Washington Redskins @ Dallas Cowboys Monday Night Football Preview

150 150 Robert Moody

The Washington Redskins (2-5) and Dallas Cowboys (6-1) meet on Monday Night Football for the 16th time. Only the Oakland Raiders and Denver Broncos (17 meetings) have been more frequent Monday Night opponents.

Dallas leads the MNF series 8-7.

Here are the top stats to know heading into the NFC East matchup.

DeMarco Murray
Cowboys running back DeMarco Murray has the NFL record for the most 100-yard rushing games to start a season with seven. Murray’s seven 100-yard games are tied for fifth-most in a single season in Cowboys history. The team record is 11, set by Emmitt Smith in 1995. The Cowboys won the Super Bowl that year.

Most Consecutive 100-yd Rush Games to Start Season – NFL History

DeMarco Murray 7* 2014
Jim Brown 6 1958
O.J. Simpson 5 1975
O.J. Simpson 5 1973
*Active streak

Murray and Smith are the only players in Cowboys history with 900 rushing yards over any seven-game span. Smith had 949 over seven games spanning the 1993-94 seasons.

At his current rate of 26.7 rushes per game, Murray would set an NFL record with 427 rushes for the season. The current record holder is Larry Johnson with 416 for the 2006 Chiefs.

The increased workload helped the Cowboys rack up 423 yards of offense in a Week 7 win over the Giants, marking their fourth consecutive game with at least 400 yards.

Tony Romo
Tony Romo has thrown a touchdown pass in 35 straight games. If he throws one against the Redskins, he would tie Brett Favre for the fifth-longest streak in NFL history.

Romo has been the best quarterback in the NFL after halftime this season, leading the league in Total QBR (96) and yards per attempt (10.1) entering Week 8. Romo’s completion percentage (71 percent) and eight touchdowns after halftime rank second in the NFL.

With a win, Romo can get to 70 as a starter in his career. The only two Cowboys quarterbacks who have hit that threshold are Troy Aikman (94) and Roger Staubach (85).

Colt McCoy
Redskins quarterback Colt McCoy will make his first start since Week 14 of 2011. Among active quarterbacks, only Blaine Gabbert and Brandon Weeden have worse records as a starter.

Lowest Career Win Pct as Starter – Active Quarterbacks

W-L Pct
Blaine Gabbert 5-22 .185
Brandon Weeden 5-15 .250
Colt McCoy 6-15 .286
*Minimum 20 starts

McCoy will be asked to lead a Redskins team that has not won against an NFC East opponent since knocking off the Cowboys in Week 17 of 2012. The eight-game losing streak within the division is the longest active streak in the NFL.

Moving the football has not been a problem for the Redskins. They entered Week 8 averaging 6.2 yards per play, the second-best average in the NFL. However, their 15 turnovers were tied with the Jaguars for most in the NFL entering this week.

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Robert Moody

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