OXNARD, Calif. -- As pleased as the Cowboys were with their ability to run the ball in Sunday’s Hall of Fame Game against Miami, it was the number zero that caught Jason Garrett’s attention most.
Of the Cowboys’ 33 rushes, not including a final kneel-down against the Dolphins, none went for a loss.
Last year, almost 12 percent of the Cowboys’ non-kneel-down plays went for negative yards (40 of 341 attempts). That percentage was ninth-worst in the league. Arizona had the worst percentage, 15.2.
“Besides not a very good yards-per-attempt in the running game, we had so many negative runs (last year),” Garrett said. “It’s just hard. You’re playing from behind the sticks all the time and you can’t establish what you want to establish: breaking the huddle we can do both and you have to defend both.”
The Cowboys were able to establish the run against Miami whether Lance Dunbar, Phillip Tanner, Joseph Randle or Kendial Lawrence was running the ball. On Friday at Oakland, DeMarco Murray will get a chance.
