http://www.nytimes.com/2014/12/20/sports/football/indianapolis-colts-at-dallas-cowboys-preview.html 2014-12-20 07:17:18 Indianapolis Colts at Dallas Cowboys Preview DeMarco Murray is a large factor in his team’s chances against the Colts, but he is also on the verge of the Cowboys’ single-season rushing record. === Colts 4:25 p.m. Sunday, Line: Cowboys by 3 Tony Romo played with fractured bones in his back this season, so the question of whether DeMarco Murray will miss Dallas’s game because of a broken left hand seems almost ridiculous. Murray, the league’s leading rusher, broke the fourth metacarpal, which is the long bone on the lower part of his ring finger. He carries the ball with his right hand and was expected to be mostly unaffected after having surgery Monday. Two days later, he was on the practice field, although the Cowboys officially listed him as a nonparticipant. Regardless, Coach Jason Garrett and Jerry Jones, the team’s owner, made it clear that they expected him to play. “The biggest question we have to ask ourselves is, is he functional to do his job?” Garrett said. “Can he hold the football? Can he carry it under duress? Can he block? Can he do the things necessary to play the position?” Murray is a large factor in his team’s chances against the Colts, but he is also on the verge of the Cowboys’ single-season rushing record. With two games remaining, he needs 87 yards to top the 1,773 gained in the 1995 season by Emmitt Smith, the league’s career leading rusher. More important for Dallas, the team won the Super Bowl that season. For the Cowboys to have any chance of recreating that, they will need Murray at 100 percent. Pick Ranking This Week’s N.F.L. Games, 1 to 16: A Viewer’s Guide No. 2