as he was last season with the Cowboys while McFadden hasn't been used this much in 5 years. You call averaging 5.2, 3.2, 4.3 and 1.9 last week running consistently?

Murray had never been used as much as he was before 2014. He didn't break down even though he had broken down in seasons before with less carries. McFadden didn't look dead legged to me, there were almost no holes to run through. It reminded me of the 1st eagles game last year. When Murray was shut down. Not to mention McFadden has not had Romo all year. Murray looked terrible in the 1 game he played without Romo last year. I think we will have to play this one by ear

 

[KJJ]

Murray had never been used as much as he was before 2014. He didn't break down even though he had broken down in seasons before with less carries. McFadden didn't look dead legged to me, there were almost no holes to run through. It reminded me of the 1st eagles game last year. When Murray was shut down. Not to mention McFadden has not had Romo all year. Murray looked terrible in the 1 game he played without Romo last year. I think we will have to play this one by ear

No point in continuing this we'll just disagree and see how the rest of the season plays out.

 

[MarionBarberThe4th]

Our bones are super meaty right now ):

 

[Verdict]

This is a valid question, but I guess I see it slightly different than most do. We could have locked up Murray before he had his break out year. You could see the dominoes starting to fall into place leading up to his career year. We could have extended him to a very team friendly deal at that point. We wouldn't have had to pay "career year" wages to resign him because his career year hadn't happened yet. Letting Murray go was a mistake, but probably not at the price tag he got from Philly.

With that having been said, McFadden and Dunbar actually performed pretty well, and we had hoped to get a running back in the draft. I think we entered the draft having a reasonable probability of drafting a good back, but keep in mind that we took Gregory with our second round pick. I personally believe that Gregory was deemed to be such a value at that draft slot that we deviated from the plan and took Gregory rather than a running back. It is hard to argue with that logic since Gregory was deemed to be a coup for the Cowboys at that draft position.

My biggest problem with our running game this year is:

1. We stubbornly stuck with Randle for far too long. (Doing the same thing over and over hoping for a different result).
2. We abandoned the run when it was actually working (much like we have done foe the last several years, other than last year).
3. We have failed to call running plays in critical situations, in 3rd and short to go, and ended up punting the ball (which contributed to our losing streak).

Even with all of the other mistakes we have made, we probably would have won at least two of the games we lost since Romo went down, if we had just run when the down and distance (and game situations) dictated that we run the ball, and it cost us.

 

[Bleu Star]

Despite Murray being the starter he's been in a 3 back rotation with Mathews and Sproles who've combined for 114 carries this season. Murray only had 29 carries in the first 3 games this season. He's only had 3 games all season where he's had 20 or more carries with 22 carries being his season high. Not only has he not been getting nearly as many opportunities to carry the ball with Philly that he had with the Cowboys but he doesn't fit their zone scheme. It's resulted in defenders meeting him in the backfield a number of times which is what happened against the Cowboys. The Cowboys run a power scheme which Murray excelled at. Even though he's in a rotation with 2 other backs and missed a game due to an injury he's only 53 rushing yards behind McFadden and has 2 more TD's. McFadden has been the Cowboys workhorse since he replaced Randle.

Prior to last week McFadden had 3 straight games of 20+ carries amounting to 76 carries which is the most he's had in a 3 game stretch in his entire career. The 29 carries he got vs the Giants was one carry off his career high 5 years ago. Despite receiving the workload the past 4 games he's only averaged 3.8 a carry this season with 2 TD's. As a receiver out of the backfield Murray has out produced McFadden with 35 receptions for 268 yards and a TD including a 44 yard reception. Murray's longest run from scrimmage this season was 30 yards compared to McFadden whose longest run was 22 yards. During the summer many said McFadden would provide longer runs than Murray and that hasn't happened. Although the Cowboys QB situation hasn't been good with Romo out Philly's hasn't been very good either with Bradford who's been a disappointment. Now that he's hurt they're stuck with Sanchez.

With the addition of Collins McFadden is running behind an even stronger OL than Murray ran behind last season and hasn't been consistent. It was obvious last week that the amount of carries are taking their toll on McFadden who hasn't received a workload like this in years. Unless Murray goes down he'll end up with more rushing yards than McFadden because Romo is going to have to carry the team with the passing game like he did on opening day. The Cowboys need to start becoming more explosive and score more points to overcome their defense that can't make critical stops and that won't happen with McFadden and the running game that's been inconsistent all season. McFadden's legs aren't going to hold up much longer and Romo is going to have to try and save this season with his arm. With Sanchez at QB in Philly they're going to depend on the running game because most of what Philly is trying to accomplish on offense revolves around their ability to run the football.

I commend you too for trying. Bravoooo

 

[Corso]

Brick walls don't comprehend. Fact.

I just jumped into this thing and haven't read a single post except for yours, so take this for what it is.

Brick walls absolutely comprehend.
You know what they comprehend?
Acoustics and pressure.

The right acoustic wavelength blasting a brick and mortar wall absolutely, 100% hears it and adheres to it's demands.
Fall apart.

Walls do listen, and they also talk... in their own way.

Sorry to go weird on this thread. I've been down for a bit and my wings are spreading, getting the morning dew off as I start to flap it off.

Pray... Continue.

 

[TwoDeep3]

Huge mistake. Like Rosie O'Donnell's mustache.