On Friday, we talked about the need for the Cowboys to give DeMarco Murray the ball, give it to him early and give it to him often.
On Sunday, the Cowboys did just that, and with some mixed results. However, for the most part, Murray was a stud on Sunday, which made the usage of him a bit confusing.
It's true, Murray had a costly fumble returned for a 49ers touchdown on the first official play from scrimmage. That was bad. But after that, Murray was pretty freakin' good.
He became the first player to rush for 100 yards against an albeit wounded 49ers defense in almost a calendar year by running for 118 yards on 22 carries and a touchdown. He had his way with the 49ers defense for much of the day. It was impressive.
Now, here's the questionable part: Murray had most of his production in the first half. Why is that? He wasn't gassed. He was in the game in the second half, and the game was still somewhat competitive for much of it. Yet, Murray was nothing but a decoy.
Now, we can't expect Murray to get 35 carries a game because running backs just don't do that like they did back in Emmitt Smith's day. But, when you're dominating a defense like that, you have to take advantage of it, and the Cowboys didn't.
Murray is the best running back the Cowboys have had in 20 years, so it's about time they take advantage of that fact.
