Quarterback Tony Romo has taken plenty of blame when things go wrong for the Cowboys over the years, but he’s also heard a lot of people back him up by pointing out that the other 45 players in uniform every week also have a fair amount to do with whether or not Dallas wins games.
Count running back DeMarco Murray as a member of the second camp. Murray was a guest on ESPN television on Wednesday and said that he didn’t think Romo should be facing all the pressure to make the Cowboys a success this year.
“He will have a great year,” Murray said, via the Dallas Morning News. “I don’t think it’s Tony Romo himself. We have to have guys on the outside stepping up, guys in the front five stepping up and guys in the backfield stepping up. It’s not all on his head. He gets a lot of criticism, a lot of the blame. As individuals, we have a lot of talent and we have to make plays for him.”
Murray also talked about the issue of Romo’s leadership and work ethic that owner Jerry Jones raised earlier this offseason by saying he wanted Romo to adopt an approach closer to the one Peyton Manning has employed in Indianapolis and Denver. Murray said “no one’s there” when the running back arrives at the facility in the morning to find Romo working out and that “every guy is behind Romo and every guy has his back.”
Murray’s one of the guy’s best positioned to make Romo’s life easier. If he can stay on the field for all 16 games in 2013, the Cowboys running game should be able to provide consistent balance that has been missing the last few seasons. Get something similar from the defense and you’ve got a pretty decent formula for success, albeit one the Cowboys have seemed to possess more than once recently without making the equation work when all was said and done.