At 4-10 on the season the Dallas Cowboys are not playing for much. The teams season effectively ended in Week 2 when Toy Romo suffered his first broken collarbone in a win against the Philadelphia Eagles.
Romo’s return only and subsequent injury only confirmed what everyone already knew – the Cowboys could not win with the other quarterback options on the team. Brandon Weeden who has been released and Matt Cassel are a combined 1-9 as the starter of the team.
On Saturday night the team let Cassel start and play four series in which he found time to throw an interception and move the football all of 37 yards. His replacement came in the form of Kellen Moore wh began the season on the practice squad.
Frustrated with Weeden and Cassel, fans have been clamoring for Moore to start for weeks. Leading up to the game against the New York Jets on Saturday team vice president Stephen Jones said he too was interested in seeing Moore play. That statement spun the wheel and led to Moore appearing in Saturday game.
Now Moore is slated to start the Week 16 game against the Buffalo Bills. Moore becomes the fourth different quarterback to start for the Cowboys this season. The Bills began the season on a high note but suddenly are out of control as the fanfare that welcomed Rex Ryan to town has faded into frustration.
Moore did not produce a whole lot on Saturday but given the teams other options it is the only one which makes since. Cassel was the third string quarterback for the Bills to start the season, his trade to the Cowboys in-season only showed the reasons for which the team soured on him.
The Cowboys must begin the 2016 season with some option behind Tony Romo. Across the league there is a difference between starting quarterbacks and backups but the Cowboys should not be a team which is so bad with its second string option that they go 1-9.
Matt Hasselbeck has struggled badly in recent weeks for the Indianapolis Colts but even he found a way to lead that team to four wins as a starter. Another regressing quarterback Brock Osweiler led the Broncos to three wins since taking over for Peyton Manning and most damning Weeden led the Houston Texans to a win over the Colts on Sunday giving them the lead in the AFC South.
The Cowboys will have to address the backup quarterback position this offseason. Of course the team knew that this year when they first called Kyle Orton – who is retired – about playing for the them when Romo went down after Week 2. Playing Moore and seeing if he has any reason to stick around is the best for all parties involved.
