JJT: DeMarco Murray's toughness inspires teammates, coaches

Cotton

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DeMarco Murray's toughness inspires teammates, coaches
January, 2, 2015

By Jean-Jacques Taylor | ESPNDallas.com

IRVING, Texas - When the Cowboys drafted DeMarco Murray in the third round of the 2011 draft, they knew he was a terrific runner, blocker and receiver.

But they had no idea about his mental and physical toughness. Talk to enough of Murray's teammates and folks in the Cowboys' front office and it's clear that Murray's toughness is the trait that separates him from other runners in the league.

See, Murray doesn't just gain yards and score touchdowns. He inspires his teammates.

"On thing that might've surprised all of us when we drafted him is how physically tough he is at the end of runs. We saw all of the statistics and production he had in college but at the end of runs he was all going forward," coach Jason Garrett said. "He was always going downhill. You thought he made 4, but he made 6. You thought he made 8, but he got a first down.

"It has a huge impact on the team because those kinds of thing are contagious. You know players watch themselves on tape, but they also watch their teammates. It's less the spectacular stuff but the intangible-driven stuff that's inspiring."

Remember we're talking about a guy who had a plate and eight screws inserted in his left hand on a Monday and carried the ball 22 times and and played 40 snaps six days later.

This is an injury that most expected to keep him out at least a week, but his commitment to playing never wavered

The Cowboys won 42-7 and clinched the NFC East.

"Since he walked through the door, DeMarco has been a very impressive individual.There's a quality there that distinguishes him. You feel like you're with a star," Jerry Jones said. "The guy that was on the table the most for him was Barry Switzer. He was instrumental in my decision to draft him.

"I knew he was going to be a top receiver, but I didn't know he was going to be so good between the tackles, which speaks to his physicalness."
 

ravidubey

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We are going to need every bit of that toughness this Sunday. I don't like this matchup.
 

Lotuseater

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The way this offensive line is playing, I'm not sure we don't present a huge matchup problem for Detroit. The lions are good against the run, but we are the best at running the ball of any team in the playoffs. They are gonna have to bring their A-game to deal with our O-line. We've been punching people right in the mouth over and over all season long.
 

ravidubey

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The way this offensive line is playing, I'm not sure we don't present a huge matchup problem for Detroit. The lions are good against the run, but we are the best at running the ball of any team in the playoffs. They are gonna have to bring their A-game to deal with our O-line. We've been punching people right in the mouth over and over all season long.
I agree we are an equally bad matchup for them, but with a healthy Fairly they have the best chance to make Dallas 1-dimensional of any of the 31 other teams in the league. That includes Arizona and Philadelphia, each of whom has managed to greatly slow down our running game.

Balance has been key to our general bitch-slapping this season, and Detroit has the best chance to take it away.

Then there's the Calvin-Carr matchup...
 

Cotton

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I agree we are an equally bad matchup for them, but with a healthy Fairly they have the best chance to make Dallas 1-dimensional of any of the 31 other teams in the league. That includes Arizona and Philadelphia, each of whom has managed to greatly slow down our running game.

Balance has been key to our general bitch-slapping this season, and Detroit has the best chance to take it away.

Then there's the Calvin-Carr matchup...
Doesn't look like Fairley is playing. Just FYI.
 

Jiggyfly

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I agree we are an equally bad matchup for them, but with a healthy Fairly they have the best chance to make Dallas 1-dimensional of any of the 31 other teams in the league. That includes Arizona and Philadelphia, each of whom has managed to greatly slow down our running game.

Balance has been key to our general bitch-slapping this season, and Detroit has the best chance to take it away.

Then there's the Calvin-Carr matchup...
The reason those teams slowed us was selling out against the run and we see what happened.
 

ravidubey

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The reason those teams slowed us was selling out against the run and we see what happened.
The main reason was their defensive lines, which played well. Arizona switched to a four man front and Philly's front played well enough they didn't need to sell out totally in the second game. Sure they brought 8-main fronts, but everyone does that. SF tried to go straight up and got blown off the line, despite Romo's incompetence in that game.

Anyways, I believe in Romo passing to set up the run, but Detroit is the one team with the best chance of playing Dallas straight up with no 8 man front.
 
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