Jason Garrett on Cowboys’ starting running back: ‘It doesn’t matter’

The reasons why the opener is a big game for the Giants go beyond the obvious ones – setting a tone for the season, playing the rival Cowboys, a national television audience, etc. If the Giants can go into JerryWorld and steal one from the Cowboys, the early part of their season sets up quite nicely. They had 92 rushing yards against Arizona, 93 against Philadelphia on Thanksgiving Day and 73 against the Lions in the wild-card round. Dunbar has 80 carries in three seasons.

The Cowboys, though, left AT&T Stadium feeling OK about the way they ran the ball. Offensive coordinator Scott Linehan is unsure of how quickly Michael will be able to learn the system, but acknowledges that running backs often catch up quicker than other positions.

I don’t really see him getting more than just a few touches a game and I think it will mostly come in the passing game where he can be split out and create a mismatch with linebackers. There were some things that were there.

Spagnuolo’s unit held the NFC’s top-seeded Cowboys, whose offense similarly powered their way to a 13-3 record, to just 17 points in the 2007 divisional round playoff game. Joseph Randle, Lance Dunbar and Darren McFadden have all hauled in some grabs, although Randle had one that was awesome in particular.

The Cowboys are unsure of what Michael’s role will be with the team.

It’s a stark departure from last season, when Murray led the NFL in rushing by 484 yards on a league-high 392 carries.

“We definitely felt like we were doing a great job out there”, McFadden said. “We kept some drives alive”.

Now with the New York Giants in attendance for this one, when you think of one-handed catches you’d expect that to come from Odell Beckham Jr.

Running back Christine Michael’s debut with Dallas will have to wait at least one more week.

That brings us to the running back the organization decided to trade for from the Seattle Seahawks, Christine Michael.