The Dallas Cowboys found their running back of the future in DeMarco Murray. He broke the Cowboys single game rushing record against St. Louis and then carried the ball eight times for 74 yards against Philadelphia, averaging 9.25 yards-per-carry.
Murray should continue to run hard and strong against the Seattle Seahawks in Week 9. Seattle gives up over 100 yards a game rushing but a league low 3.2 ypc. Murray has 400 rushing yards on the season, averaging 8.3 ypc. This is a case of a hot young rusher against one of the best rushing defenses in the league.
However, the same thing happened in Week 8 when the No. 1 rush defense at the time, Dallas, gave up 239 rushing yards to LeSean McCoy and Michael Vick of the Eagles. After the game, Dallas dropped from the top rush defense in the league to fourth thanks to one explosive opponent. If Dallas fans can take anything from that, it is that Murray might be able to continue his success against the Seahawks in Week 9.
The first thing Dallas has to do is establish the passing game. Romo needs to start off with some big plays to Miles Austin, Dez Bryant and Jason Witten. Seattle is only a middle of the road pass defense, giving up 237 yards a game. Once Dallas gets the Seahawks on their heels, they need to mix in Murray and the run. Seattle's offense is anemic at best and should provide little problems for a Rob Ryan defense wanting retribution after a poor performance.
I see Dallas taking a big lead early and they can start to feed the ball to Murray, wearing down the Seahawks vaunted run defense. Cincinnati took a big 17-3 lead at halftime against Seattle in Week 8 and running back Bernard Scott dominated the Bengals offensive play calls in the fourth quarter, finishing the game with 76 rushing yards. Even Montario Hardesty ran for 95 yards against Seattle the week before, his biggest production of the year.
On defense, Rob Ryan will have his defense headhunting to make up for their embarrassing performance last week. DeMarcus Ware was the only highlight of the Week 8 game, recording four of the quietest sacks you will ever see in an NFL game. Ware is only 0.5 sacks out of the NFL lead right now and Tarvaris Jackson should beware.
Jackson had a huge game in Week 8, throwing for 323 yards against a solid Bengals defense, his highest totals of the year. However, he hasn't thrown a touchdown since Week 5 and has the same amount of interceptions as touchdowns on the year (6).
The problem for Dallas is linebacker Sean Lee will miss the game with a dislocated wrist and the defensive backfield of the Cowboys is a bit shaky. The front line has to step up and force Jackson to beat them with his arm. That should be enough to throw off the Seattle game.
Dallas has Buffalo in Week 10, followed by Washington, Miami and Arizona. This gives the Cowboys time to heal up and work on their game plan. There is no reason Dallas can't have their record back to at least 7-5 when they face the Giants in Week 14. Seattle shouldn't be a hard game to win but the Cowboys need to use it to work on a game plan that has not been that encouraging for much of the season.
Author Shawn S. Lealos has followed the Dallas Cowboys since he was a child, his favorite players range from Roger Staubach and Tony Dorsett to the Triplets of the 90s. Through the great years of the '90s and the hard times of the '80s, Shawn never turned his back on America's Team.
Source: Dallas Cowboys Website
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