Scott Linehan sticks with the run, changing the Cowboys’ mindset

DeMarco Murray had only 3 yards on five carries and had lost a fumble when the Dallas Cowboys trailed 21-0. Yet, the Cowboys continued to run the ball.

Murray finished with 100 yards and a touchdown on 24 carries as the Cowboys ended up with an improbable 34-31 victory Sunday in St. Louis.

“We are who we are,” quarterback Tony Romo said Sunday. “I think that’s the way you want to be. You want to continue to do what you do well, and then advance off that with some stuff that can be beneficial.”

In the locker room after his team had matched the largest comeback in franchise history, owner Jerry Jones said the old Cowboys would have abandoned the run after falling behind by three touchdowns.

“Make no mistake about it: Jason [Garrett] is acquiescing to what we are doing out here,” Jones said. “ ... I think when you are down 21-0 and you are sitting out there and you run the ball twice and it’s third-and-7, third-and-6, then everyone starts realizing we are committed to the run.”

The Cowboys brought in Scott Linehan as passing game coordinator and made him their third play-caller in three years. His reputation was that he would rather throw it than run it, though Steven Jackson set career highs for yards (1,528) and attempts (346) in 2006 while Linehan was the head coach in St. Louis.

With Linehan calling the plays, the Cowboys have shown a commitment to the run. They have 96 passing plays, including seven sacks, and 95 runs this season. They ranked third in the league in rushing and 23rd in passing before Monday night’s game.

If Linehan was ever going to get pass-happy, Sunday offered the perfect opportunity. Instead, five of nine plays were runs on the drive after the Cowboys had fallen behind by three touchdowns. Murray’s 1-yard touchdown run capped an 80-yard drive that got the Cowboys on the scoreboard and on their way to a comeback.

“I just think [Linehan’s] patience and persistence running the football was an important part of it,” Garrett said Monday. “We wanted to stay downhill at them, and they made a lot of good plays defending our run. There were tackles for loss. There were zero [runs]. There were 1-yard gains. But I thought we just kept hammering away, kept chipping away at it.

“I thought the adjustments that we made in the running game as the game went on were good to give us some chances to make some big plays out in space.”

It is something the Cowboys couldn’t have done a year or two ago, and they probably wouldn’t have even tried. But with three first-round draft picks on the offensive line and a healthy Murray at running back, the Cowboys feel like they can run on anybody, anytime, even down 21-0.

It’s why Murray leads the league in rushing with 385 yards.

“I think we’re stronger than we’ve been in a long, long time,” Garrett said. “I think part of the identity of this football team will come from where we allocated those resources — three first-round picks on the offensive line, two other players that we think are good and developing a mentality and an identity for that group, for the offense and really throughout our team.

“I think we’re growing in that regard every week.”

Gaining ground

It’s only been three games, but the Cowboys’ offense has been much more balanced under new play-caller Scott Linehan. A look at the averages during Jason Garrett’s first four seasons as head coach, and how things are going in 2014:

Note: Garrett became head coach with eight games remaining in 2010.

This story was originally published September 22, 2014 at 8:49 PM with the headline "Scott Linehan sticks with the run, changing the Cowboys’ mindset ."