NewsBot
New Member
- Messages
- 111,281
- Reaction score
- 2,947
Both teams lost Pro Bowl passers to fractured collarbones, and both teams then had to sift through the quarterback free agency market, which is always a vast collection of smouldering rubble. When the Packers lost Aaron Rodgers to his fractured clavicle in 2013, a 33-year-old Seneca Wallace was his immediate replacement.
The task ahead was the same as it is now for the Tony Romo-less Cowboys: Play merely average football to stay atop a crumbling division until the regular starter retakes his rightful throne.
And in an effort to leap over that low bar Dallas completed a trade with the Buffalo Bills for Matt Cassel, as Ian Rapoport first reported. Later his NFL Network colleague Albert Breer detailed the trade terms:
Now, just hold on a second before faces meet palms, and eyes roll. Cassel hasn’t been signed to become an instant hero. Those don’t exist in late September on the free agent market, and especially not at quarterback.
Here’s all the information you really need to understand how desperate times become after an early season quarterback injury: According to Rapoport the Cowboys also kicked the tires on Matt Flynn, Josh Johnson, Christian Ponder and McLeod Bethel-Thompson during workouts Tuesday. All four combined to attempt 60 passes in 2014, which is both awful and misleading, because two (Johnson and Bethel-Thompson) didn’t throw any.
So if it wasn’t already clear when the likes of Josh McCown and Brian Hoyer are hotly pursued commodities each March as free agency opens, signing a quarterback off the street is a search for any shred of competence.
Which means that quickly a team in dire need looks beyond the various flaws to address one central question: Which quarterback gives us the most experience?
That’s what brought the Cowboys to Cassel. He’s more safety net than savior, and more hopeful game manager than game winner.
Romo has been placed on the short-term injured reserve, which means he won’t be eligible to play until Week 11. There’s a quick turnaround after that with Dallas hosting the Carolina Panthers on Thanksgiving Day, so he could be held out until Week 13.
But at minimum the Cowboys will play without a quarterback who averaged 8.5 yards per attempt in 2014—which led all quarterbacks who took at least 25 percent of their team’s snaps, per Pro Football Focus—for seven games.
Replacing a quarterback of that caliber isn’t possible. There are about eight people on our planet who can play the position at an elite level, and Romo is one of them.
The next logical step when a premier passer breaks something is to maximize your chances to get even mediocre play. In that sense Cassel functions as a lottery ticket, just as Brandon Weeden does, too.
Weeden became a football cliche as the next man up when Romo suffered his injury during a win over the Philadelphia Eagles Sunday. He brings familiarity, which is a warm, cozy blanket for coaches as they evaluate a quarterback depth chart.
He’s in his second season as Romo’s backup and knows the Cowboys offense well. But familiarity alone doesn’t translate to effectiveness. In fact, with Weeden we’re mostly familiar with wobbling footballs, and many that land in opposing hands.
Please recall his time with the Cleveland Browns, and the pool of tears he left behind
Of course, playing the same game with Cassel also leads to depression. In three starts for the Minnesota Vikings in 2014 he completed only 57.7 percent of his passes while averaging a lowly 6.0 yards per attempt.
But experience is a valued commodity when you’re running to break a glass case and smash every panic button within reach. Having it means that as a quarterback you’ve weathered NFL pass rushes, and seen the many exotic coverages defenses use to create confusion. Maybe you’ve reacted poorly and/or disastrously. But you’ve seen them, and that counts for something.
Cassel has seen plenty over his 71 NFL starts and 91 game appearances, and for a brief time he was even somewhat adequate with the New England Patriots, then later the Kansas City Chiefs.
Weeden, meanwhile, has logged only 21 career starts. That difference matters when a team is left to limp along while looking at its quarterback depth chart and choosing between awful, or slightly more awful.
The gimping effort would be easier for the Cowboys if wide receiver Dez Bryant was healthy. But alas, he’s out too, though the season still isn’t lost yet.
They can still plow ahead with their power-running attack fueled by an offensive line that sent three lane-opening brutes to the Pro Bowl in 2014. And they can find sweet solace in an NFC East that’s crumbling around them, with the Eagles suddenly looking like they should be relegated to a different league, and the New York Giants unable to stay out of their own way.
The Cowboys need to cling, claw and be the scrappiest bunch of heart-filled football warriors ever until Romo and Bryant return. Part of that mission requires having a quarterback who can minimize his mistakes while maybe connecting on the odd key throw.
Both Weeden and Cassel could be that guy. Or maybe they’ll both flameout quickly, repeating the history we know well. At least now there are two dice-rolling options, along with a tiny bit of security through experience.
Read more Dallas Cowboys news on BleacherReport.com
Continue reading...