A Week In, Linehan Feels Good About Running Game

Dallas Cowboys offensive coordinator Scott Linehan was happy with the running game on Sunday night, the first test of the backfield of the post-DeMarco Murray era.

In the 2014 regular season opener, Murray posted 118 yards and a touchdown on 22 carries against the 49ers. Against the Giants on Sunday night Murray’s replacements, Joseph Randle and Darren McFadden, combined for 81 yards on 22 carries. Randle led the way with 65 yards on 16 carries. Randle had 16 yards on six tries.

The pair made their impact felt in the passing game, as well. Randle had three catches for 42 yards and McFadden had  a catch for 19 yards. Reserve running back Lance Dunbar actually led the team in receiving with eight catches for 70 yards.

“I thought when we ran the ball, it was efficient,” Linehan told the team’s official website. “We’d like to pop a few long runs. But I didn’t think that our running game was a concern at all. There were some things that were there. It was just a weird game. We had a couple of drives that seemed normal, and then we were in a two-minute drill.”