Team Rushing: Tying a Fairly Obscure Record
Here is a stat you may or may not have noticed: only six members of the Cowboys recorded rushing attempts in 2007. This includes quarterbacks Tony Romo and Brad Johnson. This ties a mark set in 1962, when the following players recorded rushes in a 14-game season: Don Perkins, Amos Marsh, Amos Bullocks, Don Meredith, J.W. Lockett, and Eddie LeBaron. On several occasions in the past twenty years, the Cowboys have had eight players with at least one rushing attempt, but this year, only six ran the ball:
Barber, Marion: 204 att., 975 yds., 4.8 ave., 10 TD.
Jones, Julius: 164 att., 588 yds., 3.6 ave., 2 TD.
Romo, Tony: 31 att., 129 yds., 4.2 ave., 2 TD.
Thompson, Tyson: 14 att., 54 yds., 3.9 ave., 0 TD.
Johnson, Brad: 5 att., -5 yds., -1.0 ave., 0 TD.
Owens, Terrell: 1 att., 5 yds, 5.0 ave., 0 TD.
The 975 yards by Barber is tied for 26th in a season in team history, matching the mark of Emmitt Smith in 2002. Ironically, both Smith and Barber both needed fewer than 100 yards on the road at Washington to eclipse 1,000 for the respective seasons, but the Redskins stopped both of them with 975.
The player with the most yards without reaching 1,000 is Julius Jones, who had 993 in 2005.
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Some good news is that all signs are pointing to the Cowboys resigning Barber to a three- to five-year contract.
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The Dallas Morning News is giving out some awards for the 2007 season.
Rookie of the Year: K Nick Folk
Comeback Player: LB Greg Ellis
Most Improved Player: NT Jay Ratliff
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Not trying to offend anyone, but this clip about summarizes my reaction to the Cowboys’ loss to the Giants. The only exception is that I corrected the F words so that my children would not hear them, choosing instead to invent 15-letter curse words that were close enough.
