Okay, so it came against the worst run defense in all of football, and 91 yards of it came on a single run on which he was literally untouched. But history shows that, when you have a game like the one DeMarco Murray had against the Rams, it's usually a good omen for your career, and a lousy omen for whatever running back you replaced.
Take a look: Before Sunday, there were six players in NFL history to run for more than 250 yards in a single game. This is the list: Adrian Peterson, Jamal Lewis, Jerome Harrison, Corey Dillon, Walter Payton, and OJ Simpson (did it twice). There's only one anomaly on that list, and that's Harrison, whose career has suffered from injury woes and being stuck in Eric Mangini's doghouse ever since he hung 296 yards on the Chiefs two years ago. The rest of that list is comprised of either Hall of Famers, future Hall of Famers, or players who went on to have relatively successful careers. That's the company Murray now keeps with his record-setting day Sunday, and it suggests that Felix Jones' days as the lead back for the Cowboys are nearing an end.
Don't feel bad, Felix. You gave it your best, when you weren't suffering from any one of 5,600 various nagging injuries. We all had high hopes for you, especially after your rookie season. And when the Cowboys ditched Marion Barber in the offseason and made you the lead back? Oh, did we ever think you were finally ready for the big time.
But Murray's performance casts a glaring spotlight on Jones' lack of production. The numbers are all there for you to break down: One touchdown each of the past two seasons, one 100-yard game per season for the past three seasons, a consistently declining YPA average. Do you think Jones would have put up Murray's numbers Sunday? I don't, even with the o-line boring such deep holes in the Rams defense.
There's something not quite right about Jones. He's fast enough to make you think he's capable of much more, but then he goes out and underperforms. Then Murray finally gets the call in Week 7 and blows up the universe. There's no chance Felix goes back to being the every-down option after that game. None. At best, he's now in a timeshare. At worst, this is the beginning of the end for him in Dallas. Three weeks from now, we'll be taking him out to a secluded restaurant and dumping him without remorse. Just take a look at Murray's colleagues in the record book and you know things won't ever be the same.
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