The 2015 Dallas Cowboys and the Myth of DeMarco Murray

[mattjames2010]

Physical pounding is not what has DMac on the sideline...its a tweaked hammy. When he comes back later this week, people are going to feel a lot better about our rb position.

He is a very good back and proved he could stay healthy last year in spite of getting his head kicked in every time he touched the ball.

I'm sure SOME people will feel better once he's back; but history suggests this hammy will be an issue for the remainder of the season. And McFadden proved he could stay healthy when they lessened his workload greatly.

So not only do we have to keep his touches under 200, we have to hope Randle produces with his touches. Yeah, still not seeing what there is to feel good about.

 

[DFWJC]

The last thing a chip Kelly offense is concerned with is time of possession

Absolutely this.
And also, they did actually score more than us last year.
I don't think scoring will be a big issue for them.

Still thinking they may be 3rd in the East though.

 

[mattjames2010]

The rushing yards will be there, but that's not the concern.

If the RB who is in the game at the time can pass protect as well as Murray, we're going to have to rely on a little luck, just like we did last year. If he can't, we'll have to rely on a little more. Maybe a lot more. That's the concern.

Murray, if the no-depth statistics are any indication, wasn't a great blocker. The concern is certainly the yards right now since Randle and McFadden are proven to be decent-good pass protectors.

 

[Stash]

Physical pounding is not what has DMac on the sideline...its a tweaked hammy. When he comes back later this week, people are going to feel a lot better about our rb position.

He is a very good back and proved he could stay healthy last year in spite of getting his head kicked in every time he touched the ball.

Wishful thinking.

He's once again shown that not only can he not take the physical pounding, but is defeated running against air. Twice since Dallas signed him.

I have zero faith in this player or his ability to contribute to this team. Best case scenario, I think his presence on the roster will require the team to carry four running backs.

 

[TrailBlazer]

60/40 is too big of a ratio. You said pass / run, so you saying 60% passing plays? I would think it would be 60% running which is still too much IMO.
Last year, 1014 plays, 476 passes at 46.7%, 508 rushes for 50.1 %. So 30 plays for sacks, so if those go as passing plays, then 506 attempts. so 50/50, missed by 2 plays.

But I understand what you are saying, still use the OL to it's strength, control the clock. Even if / when the defense gets better and more dominate, still control the clock, keep the D rested for the 4th quarter.

A lot of it will depend on the opponent. For example, philly is stout against the run but weak in the back end. You beat them through the air.

 

[Ken]

Wishful thinking.

He's once again shown that not only can he not take the physical pounding, but is defeated running against air. Twice since Dallas signed him.

I have zero faith in this player or his ability to contribute to this team. Best case scenario, I think his presence on the roster will require the team to carry four running backs.

Educated opinion.

I watched every carry Dmac had last year, he absolutely can help us and have a good year for us.

A tweaked hammy, while frustrating to him and the fanbase, should not curtail that.

I guess we should qrite off Dez for the season since he tweaked his hammy too?

 

[Stash]

Educated opinion.

I watched every carry Dmac had last year, he absolutely can help us and have a good year for us.

A tweaked hammy, while frustrating to him and the fanbase, should not curtail that.

If you're counting on him to do something he never does, that's not the definition of 'educated'.

I guess we should qrite off Dez for the season since he tweaked his hammy too?

That might be a valid comparison if Dez did it under similar circumstances, or if Dez was repeatedly injured, or if Dez was a career disappointment. But since he's not, it's not.

 

[jrumann59]

The rushing yards will be there, but that's not the concern.

If the RB who is in the game at the time can pass protect as well as Murray, we're going to have to rely on a little luck, just like we did last year. If he can't, we'll have to rely on a little more. Maybe a lot more. That's the concern.

As starting RB Murray was considered avg. He knew the assignments 95% of the time abut he did blow some blocks.

 

[mattjames2010]

Educated opinion.

I watched every carry Dmac had last year, he absolutely can help us and have a good year for us.

A tweaked hammy, while frustrating to him and the fanbase, should not curtail that.

I guess we should qrite off Dez for the season since he tweaked his hammy too?

I'm sorry, but the "I watched every snap" doesn't do anything for me unless you have some video analysis that proves to me your eyes are better than others. You think Oakland Raiders' fans miss McFadden? Most of them also saw every snap and will say the opposite of what you're saying.

And the issue with McFadden, and I'm surprised i have to explain this, is not just missing games due to injury, it's how his injuries linger.

As I've been asking for a while: I'm still waiting for a reasonable argument that we shouldn't be skeptical of our current group of RBs. Williams was our savior a month ago, he's not longer with the team. McFadden was going to "surprise us", but he's doing what he's been doing his entire career. We have been told that Randle will make us forget about Murray, though I haven't heard anything glowing about him (I understand he's still a relative unknown, but that's part of the issue).

So, what should make us skeptics feel confident in this group of RBs?

 

[percyhoward]

As starting RB Murray was considered avg. He knew the assignments 95% of the time abut he did blow some blocks.

Which is why I said we were lucky last year.

Murray, if the no-depth statistics are any indication, wasn't a great blocker. The concern is certainly the yards right now since Randle and McFadden are proven to be decent-good pass protectors.

I didn't say Murray was a great pass blocker, I said if his replacement is just as good, we'd have to rely on some luck. With 3.6 carries per game over his career, you can't call Randle a "proven" anything, and unfortunately, McFadden can't pass protect if he isn't in the game.

 

[Stash]

I'm sorry, but the "I watched every snap" doesn't do anything for me unless you have some video analysis that proves to me your eyes are better than others. You think Oakland Raiders' fans miss McFadden? Most of them also saw every snap and will say the opposite of what you're saying.

I can see the Jones' thinking when it comes to McFadden, but I think it's flawed.

They see the tremendous blocking that this offense gave to Murray and falsely believe that the 'faster' McFadden will be capable of hitting more 'home run' plays with similar blocking. It falls into the 'left yards on the field' comments regarding Murray.

What they fail to consider are the player's numerous short comings when comparing him to Murray - like power, tackle-breaking ability, and availability.

 

[jazzcat22]

I'm sorry, but the "I watched every snap" doesn't do anything for me unless you have some video analysis that proves to me your eyes are better than others. You think Oakland Raiders' fans miss McFadden? Most of them also saw every snap and will say the opposite of what you're saying.

Many of our own fans watched every snap last year, and still think Romo or player XY & Z still suck.....only consensus is that our OL does not suck.......

 

[Hardline]

I want an elite superstar running back on this team. I don't care for plug and play and I don't subscribe to the running back by committee approach.
We need Ezekiel Elliott or Derrick Henry on this team next year.
And unless Randle just tears it up this season I would strongly consider moving up to get Elliott or Henry if they move way up the draft board.

 

[Teague31]

Weren't over 800 of murrays yards last season before contact?

 

[btcutter]

We no longer need to win the time of possession in order to beat teams. We can be aggressive and dynamic on offense without the fear of putting the defense on the field for a long time. This is a complete game changer. Being more aggressive on offense and defense will pay dividends, similar to what we saw from the Saints in 2009. Early leads, leading to reckless and aggressive play by opposing QBs which will lead to more turnovers. This is the first time since 2009 that we've had an offense and a defense, and I think we'll have them from the get go, despite suspensions to Hardy and McClain.

The 2014 team was fundamentally flawed, and that is why we didn't make it further. That fundamental flaw is no longer an issue, and our greatest strength last year was not the running game. The running game simply represented our crutches. We are off those crutches now, but people still think we need to rely on them and are freaking out that we don't have them. We can walk now, hell we can run now. That isn't to say we will abandon the run going forward, but we don't need to use it to the extent that we did last year. There are other options that are just as good if not better i.e. more targets to Cole Beasley, which are high percentage in nature. At 8.5 yards per target, expanding Beasley's involvement in the offense is the best way to make up the difference in consistency and production.

Unbelievable. Completely disagree.

TOP is huge. Our defense is still completely unproven especially the back end. The less this D sees the field the better our chance of winning games. How quickly people forget those days when Romo threw 40+ attempts and made some really bad decisions. I've always said that limit Romo's attempts to less than 30 x per game and we win. He's a great QB but just has too much gunslinger mentality.

Our strength is the OL and we should take advantage of it. If our head coach and OC have their heads screwed on right we should be 55 to 60% run to 40-45 % pass team while winning TOP most games. And hopefully the D can generate pass rush and TO's.

I refuse to underestimate the Eagles. Their QB was Mark Sanchez most of the year and they had no problem scoring. Anything Sam Bradford can give them is bonus. Worse case they go back to Sanchez. And now they have RB's that can grind short yardage while spreading you out. Eagle's weakness is the DB. If we can run some on Eagles and make their LB play the run then Romo shouldn't have any problem picking them apart.

 

[Stash]

Many of our own fans watched every snap last year, and still think Romo or player XY & Z still suck.....only consensus is that our OL does not suck.......

Whereas others can't handle anything other than "Cowboys Yay!" or "Everyone's Great!"

 

[Idgit]

Murray, if the no-depth statistics are any indication, wasn't a great blocker. The concern is certainly the yards right now since Randle and McFadden are proven to be decent-good pass protectors.

I'm not remotely concerned about the rushing yards. I care about pass protection and holding onto the football. And a little about short yardage situations.

Sufficient rushing yards will be there. I'm sure it will be, but even if it's not, it's just not that important to winning games. But Romo needs to be protected at all costs.

 

[big dog cowboy]

Physical pounding is not what has DMac on the sideline...its a tweaked hammy. When he comes back later this week, people are going to feel a lot better about our rb position.

I'm wouldn't be so sure about that. For 6 months some have been waiting for the Cowboys to make a move and they won't be satisified until we bring in the next Emmitt Smith.

 

[mattjames2010]

Many of our own fans watched every snap last year, and still think Romo or player XY & Z still suck.....only consensus is that our OL does not suck.......

The Romo haters can certainly be loud, but they are also in small number (At least on this board). There is a loud Williams hater on this board as well, and not many take his extreme stance on the issue. They don't make up the majority.

I'm willing to bet that Oakland Raiders' fans aren't losing any sleep over the loss of McFadden.

 

[percyhoward]

What they fail to consider are the player's numerous short comings when comparing him to Murray - like power, tackle-breaking ability, and availability.

Exactly, short yardage is the other big thing for me. It's not as big a factor as blitz pickup, because you only need to find one back who can do it, but it's something Murray did very well.