Dallas' Murray gets noticed

DeMARCO MURRAY'S unlikely dash into the history books has taken him from unreliable bench fodder to fantasy starter . . . at least for this week.

Murray's collegiate career at Oklahoma was stunted by injuries, including hip and hamstring problems that caused him to slip to the third round of the 2011 draft. He got an opportunity Sunday, and did he cash in. But did you?

Phillies rightfielder Hunter Pence was among the legions of owners who watched in horror as Murray racked up a Cowboys record of 253 yards while sitting on fantasy benches. CBSSports.com reports that Murray was owned in 81 percent of the leagues the website runs, but was on the bench for 37 percent of the owners who had him.

"Going forward, it's just about continuing to understand the offense at a higher level each week and keep running the ball," Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo said. "When you see the gaps, you take 'em and hit 'em hard."

Murray's 253 yards were the ninth-most in NFL history in a single game. Of the eight that were higher, five guys ran for at least 100 yards the following game. Oddly, Adrian Peterson, who set the record with 296 yards against the Chargers in 2007, came back with the biggest clunker of the group, only 45 yards against Green Bay.

Hall of Famer Emmitt Smith, who had held the Cowboys' single-game record with 237 yards against the Eagles on Oct. 31, 1993, said it best on Twitter on Monday.

"In order to be the best, you must be consistent for a long time," he wrote. "Hopefully, this is the start of things to come."

ENCORE PERFORMANCES

So, Mr. Murray, whaddaya do for an encore? Here are the top-10 leaders in single-game rushing yards and how they followed up their monster performances:

1. Adrian Peterson, Vikings, 2007: 296, 45

2. Jamal Lewis, Ravens, 2003: 295, 132

3. Jerome Harrison, Browns, 2009: 286, 148

4. Corey Dillon, Bengals, 2000: 278, 137

5. Walter Payton, Bears, 1977: 275, 137

6. O.J. Simpson, Bills, 1976: 273, 203

7. Shaun Alexander, Seahawks, 2001: 266, 93

8. Jamaal Charles, Chiefs, 2010: 259, --

9. DeMarco Murray, Cowboys, 2011: 253, ??

10. Mike Anderson, Broncos, 2000: 251, 131

Notes: Simpson is the only runner on this list to follow-up his monster day with a 200-yard game. He had 171 yards in the game after that for a Bills team that went 2-12 ... Payton chipped in 107 receiving yards in his follow-up game ... Charles' 259-yard day came in the season finale ... Anderson had four touchdowns during his 251-yard romp.

CONTEST RESULT

Two readers came closest to predicting the 335 passing yards Aaron Rodgers amassed Sunday against Minnesota. Tony Pistilli, of Deptford, N.J., and Joe Kernan, a North Catholic ('85) alum living in Glendale, Calif., both guessed Rodgers would have 336. We usually break ties with a random draw, but since they were so close, each will receive a Daily News fantasy football T-shirt. Well done, fellas.

POSITION WATCH

* Quarterbacks: It appears Detroit's Matthew Stafford will play in Sunday's favorable matchup in Denver, which gives up an average of 25.1 points to quarterbacks, worst among NFL teams in standard scoring systems. The Denver area was hit with snow this week, but weather is not expected to be an issue Sunday . . . Joe Flacco is this week's sleeper as long as he sticks to his pattern of alternating big games with duds. Look for Flacco, who had a meager 137 yards, one pick and one TD on Monday night against Jacksonville, to throw for 300 yards and a couple of scores against the Cardinals.

* Running backs: Sunday's performances of Houston's Ben Tate (104 yards) and Oakland's Michael Bush (99 yards) just reinforce the idea that they need to be owned as handcuffs. Bush's value is a little higher because of the uncertainty of Darren McFadden's foot injury and with the Raiders on a bye . . . Play Kansas City's Jackie Battle. If Shonn Greene can run for 112 yards against the Chargers' defense, Battle should be able to hit the scoreboard. Wouldn't mind seeing the Chiefs trust him more around the goal line . . . Darren Sproles should continue to start in PPR leagues and this week is a low RB2 in all formats. The Rams, New Orleans' opponent, just got splattered by the Cowboys, and Mark Ingram is fighting a right foot injury. Those in large leagues should note that the Saints activated Christopher Ivory from the PUP list this week. Ivory had 716 yards and five touchdowns in spot duty as a rookie last year.

* Wide receivers: Jabar Gaffney is the No. 1 in Washington, with Santana Moss (hand) out for possibly a month. Can't endorse Gaffney, but I do like tight end Fred Davis . . . Pittsburgh's Antonio Brown has the most targets in the NFL (48) without scoring a touchdown. He's coming off a seven-catch, 102-yard game against Arizona and still should be considered a WR3 this week against New England. He'll crack the end zone one of these days.

RANDOM OBSERVATIONS

This is the kind of stuff that makes fantasy players nuts. The Saints put up 62 points on Sunday against the Colts and didn't have a single running back or wide receiver crack 100 yards . . . How bad are the Colts? They are nine-point underdogs to a Tennessee team that lost to Houston, 41-7, Sunday at home. Since Indy was hammered by New Orleans, 62-7, this week's game is a matchup of teams that were beaten by a combined score of 103-14.

FANTASY ISLAND

What's the rush?:

The Eagles' record for most rushing yards in a game has stood for 62 years, easily the longest of the 32 teams, and Steve Van Buren's 205 yards are the fewest of any team's leader. Here's a look:

NFC East

Dallas DeMarco Murray, 2011 253

N.Y. Giants Tiki Barber, 2006 234

Eagles Steve Van Buren, 1949 205

Washington Gerald Riggs, 1989 221

NFC North

Chicago Walter Payton, 1977 275

Detroit Barry Sanders, 1994 237

Green Bay Ahman Green, 2003 218

Minnesota Adrian Peterson, 2007 296

NFC South

Atlanta Michael Turner, 2008 220

Carolina Jonathan Stewart, 2009 206

New Orleans George Rogers, 1983 206

Tampa Bay James Wilder, 1983 219

NFC West

Arizona LeShon Johnson, 1996 214

St. Louis Eric Dickerson, 1986 248

San Francisco Frank Gore, 2006 212

Seattle Shaun Alexander, 2001 266

AFC East

Buffalo O.J. Simpson, 1976 273

Miami Ricky Williams, 2002 228

New England Tony Collins, 1983 212

N.Y. Jets Thomas Jones, 2009 210

AFC North

Baltimore Jamal Lewis, 2003 295

Cincinnati Corey Dillon, 2000 278

Cleveland Jerome Harrison, 2009 286

Pittsburgh Willie Parker, 2006 223

AFC South

Houston Arian Foster, 2010 231

Indianapolis Edgerrin James, 2000 219

Jacksonville Fred Taylor, 2000 234

Tennessee Chris Johnson, 2009 228

AFC West

Denver Mike Anderson, 2000 251

Kansas City Jamaal Charles, 2010 259

Oakland Napolean Kaufmann, 1997 227

San Diego LaDainianTomlinson, 2003 243

From yesterday's chat

Q: Better flex start? Bernard Scott, Percy Harvin or Braylon Edwards?

A: Scott. The other two guys are banged up. I just picked up Scott - and I have to play him - so my money's where my keyboard is.

Q: Stafford or Hasselbeck? The NFL "Decision Maker" says Hasselback is the way to go. Thoughts?

A: As long as Stafford is playing, and I saw that he was practicing again (Thursday) morning, I'd go with him over Hasselbeck. (Stafford) has better weapons and the Lions are going to have to throw it to score. While Champ Bailey, Stafford's opponent, is worth accounting for, it should be noted that Denver will be without Elvis Dumervil.

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Look for the fantasy chat with Ed Barkowitz each Thursday at noon. For a full transcript of yesterday's chat, visit philly.com/dnfantasychat.

Ed Barkowitz, who would welcome Howie Roseman and Joe Banner into his league, has been writing about fantasy football since 2001.