Murray should get ready for a huge number of carries Sunday

[Red Dragon]

An injured star QB.

An inexperienced backup QB.

The Cardinals, one of the NFL's best teams, coming to town.

An opposing defense - Arizona's - that brings the blitz and brings it hard.

A Cowboys coaching staff that probably regrets not running the ball as much as it should have against the hated Commanders.

All to say, Murray should get ready for 30+ carries Sunday.

 

[CowboyMike]

Weeden is actually pretty darn experienced, relatively. He's started 20 games and played in 25. More than you can say for some other backups.

But I agree on Murray. Give the man the rock. You could tell he decided to put the team on his shoulders after Romo left the game. Let him continue that.

 

[Phoenix]

But. But. Doesn't Arizona have the #3 ranked run defense in the NFL right now?

 

[big dog cowboy]

An inexperienced backup QB.

You are selling Weeden a little short. 23 starts at CLE and very involved in our offseason from the beginning.

 

[LandryFan]

But. But. Doesn't Arizona have the #3 ranked run defense in the NFL right now?

Indeed they do. And Seattle had the #1 run defense at one time...

 

[Idgit]

Yeah, this is a week to run the football, a lot. Assuming he doesn't fumble again. AZ is a bearable team that feasts off of the TO differential.
And we better tackle better, too.

 

[MagicMan]

But. But. Doesn't Arizona have the #3 ranked run defense in the NFL right now?

Yeah, stats don't always tell the whole story.....shows you most teams are just pass happy and do not commit to the run. They panic or get impatient, like Dallas at the end of the skins game. We better get back to running the ball with Murray 25 to 30 times.

 

[Crown Royal]

Run the ball, tackle on defense, and the game will be won. Cowboys got away from their fundamentals on Monday and it bit them.

 

[Doomsday101]

An injured star QB.

An inexperienced backup QB.

The Cardinals, one of the NFL's best teams, coming to town.

An opposing defense - Arizona's - that brings the blitz and brings it hard.

A Cowboys coaching staff that probably regrets not running the ball as much as it should have against the hated Commanders.

All to say, Murray should get ready for 30+ carries Sunday.

I don't know what number of carries Murray will get but I do expect the Cowboys to execute their offense both run and pass. Fortunately Weeden has been getting a lot of reps from camp through out the season with Romo missing Wed practices so Weeden should have a good understanding of the offense and good timing with the WR and TE

 

[IAmLegend]

50+ carries for Murray or Garrett resigns.

 

[Staubacher]

Easier said than done. 2/5 of our starting OL is likely out. That is huge.

Our D is the unit the REALLY needs to step up.

I mean 3 and outs, turnovers, sacks, etc.

 

[KJJ]

Yeah, this is a week to run the football, a lot. Assuming he doesn't fumble again. AZ is a bearable team that feasts off of the TO differential.
And we better tackle better, too.

The Cowboys will be running Murray a lot whether he fumbles again or not. His fumbles haven't deterred the team from continuing to run him and they certainly won't on Sunday especially if Romo isn't good to go.

 

[links18]

Just don't fumble it, Murray.

 

[Idgit]

The Cowboys will be running Murray a lot whether he fumbles again or not. His fumbles haven't deterred the team from continuing to run him and they certainly won't on Sunday especially if Romo isn't good to go.

They will, but they really shouldn't. The turnovers are keeping games closer than they need to be. I wasn't saying they wouldn't run him, because I"m sure they will. Just saying this is the week for doing it, too, assuming he holds onto the ball.

 

[TwoCentPlain]

RB by committee this week especially. We don't need to put Murray at further risk to an injury with extra carries against an AZ looking to stop the run. And we need the fresh legs out there.

I think we will see a lot more passes to the RBs in the flat, underneath, and screens. It would not surprise me to see us pass more than run this game.

The defense is going to have to go out and win this game. We need our defense to play lights out and get a few turnovers.

 

[KJJ]

They will, but they really shouldn't. The turnovers are keeping games closer than they need to be. I wasn't saying they wouldn't run him, because I"m sure they will. Just saying this is the week for doing it, too, assuming he holds onto the ball.

If you don't run him it hurts the team because his production is the main reason the Cowboys have had the successful season they've had so far. If you don't lean on Murray then the Cowboys will be back to leaning on Romo again which will result in him having to do too much. The turnovers are hurting no question about it but not having Murray's production would hurt worse because the Cowboys probably wouldn't be winning some of these games without him. He's been the Cowboys MVP and the league MVP. The Cowboys are in a situation where if they try and punish Murray for his fumbling by sitting him for a few series or reducing his carries it hurts the team.

Some here think that any back could run as effectively behind this line and I'm not buying that. The defense has been better this season because the offense has been controlling the ball with Murray keeping the D off the field. Not much the Cowboys can do to combat this problem but reduce his carries and again that would put most of the burden back on Romo's shoulders. Murray has to learn to get on the ground when he's been stopped. He fights for yards when he doesn't need that extra yard or two to cross the goal line or pick up a first down.

 

[5Stars]

Yeah, stats don't always tell the whole story.....shows you most teams are just pass happy and do not commit to the run. They panic or get impatient, like Dallas at the end of the skins game. We better get back to running the ball with Murray 25 to 30 times.

If Murray says he's good to go and he is healthy, release the beast. Don't stop him now.

 

[Idgit]

If you don't run him it hurts the team because his production is the main reason the Cowboys have had the successful season they've had so far. If you don't lean on Murray then the Cowboys will be back to leaning on Romo again which will result in him having to do too much. The turnovers are hurting no question about it but not having Murray's production would hurt worse because the Cowboys probably wouldn't be winning some of these games without him. He's been the Cowboys MVP and the league MVP. The Cowboys are in a situation where if they try and punish Murray for his fumbling by sitting him for a few series or reducing his carries it hurts the team.

Some here think that any back could run as effectively behind this line and I'm not buying that. The defense has been better this season because the offense has been controlling the ball with Murray keeping the D off the field. Not much the Cowboys can do to combat this problem but reduce his carries and again that would put most of the burden back on Romo's shoulders. Murray has to learn to get on the ground when he's been stopped. He fights for yards when he doesn't need that extra yard or two to cross the goal line or pick up a first down.

Yeah, I think we're not going to agree on this one. The rushing yards are great, but I'd rather have a less productive back who doesn't cough up the ball. Honestly. League MVP discussion is solely a function of him being on pace to top the total rushing yards and total yards from scrimmage marks. Both huge accomplishments, but I'd rather have the points at the end of the ten-or-so drives he's on pace to cough up the ball for.

One reasons we're winning this year games that we've lost previously because our offense is more effective. That's more because of the extra third-down efficiency, in my book. We were very productive on a per-possession basis on offense last year, anyway. The bigger reason we're winning these tight games, though, is that our defense has been so much more productive--again on a per possession basis.

The good running game gives us ToP, and it makes fans feel like games are more in control because we have the ball more and that means there's less time we spend worried about the performance of our defense, but if it doesn't lead to a lot more points/possession, that doesn't really matter. I keep saying it, but we lost 5 games by a total of 8 points last season. When you're defense tightens up as much as ours has so far this season, you're going to win some of those games.

If you don't believe it, look at the rushing games we've had in our two losses this season. Compare that to how effective our passing game was and remember how the defense looked in those games when we needed the stop. (Especially against the Commanders). It's really obvious what wins NFL games if you pay close attention across the league.

 

[DoctorChicken]

50+ carries for Murray or Garrett resigns.

Rod Marinelli steps in at HC and takes us to the SB, beating the Broncos 43-8.

Demarcus Lawrence gets seven sacks on Manning, Demarcus Ware gets zero on Tony.

Three of the TDs come from Lance Dunbar. Coach Marinelli says in the post game interview "Well duh, what do you think we were saving him for all this time?"

@Risen Star 's head explodes

Calvin Watkins retires

 

[KJJ]

Yeah, I think we're not going to agree on this one. The rushing yards are great, but I'd rather have a less productive back who doesn't cough up the ball. Honestly. League MVP discussion is solely a function of him being on pace to top the total rushing yards and total yards from scrimmage marks. Both huge accomplishments, but I'd rather have the points at the end of the ten-or-so drives he's on pace to cough up the ball for.

One reasons we're winning this year games that we've lost previously because our offense is more effective. That's more because of the extra third-down efficiency, in my book. We were very productive on a per-possession basis on offense last year, anyway. The bigger reason we're winning these tight games, though, is that our defense has been so much more productive--again on a per possession basis.

The good running game gives us ToP, and it makes fans feel like games are more in control because we have the ball more and that means there's less time we spend worried about the performance of our defense, but if it doesn't lead to a lot more points/possession, that doesn't really matter. I keep saying it, but we lost 5 games by a total of 8 points last season. When you're defense tightens up as much as ours has so far this season, you're going to win some of those games.

If you don't believe it, look at the rushing games we've had in our two losses this season. Compare that to how effective our passing game was and remember how the defense looked in those games when we needed the stop. (Especially against the Commanders). It's really obvious what wins NFL games if you pay close attention across the league.

We never agree on anything what else is new. lol As for the league MVP the award is not necessarily "solely" a function of a player being on pace to top any and all yardage lists that player has to be the main reason their team is winning. Not often if ever has a player been named league MVP playing for a losing or non playoff team. It's probably happened but it's rare. Their production has to equate to wins and a successful season for their team. Entering this season the Cowboys goal as it is every year was to try and reduce Romo's attempts to lessen the burden on him so he wouldn't feel the need to do so much in hopes it would reduce his mistakes.

You can't reduce Murray's rushing attempts without increasing Romo's passing attempts something has to give. The Cowboys offense has been more effective this season due to the running game led by Murray. The Cowboys have had more manageable 3rd down situations this season which has allowed them to run the ball more to convert some 3rd downs. Although Murray has lost several fumbles the Cowboys have been able to overcome most of them due to his production. As for the defense part of their success has been not having to spend as much time on the field due to the Cowboys offense winning the time of possession battle most of the season. Sustaining drives can be your best defense.

The loss to Washington was a result of turnovers and poor tackling by the defense. When the game was on the line the Cowboys couldn't stop the Commanders. What we saw on Monday Night was very similar to what we saw last season with the defense. They missed a number of tackles some that would have resulted in negative gains but were turned into sizable gains due to whiffs. McCoy did to the Cowboys what we saw a number of QB's do to the Cowboys last season. Had the Cowboys defense been as effective as we've seen most of the season and not allowed an average QB like McCoy to make so many plays with his arm and legs the Cowboys would have won despite the turnovers. The Commanders controlled the ball in the second half with McCoy's efficiency and Morris running the ball.

Dez dropped a pass in the end zone that he normally catches resulting in the Cowboys having to settle for a FG. Dez allowed the ball to come to his body and didn't extend his arms to snatch the ball with his hands which allowed the DB to get a hand in but Dez still should have caught that pass. He pointed to himself after the play that it was on him. In the loss to SF although the Cowboys ran the ball well they couldn't overcome the 4 turnovers. Romo had a poor game with 3 int's and the Cowboys rarely win games when he has 2 or more turnovers. Hard for any team to overcome 4 turnovers to a good football team. The Cowboys overcame 2 turnovers vs Seattle and a blocked punt for a TD because the defense was outstanding.