ARLINGTON, Texas — The Seahawks defense has consistently unplugged opposing rushers this season.

Dallas rookie DeMarco Murray, however, found a way to keep running.

"We could not tackle Murray," Seattle coach Pete Carroll said. "We missed him time and time again."

Murray carried the ball 22 times and gained 139 yards, and while that's well short of the 253 yards he ran for against St. Louis two weeks ago, it was the most rushing yards for any Seahawks opponent this season. Not bad for a rookie from Oklahoma making the second start of his NFL career.

Seattle's run defense was the team's biggest strength this season. The Seahawks entered allowing just 3.2 yards per carry, the fewest of any team in the league.

Murray averaged 6.3 yards against Seattle and had four runs for 10 yards or more.

"The game is slowing down a little bit for me," he said.

Meanwhile, Murray's speeding up. A third-round draft pick in April and the sixth running back chosen overall, Murray leads all rookies in rushing.

"He's a cut-back guy," Seattle safety Earl Thomas said. "He's patient. He's turning out to be the star on the Cowboys. He had a good game, but I think we could have held him more than what we did today. It was just a lot of misfits, and he found the right hole and stuck with his game plan."

Murray is the fourth running back to rush for 100 yards against the Seahawks since Carroll became coach. He's the first one to do it in a game in which Red Bryant played a full game at defensive end.

Oakland's Darren McFadden had 111 against Seattle last year, but Bryant suffered a season-ending knee injury at the end of the first half of that game.

On Sunday, the biggest player on Seattle's imposing defensive line offered a nod of appreciation for Murray's performance.

"I've got to tip my hat to him," Bryant said. "He did a great job."

Now the Seahawks have to go back and look for structural flaws in the run defense that has been the closest thing this team has to bedrock.

"We have to find a way to regroup, because we know teams are going to watch the tape," Bryant said. "They're going to see how he was able to attack our defense. So we've got to go back to the drawing board."

Danny O'Neil: 206-464-2364 or doneil@seattletimes.com