Jones’ QB decisions came home to bury Cowboys

p1_

DCC 4Life
Joined
Apr 10, 2013
Messages
26,459
Owner Jones’ QB decisions came home to bury Cowboys


By Gil LeBreton

In the end, there was no storybook finish for the Dallas Cowboys on Saturday night.

The pocket-sized new quarterback, who at times was playing like Mighty Mouse, turned out to be just another Munchkin.

Kellen Moore — all 5 feet, 11 or so inches of him — will get another public viewing, no doubt. But the Cowboys of 2015, their would-be return-to-Super-glory season, heaved their final playoff sigh Saturday at AT&T Stadium.

The New York Jets’ 19-16 victory officially eliminated the Tony Romo-less Cowboys from postseason eligibility. And it’s just as well.


Owner Jerry Jones sealed this team’s fate months ago when he determined that Brandon Weeden and Matt Cassel would be adequate replacements at quarterback for an injured Romo.

As general manager, Jones couldn’t have been more wrong. The Cowboys have won only one of the 10 games in which Romo hasn’t started.

Jerry Jones sealed this team’s fate months ago when he determined that Weeden and Cassel would be adequate replacements at quarterback.

Cassel’s likely last fling came Saturday, and it bordered upon embarrassing. His passer rating in the 16 or so minutes he played was a token 13.0. Of particular comic note was a second-down play at midfield when Cassel’s pump fake appeared to knock him so off-balance that he was still askew when he turned and lofted the football right into the waiting belly of the Jets’ Darrelle Revis.

Minutes later, while in full retreat again, Cassel was sacked for a 19-yard loss.

Enough, already. Even with Christmas in the air, the paying customers had begun to voice their disapproval.

Moore played the rest of the game.

He had his moments, none more titillating than his first NFL touchdown pass, a 10-yarder to Dez Bryant.

But he has an unconventional style for an NFL quarterback. He’s left-handed and seems about the same size as that jockey for American Pharoah. Young Kellen also appears to always be throwing uphill.

At least, though, Moore was trying to put the ball in the right hands, namely Bryant’s and Cole Beasley’s and Terrance Williams’.

“I felt like communication was pretty good,” said the former Boise State star. “I think things went smoothly in that area.”

Is Kellen Moore the Cowboys’ quarterback of the future? Heavens to Budweiser, perish that notion for now.

Alas, three pairs of hands wearing Jets uniforms also caught Moore’s passes.

Is he the Cowboys’ quarterback of the future? Heavens to Budweiser, perish that notion for now.

But if nothing else, Moore’s likely impending two-week tryout will give Cowboys fans something to watch as the season mercifully draws to an end.

“We’ll see what happens,” Moore said. “Obviously, I took this opportunity for what it was. We’ll grow from it and learn from it.”

The entire Jones family, mascot Rowdy seemingly included, have admitted that they dropped the ball on finding Romo’s injury replacement. Jerry, in particular, launched a vigorous defense in September when the team acquired the veteran Cassel from the Buffalo Bills.


It was a costly mistake in judgment. The Cowboys’ 1-9 record without Romo will be etched on this season’s tombstone.

And to think, there were magazines and national writers and commentators who predicted in August that this team would be in the Super Bowl hunt.

Was it all about Romo and his broken clavicle?

With the Cowboys’ defense performing well, and with Darren McFadden within sight of rushing for 1,000 yards, it would be easy to say yes, though Bryant’s lingering foot injury hasn’t helped.

But it’s up to Owner Jones to conduct the season’s postmortem.

He learned a costly lesson:

Big dreams need big backups, all Munchkins aside.
 

boozeman

28 Years And Counting...
Staff member
Joined
Apr 7, 2013
Messages
121,753
While I admit Jones screwed the pooch with the decision with Weeden, it is not like there were a ton of options at QB in the offseason to begin with.

Not trying to excuse him at all, but seriously, take a good look around the league.

Nobody has a good backup unless they have drafted them. Maybe the Colts have a decent backup. Maybe.

That's the brutal lesson to be learned.

That and don't have such a rigid offensive system tailored to one guy to the point it can't function without him.
 

p1_

DCC 4Life
Joined
Apr 10, 2013
Messages
26,459
Nobody has a good backup unless they have drafted them. Maybe the Colts have a decent backup. Maybe.

That's the brutal lesson to be learned.
we've been bitching and moaning about drafting someone for a long time.
 

Genghis Khan

The worst version of myself
Joined
Apr 7, 2013
Messages
37,486
While I admit Jones screwed the pooch with the decision with Weeden, it is not like there were a ton of options at QB in the offseason to begin with.

Not trying to excuse him at all, but seriously, take a good look around the league.

Nobody has a good backup unless they have drafted them. Maybe the Colts have a decent backup. Maybe.

That's the brutal lesson to be learned.

That and don't have such a rigid offensive system tailored to one guy to the point it can't function without him.
And yet Weeden went and won his first game in Houston today. If Jerry thinks this came down to not having the right backup QB, he's dumber than I thought.
 

L.T. Fan

I'm Easy If You Are
Joined
Apr 7, 2013
Messages
21,689
And yet Weeden went and won his first game in Houston today. If Jerry thinks this came down to not having the right backup QB, he's dumber than I thought.
That's what he says now but he thought he actually had the right guy at the start of the season.
 

Joe Fan

Brand New Member
Joined
Dec 7, 2015
Messages
1,647
Couldn't agree more Genghis. This definitely falls on the shoulders of Garrett as well.
 

ravidubey

DCC 4Life
Joined
Apr 7, 2013
Messages
20,162
Nobody has a good backup unless they have drafted them. Maybe the Colts have a decent backup. Maybe.
Fitz is having a career year in New York. Osweiler is going to ensure the Broncos are one-and-done.

Steelers had Michael Vick at one point and he sucked ass, but still managed to win. Landry Jones took turns looking amazing in relief and then setting dumpster fires against the Chiefs and Seahawks.

Both TJ Yates and god damned Brandon Weeden have won games for the Texans. Weeden is horrid and Yates a 5th round afterthought who will never be anything more than a journeyman.

Bottom line is all these backups are flawed-- either too young, too untalented, or too over-the-hill, drafted or not.

You can't succeed deep into the playoffs with any of them, but a good coach can cover for them long enough to eke out enough victories to keep the season alive.

Garrett couldn't.

Garrett isn't a good coach, though ironically a good team covered for his own limitations as a backup QB.
 
Top Bottom