Cowboys' Wheel, Hub And Spokes
Mike Fisher | @fishsports
IRVING, Texas (105.3 THE FAN) - The Dallas Cowboys' offensive wheel keeps rolling along, with the hub of that wheel DeMarco Murray and his record-threatening rushing pace. But the individual spokes of the wheel are spinning along nicely, too.
Murray, running behind an offensive line featuring three blue-chip talents in left tackle Tyron Smith, center Travis Frederick and right guard Zack Martin, has 670 rushing yards and 124 receiving yards. That puts him on pace for 2,541 total yards, whih would surpass Chris Johnson's 2009 yards-from-scrimmage record of ... And Murray's rushing pace alone would put him at 2,144 yards. The NFL single-season record is 2,105 by Eric Dickerson in 1984. The franchise record is Emmitt Smith's 1,773 yards in 1995.
Already, Murray is one of just three backs in NFL history to rush for at least 100 yards in the first five games of a season. The others are Hall-of-Famers: Jim Brown (1958) and O.J. Simpson (1973, 1975).
"Those are pioneers at the running back position," Murray says. "They did a lot of great things for the position and the NFL. A lot of respect for those guys. ... "I'm just trying to come out here and play and get wins."
The 4-1 Cowboys have their wins in large part because of the success of the hub. But again ... to the spokes:
Tony Romo: despite a slow start coming off back surgery, is on pace for 4,032 yards, 29 TD's and 16 interceptions. For now, he has the second-highest completion percentage (69.2) and QB rating (98.5) of his career.
Dez Bryant: coming off his first Pro Bowl, is on pace for 102 catches, 1,203 yards and 13 TD's.
Terrance Williams: the "other receiver,'' is on pace for 51 catches, 800 yards and 16 TDs this year. All of those marks would be career-highs for the second-year player and the 16 TDs would be most in team history.
Jason Witten: is on pace for 61 catches and 688 yards. That's a solid season for most tight ends but those represent sub-par numbers for the future Hall-of-Famer, as both would be Witten's lowest totals since his rookie season in 2003.
But what really makes this wheel roll? Witten's attitude about becoming more of a blocker in this offense, Dez' willingness to serve as a temporary decoy, Romo's understanding of the value of being "supplementary, and the shared sacrifice of the people around him.
"Every quarterback wants to throw the ball and have the gaudy numbers," playcaller Scott Linehan says, "but Tony understands how easy the running game makes his job. Everything isn't on his shoulders and it opens up the running game. We're all about winning. (Prioritizing the running game) will help us win."
The wheel keeps rolling. And so does the hub. And so do the spokes.
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