Film Room: Breaking down the Cowboys’ dominant running game

One of the biggest shockers of the young season has been the Dallas Cowboys' rushing attack. 

The Cowboys are controlling games with the run like never before. It's something they could have done in past years, they simply chose not to.

Dallas threw 64 percent of the time in 2013 and 65 percent in 2012. At one point, some wondered if defensive coordinators were begging them to check to runs because of the fronts they chose to play. Yet, they continued to pass. And when they brought in passing game coordinator Scott Linehan, whose title lived up to his philosophy, expectations were that they would simply pass more.

Four weeks in, the Cowboys lead the NFL with 130 rushing attempts and 165 yards per game. The entire offense has bought into leaning on the running game, which starts with DeMarco Murray.

Murray’s averaging 25 carries per game and more than five yards per carry. He’s running with tremendous pad level and vision. He’s setting up blocks with his footwork on various run concepts, too, and running with misdirection that's left two-gap linebackers hustling in the wrong direction.

On his third carry against the San Francisco 49ers in Week 1, Murray patiently waited for blocks to develop on a zone stretch. Five yards in front of him, the right guard and right tackle teamed up to block the defensive end, who beat the right tackle to the punch and was in position to tackle Murray in the backfield. 

To Murray’s left, the center had his back turned to the far sideline and down-blocked the nose tackle, who looked like he was going to penetrate the backfield, too. He was out of position, really, and Murray made that clear when he hit a cutback lane to the far left, past the center and the tight end cut blocking the defensive end.

Murray cut off of his right foot and lowered his pads, squaring them to get downhill. He burst for six yards before being tackled.

Murray routinely straightens his pads out to run downhill, making him one of the most difficult running backs to tackle. He’s forced 28 missed tackles when carrying the ball, 11 more than the next running back, per Pro Football Focus.

Another reason why he’s damaged defensive backs in the open field is because of his offensive line. They’ve sustained their blocks at the line of scrimmage despite using various blocking schemes to accompany multiple run concepts.

In Week 3 against the St. Louis Rams, Murray and two athletic linemen, left tackle Tyron Smith and left guard Ronald Leary, got into the open field when Linehan dialed up the crack toss. When the two linemen pulled away from the line, their assignments were replaced by the tight end and wide receiver, who blindsided the crashing defensive end and outside linebacker.

The quarterback faked a jet sweep to a wide receiver and tossed the ball to Murray, who ran laterally, stretching the two defensive backs in the open field. He reached the middle of the numbers and cutback, making the near diving defensive back miss. His two linemen shoved both defensive backs to the ground, opening the rest of the field up.

Thirty-five yards downfield, center Travis Frederick sprinted and impelled a defensive back out of bounds, springing Murray for a extra few yards, capping off a 44-yard run.

There aren't many running games that have cohesion and effort like the Cowboys'. They play to this level nearly every play, and it's not only Murray or the offensive line, but the skill players, too. They have been energized by the ground dominance and are showing great effort in setting up blocks at the second and third levels for Murray to run by.

Consider this second quarter touchdown run against the New Orleans Saints in Week 4. Murray was offset in shotgun when he took a handoff to the right on a power play call. Coming across the formation was the left guard Leary, who pulled into the B-gap between right guard Zack Martin and right tackle Doug Free. Murray followed Leary, who missed the shooting inside linebacker, forcing Murray to rush outside and follow pulling tight end, Jason Witten.

Witten engaged the outside linebacker and turned him inside, sealing him off and creating one-half of an alley.

Murray widened his run once again, pushed it laterally toward an oncoming safety, who took too narrow of an angle to tackle him. Murray outran the safety and squared his shoulders downfield. There was one defender left to outrun, a cornerback, who didn't end up in the picture because wide receiver Dez Bryant pinned him to the sideline, freeing Murray to score.

Consistency at all three levels has made it easier for the Cowboys to game plan and keep the chains moving. With Murray averaging nearly a half-dozen yards per carry, it's created shorter second and third down distances, which the Cowboys have taken advantage of. 

Dallas has the second-best third down efficiency rate in the NFL at 55.1 percent, per Sporting News. This is a 20 percent upgrade from 2013, when the Cowboys were seventh-worst in the NFL on third down and passed more than 60 percent of the time.

The commitment to Murray and the running game has opened up the playbook, balanced the offense and kept defenses guessing as to how to defend every down and distance.