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There are quite a few reasons why the Dallas Cowboys fell to the Arizona Cardinals in overtime but one of the big ones that flies off the stat sheet is DeMarco Murray carrying the ball 12 times for 38 yards.
This game was Murray's weakest performance since taking over the starting role and his worst game since Week 6 when Felix Jones was still the starter. Here are some interesting numbers to make you wonder why head coach Jason Garrett was not calling Murray's number more.
In Murray's first game against the St. Louis Rams, he ran the ball 25 times for 253 yards and a touchdown. The next week, against Philadelphia, he carried the ball eight times for 74 yards and Dallas lost big to the Eagles. Some might argue that the Eagles taking the big lead was why Dallas did not run Murray.
True enough, Dallas was down 14-0 after the first quarter and 24-0 after the second, but only running the ball eight times might have a lot to do with Dallas only having four drives in the first half. In the first half of the Eagles game, Romo completed four of eight passes with an interception and was sacked three times. However, in the last four drives of the game, Tony Romo threw the ball 23 times, scrambled once and was sacked once. Murray never ran the ball.
Dallas lost 34-7.
Against Seattle, Murray ran 22 times for 139 yards. Against Buffalo, Murray ran 20 times for 135 yards and a touchdown. Against Washington, Murray ran 25 times for 73 yards. Against Miami, Murray ran 22 times for 87 yards. Dallas won all four of those games.
Then, in Week 13, in a game that Dallas only allowed one Arizona touchdown in regulation, Murray ran 12 times and Dallas lost.
When DeMarco Murray runs over 20 times and Dallas controls the clock, they can beat anybody. When Murray is given the ball to get Dallas into range for field goals, Dallas can win close games against tough defenses. When Dallas keeps Murray sitting on the sidelines, they are nowhere near as good.
Jason Garrett took DeMarco Murray out of the game plan in Week 13, and as a result, the New York Giants game in Week 14 is more important than ever.
Author Shawn S. Lealos has a bachelor's degree in journalism from the University of Oklahoma (2000) and has been a Dallas Cowboys' fan since he was a child. His favorite players range from Roger Staubach and Tony Dorsett to the Triplets of the 90s and he enjoys talking about all Cowboys' related news, good or bad
Source: Yahoo! Sports
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