INSIDE SLANT
Rookie sensation DeMarco Murray was a battered and bruised running back after the Cowboys’ 27-24 overtime victory against the Redskins on Sunday.
He had a season-high 31 touches, 25 rushes for 73 yards and six catches for 32 yards.
“Probably the most physical game I’ve ever been a part of,” he said. “I’ve got a lot of respect for those guys across the field from us.”
Murray will have to get ready for another tough game when the Cowboys face the Dolphins on Thursday, and he will do so on short rest.
The Dolphins have the seventh-best rush defense in the league, so it will be rough sledding again for Murray—especially with fullback Tony Fiammetta sidelined due to an unknown illness.
The Cowboys will continue to force the run to keep the defense honest and the offense balanced.
They now know they can count on Murray to keep hitting it up in there hard even when he is not seemingly very productive.
“You got to just keep pushing,” Murray said. “There’s times you’re going to get a yard or two, get a negative, and next thing you know, here comes a 10- or 15-yard pop. You’ve got to stay positive, keep your composure, trust your technique and game plan.”
In that regard, the Cowboys are as impressed with his performance and demeanor following the Redskins game as they were when rushed for a team-record 601 yards over the previous four games.
“He is a tough guy,” coach Jason Garrett said. “He is a mature guy. He has played a lot of football at high level. It wasn’t like he was making all these big runs. He was making some tough, hard runs that went for 3 and 4 yards, but they were difference-making runs in the game. They set you up to be in … second-and-5. He had some bigger runs at the end of the game where we were trying to bleed the clock. So he is a tough guy. He is a mature guy. He has handled the transition to the NFL very well.”
Murray continues to show the rest of the NFL what the Cowboys thought before taking him in the third round of the 2011 draft: that he is a complete running back and not just someone who was just good in space.
His 674 yards in five games are the second most in team history for five games, trailing only the 688 that Emmitt Smith produced in 1993.
“We felt very good about him when we drafted him,” Garrett said. “His track record at Oklahoma speaks for itself. He was a very productive back in a lot of different ways, carrying the football, caught the ball out of the backfield, as a guy who scored touchdowns. He blocked. He did a lot of different things. You saw that Oklahoma. You are hopeful those guys can make the transition. I think we are beginning to see him be that complete back we saw in college.”
Series History: 12th regular-season meeting. Dolphins leads series, 7-4. Dallas has won three of the last four meetings. In the teams’ only postseason meeting, the Cowboys beat the Dolphins 24-3 in Super Bowl VI.
NOTES, QUOTES
• Linebacker Bradie James has gone down memory lane and hopes the Cowboys breakout the Turkey Dance from Thanksgiving games in the past.
Basically it’s a version of the Funky Chicken that Billy “White Shoes” Johnson used to do. The Cowboys just flap a little harder like a turkey.
It all started in 2008, when everyone was required to break out a Turkey Dance after a big play or face a fine. The Cowboys had five sacks in the game and at least five turkey dances.
James said nobody looked good doing it, but that’s not the point.
“No, not at all,” James said with a smile when asked if anybody did it well. “But that’s why you can get away with it on Thursday.”
• Cowboys owner Jerry Jones said his team did not perform up to its capabilities Sunday in Dallas’ 27-24 overtime victory against the Redskins.
He said the Cowboys must play much better down the stretch if they hope to make a playoff run.
“We did not play well against the Redskins,” Jones said. “(Tony) Romo did. Early, if we hit on a couple of things, then it might have been a different story. We just missed on a couple of throws, but still, we did not play well across the board. We’ve got to do better than that.”
• A win Thursday would give the Cowboys a four-game winning streak.
By The Numbers: 6—Miami is one of only six teams to hold winning record against the Cowboys. The others are Baltimore, Cleveland, Denver, Jacksonville and Oakland. Miami is also one of six teams to have a winning record against Dallas at the Cowboys’ home stadium. The others are Baltimore, Minnesota, Oakland, San Francisco and Tennessee.
Quote To Note: “We know we were lucky to get out of that game the other day, but we’ve lost some we weren’t lucky in, too. But you’re going to have games lost by teams that on paper they shouldn’t have lost. That’s why you can’t tell anything now. You really do just have to put your nose down and head down and go get it one at a time.”—Cowboys owner Jerry Jones, about the win against the Redskins and not taking anything for granted against the 3-7 Dolphins.
STRATEGY AND PERSONNEL
Player Notes
• WR Akwasi Owusu-Ansah has been less than stellar since taking over the full-time return duties on kickoffs and punts. However, the Cowboys are not ready to make a change. Coach Jason Garrett said although Owusu-Ansah has not had any explosive plays, he has done a good job fielding the ball. Owusu-Ansah has five punt returns for 26 yards and three kickoff returns for 56 yards in two games.
• CB Orlando Scandrick admittedly had some troubles against the Redskins, committing two holding penalties and giving up a long pass. However, he said overall he played well considering he was on the field for 74 snaps.
“I make two bad plays out of 74 plays, and all of a sudden I played bad,” Scandrick said. “Whatever, people going to say what they’re going to say.
“I don’t think I played great, but I think I made two penalties and allowed a catch. Two bad plays and 23-yard catch, and all of a sudden I can’t play no more.”
• S Barry Church will start opposite Abe Elam, as Gerald Sensabaugh can’t go due to a sprained foot. Church has played in every game this season in sub packages. He has been credited with 23 tackles.
“I feel very ready,” Church said. “I have the game plan down pat. The other guys on defense have confidence in me that I can do the job.”
• RB Felix Jones only got five carries against the Redskins in his first game back after missing four games with a strained hamstring. Coach Jason Garrett said the team wanted to ease him back into the offense and said his numbers should pick up in the coming games.
• QB Tony Romo has struck the perfect balance of late. He has eliminated turnovers from his game while still making the big play. Romo has eight touchdowns and no interceptions the past three games. He has thrown 126 passes without an interception.
“He’s doing a very good job of taking care of the ball,” coach Jason Garrett said. “Sometimes guys focus on taking care of the football so they go into a shell and they don’t make any plays. They say, ‘I’m not making any mistakes,’ but you’re not really not doing anything either. I think we’ve all seen Tony strike that balance of not making big mistakes, particularly in relation to the football, which is hard to do in the NFL for a quarterback. Defenses do a great job of causing turnovers to happen.”
Injury Impact
• QB Jon Kitna is out against the Dolphins with a sore back. Stephen McGee will serve as the backup to QB Tony Romo.
• FB Tony Fiammetta is out indefinitely with an unknown illness. The Cowboys don’t know when he will return, as they trying are figure out what’s wrong with him.
• WR Miles Austin will miss another game with a strained hamstring. He will return for the Cardinals game on Dec. 4
• S Gerald Sensabaugh has a sprained foot. He has not practiced all week and is wearing a walking boot, and he is expected to miss Thursday’s game.
• CB Mike Jenkins remains sidelined with a strained hamstring. He will miss the Dolphins game and likely will return for the Cardinals game on Dec. 4.
Game Plan: The Cowboys’ offensive game plan should be the same as it was last week against the Redskins: force the run against a solid run defense to stay balanced and keep the defense honest, then make plays down the field in the passing game. Tony Romo has simply been a different quarterback since the run game has come to the forefront and he has faced defenses looking to stop the run first. Defensively, the Cowboys need to limit mistakes and prevent the Dolphins from making big plays. That would be the only way for Miami to keep up with Dallas.
Matchups To Watch: Dolphins T Marc Colombo vs. Cowboys LBs DeMarcus Ware and Anthony Spencer—Colombo has been in decline for years, which is why the Cowboys cut him in the offseason. He signed with the Dolphins and is the worst lineman on a poor offensive line that gets its quarterback hit as much as any in the league. Ware and Spencer know Colombo has bad feet from their time practicing against him. They must be licking their chops about getting a chance to feast on Colombo on Thanksgiving.
Dolphins RB Reggie Bush vs. Cowboys LB Sean Lee—Bush has been a huge part of the Dolphins’ surge the past three games. He has a touchdown in each of the three games, and Miami is on a three-game winning streak. He leads the Dolphins in rushing and has caught 32 passes out of the backfield. He will certainly be the focal point of an offense that will try to take advantage of a Cowboys run defense that has allowed a 100-yard rusher in three of the last four games. Lee will key to stopping or containing Bush. He had been the team’s most productive defensive player until dislocating his wrist a couple of weeks ago. He has played with a cast and a heavy bandage on his arm, and it has limited his ability to tackle.
