The Downfall of DeMarco Murray

Photo Credit: AP Photo/Michael Perez

When DeMarco Murray left the Cowboys last season for the Philadelphia Eagles, many Cowboys fans were outraged that he would walk away from a team who gave him so much. Many speculated that money was the main reason among other factors, of course. However, it looks like Dallas is getting the last laugh over Murray especially during his already borderline embarrassing career with the Eagles.

Flashback to last season, Murray was Dallas’ star running back. He had been one of the many factors contributing to Dallas’ success last year behind the line that was tailored to him. Last year, Murray played in every single game for the Cowboys, attempted 392 carries for 1,845 yards and 13 touchdowns.

However, Murray’s Achilles heel is his poor ball security, especially when the Cowboys were in the playoffs last year. One example that everyone seems to glaze over during that “Dez Bryant catch” game was Murray could have made a huge run that would have probably taken the Cowboys even deeper into the playoffs. Instead he fumbled the ball and the ball was lost, leaving the Cowboys to eventually lose the game. While Murray was one of the many factors that led to their loss, if he would have had better ball security and paid more attention, the Cowboys could have been off to the NFC Championship game.

Fast-forward to now, DeMarco Murray is a completely different guy on the Philadelphia Eagles. To start off, it doesn’t look like the Eagles will be making the playoffs anytime soon, due to the disorganization of their team and the poor franchise decisions by Chip Kelly. However, one of those decisions was that Kelly thought he could just put Murray in and he would be able to have huge production numbers like he did in Dallas. Kelly must have been delusional thinking that, because Philly does not have the offensive line that Dallas does. Murray wouldn’t be used to Philly’s line like he would be Dallas’ and Murray most definitely would not be getting the play time that he clocked while in Dallas. That last factor is mainly due to the fact that Chip Kelly has three starting running backs and has yet to really give one the edge over the others.

The real reason for the downfall has to be on Murray because he would have been able to have those carries that he wanted and wouldn’t have had to complain to the media about it. Murray could have had anything that he wanted, especially after Tony Romo expressed that he would have taken a pay cut just so the team could keep the running back. It’s hard to imagine that someone on the Eagles would express the same sentiment, but regardless of what Murray did, he finally had to realize that everything really is bigger in Texas.

On a positive note, Murray did have a good game last week against the New Orleans Saints, rushing for 93 yards and scoring a touchdown.