Cowboys rookie RB DeMarco Murray was forced into a start role last week thanks to an injury to Felix Jones. To say he made the most of that opportunity would be an understatement. Murray exploded for 253 yards rushing, including a 91 yard TD romp in the Cowboys 34-7 blowout of the St. Louis Rams. The Rams do have the NFL's worst run defense, but regardless, it was an incredibly impressive performance from the rookie 3rd round pick out of Oklahoma. Eagles LB Jamar Chaney was impressed by what he saw on film from Murray.
"He's really fast and he's a guy that can make good decisions and find the right hole to go through. And the offensive line did a great job, too. I mean, they do a great job blocking and it's a team effort, you know, their wide receivers are down the field blocking. So it's not just him, it's a team effort. You know, even when [Dallas RB] Felix [Jones] was back there they have pretty much everybody that's supposed to be blocking, blocking -- receivers, tight ends, running backs, all of them block."
Eagles DT Mike Patterson, who is coming off his best performance of the season, was also asked about Murray and pretty much had the same scouting report.
"He's a hard runner. I mean, you guys saw it last week what he did. You know, he's just a hard runner, he's an explosive guy, and he doesn't just go down, he keeps his feet moving and runners like that, those are tough guys to take down. So you have to give him credit [because] he did a pretty good job when he came out."
The Eagles defense did a complete 180 against the run last time out against the Redskins. They came into the game with one of the worst rush defenses in football and held the Skins to just 42 yards on the ground. Patterson says they'll need a similar performance this weekend against the Cowboys and feels that the defenses improvement is coming as they get more familiar with one another.
"Yeah, I mean the more time you have with each other, the more you can feel each other out and stuff like that. So that's what it came down to, team chemistry. [And] that's what it came down to, that's how I feel at least. You know, when guys are trying to do what we do we have to gel together. I mean, I think everybody's starting to learn how each other are playing and stuff like that."