DeMarco Murray Ready to Put the Cowboys on His Back and Carry Them to the Finish

IRVING, Texas — Running back DeMarco Murray has one message for the Dallas Cowboys heading into the final six games of the season: Get on my back and ride it.

Murray may not be on pace to surpass Eric Dickerson’s single-season rushing record anymore. But he remains the NFL's leading rusher by a wide margin and the focal point of the Cowboys offense. Murray leads the league with 1,233 yards on 244 carries with seven touchdowns.

And if the Cowboys (7-3) are going to finish with a flourish and make a run to the Super Bowl for the first time in years, it will be on Murray’s back.

“I’m ready,” Murray said Monday. “Like I’ve said before, whatever they ask me to do, I’m going to do it times 10. It’s going to be an exciting next couple of weeks for us.”

Murray told Cowboys vice president Stephen Jones as much last week. He said the Cowboys could ride him to the finish over the final six games of the season.

It is a great formula for success based on what Murray did through the first 10 contests. He set an NFL record with eight straight 100-yard games to open the season.

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Again, he is not on pace to break Dickerson’s historic mark of 2,105 yards. Murray would finish with 1,973 at his current per-game rate.

But he will still be a huge part of the Cowboys offense going forward.

With four of the final six games on the road, including all four in the cold-weather locales of New York, Chicago, Philadelphia and Washington, the Cowboys plan to lean on Murray and the ground game.

“Well, certainly if you can run the football well and you’re a physical team, you travel maybe better than other kinds of teams,” head coach Jason Garrett said. “That’s one of the things we always talk about, playing in the division we’re playing in; you’re going to deal with weather. You’re going to deal with conditions at the end of the year in these critical games to help you try to win the division.

"So you want to be that kind of a team. Whatever circumstance, whatever conditions you’re playing in, you want to be able to be successful. And I think the bigger and stronger you are up front and the more able to run the football, it certainly helps you."

Quarterback Tony Romo and receiver Dez Bryant need to come up big in the passing game down the stretch, especially on third down, but Murray will remain the main cog on offense.

“Obviously we’re running the ball well, and I think we’re throwing it well, too,” Murray said. “So in this part of the year, it’s cold, the weather, so I think running is going to be a little bit more of a factor for us, which is good. We’ve got a strong offensive line. We’ve got some backs who can run and also got a lot of guys on the edge that can go up and get the ball. So it’s going to be huge for us.”

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Make no mistake about it: Murray is going to be huge for the Cowboys over the final stretch. And he is ready to carry the load just as he has all season.

Not only does Murray lead the league in rushing by nearly 300 yards over Pittsburgh running back Le’Veon Bell’s 951, but his career-high 244 carries are almost 50 ahead of Philadelphia running back LeSean McCoy’s 196. Bell and McCoy are currently second in both categories, respectively.

Murray never had more than 217 carries in a season before 2014. But there is no sign of his wearing down.

He is feeling fresh and rejuvenated after the bye week and some time away from the game.

“When you don’t play on Sunday, you don’t take hits and you always feel better," Murray said. “But I have been feeling great all year. I just have to continue doing my routine.”

The Cowboys plan to stick to their season-long routine and feed Murray the ball.

They are going to give him a saddle, get on his back and hopefully ride him to an NFC East title and then all the way to the Super Bowl.

Clarence Hill covers the Cowboys for the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. All quotations obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted.