Marion vs. Julius, Part 6

What a difference a week makes. In situations where both teams needed victories, the Seahawks and Cowboys came through.

The Cowboys and Marion Barber were able to escape with a hard-fought 13-9 victory over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Barber had a rather pedestrian effort against the stout Bucs defense in picking up 71 yards on 25 carries. He also added 29 yards on 6 receptions. Barber did not get in the end zone but he didn’t fumble either. Marion was involved in a couple of big plays in this game, including a 3rd down run near the end of the 1st half in which he was horse-collared by Ronde Barber (no relation).

The penalty kept the drive alive and led the Cowboys lone touchdown of the game. As much as I like seeing Marion Barber dish out punishment with each of his carries, I would like to see rookie Tashard Choice get some of the workload until Felix Jones is able to return. I worry that at this pace, Marion may not have much left at the end of the season.

Meanwhile, Julius Jones and the Seahawks enjoyed a beautiful Sunday afternoon in San Francisco with a 34-13 win over the 49ers. Jones and Mike Holmgren seem to have worked out their differences, but that doesn’t mean Julius had much to do with spoiling Mike Singletary’s head coaching debut. Jones had all of 9 yards on 6 carries and added 22 yards on 2 receptions. Jones, like Barber, also had no touchdowns and no fumbles on the day. Jones’ backfield mate, fullback Leonard Weaver caught 4 passes for 116 yards and 2 touchdowns as he burned the Niners for 43 and 62 yard touchdowns. We’ll see how Julius handles what appears to be a lessened rolein the offense as the season progresses.

Big game for the Cowboys this week as they travel to the Meadowlands to face the Super Bowl champion Giants while the Seahawks return home to face the Eagles.

Stats through Week 8

Rushing
Marion Barber rushing: 153 carries, 611 yards, 5 TDs
Julius Jones rushing: 103 carries, 468 yards, 2 TDs

Receiving
Marion Barber receiving: 32 catches, 276 yards, 2 TD
Julius Jones receiving: 10 catches, 65 yards, 0 TDs

Fumbles
Marion Barber: 5 (2 lost)
Julius Jones: 0

Info gathered from Yahoo! Sports and the Seattle Post-Intelligencer