Murray Off to Fastest Start in Cowboys' History

DeMarco Murray is off and running.

I mean really running. In fact, through two weeks of the NFL season he’s the most productive running back.

Two fumbles aside, Murray has been the “bell cow” that head coach Jason Garrett forecast during training camp. He’s broken tackles. He’s made defenders missed. By sheer effort and extra oomph, he’s turned three-yard runs into five-yard gains.

In doing so, he’s off to the best start by a Cowboys’ running back in the franchise’s 55-year history. Yep, better than Tony Dorsett. And even better than Emmitt Smith.

Murray leads the NFL in rushing with 285 yards, a good 44 yards ahead of the Texans’ Arian Foster. His two touchdowns trail only the Saints’ Mark Ingram (3) and he leads the league with a whopping 35 percent of his carries resulting in a first down. To be fair, his two fumbles are also a league-high.

With 118 against the 49ers and another 167 at Tennessee, Murray is on pace for 2,280 yards. Only two games in, of course, that kind of prediction is unrealistic.

But it is a reality that Murray’s 285-yard, two-game start has bested anything authored by the Cowboys’ two Hall of Fame runners.

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Dorsett’s best start was in ’81 when he amassed 261 the first two games, then followed it up with another 162 in Week 3 en route to 1,646 yards. On his way to a club-record 1,773 yards in ’95, Smith started with 277 yards over the first two games and bolstered it with 150 in Week 3.

Where Murray finishes remains a tantalizing mystery. But his start is already unprecedented.

A native Texan who was born in Duncanville and graduated from UT-Arlington, Richie Whitt has been a mainstay in the Metroplex media since 1986. He’s held prominent roles on all media platforms including newspaper (Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Dallas Observer), radio (105.3 The Fan) and TV (co-host on TXA 21 and numerous guest appearances, including NBC 5). He currently lives in McKinney with his wife, Sybil, and two very spoiled dogs.

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