Is Kellen Moore the Real Problem on Offense?

[TwoDeep3]

While I think Kellen Moore is still the best quarterback on the Cowboys roster, and I believe that he is a gifted coach,
I think his offense lacks the power run game that demoralizes opposing defenses. Now, this is likely due to Jerry's enamoration with the passing attack, but Kellen should demand a more purposeful use of the running game.
However, that does not address the problem with the offense that comes with having a quarterback who freezes up in big games and pressure packed situations. Dak freezes up every time a pressure packed situation arises and then only moves the offense when the team is too far behind to catch up.
BUT, if Kellen acknowledges this problem he can limit Dak's exposure early and use the power run game until Dak is ready to get in the game.
OR, the Cowboys could go after Jimmy Garapolo and have a real quarterback to lead the team.

Your first comment about Moore being the best QB on the team negated whatever came after. To actually suggest Moore, who never did squat in a uniform for Dallas is better than Dak is ridiculous. Even the Dak haters would agree with that.

Going after another QB with Dak's salary on the books is simply ridiculous. Garapolo is not an improvement over Dak in any universe, known or unknown. They may be close, but Jimmy was surrounded by better talent, even though people here will argue.

Sorry, I do not agree with your comments.

 

[Swagger]

Overall team health kept improving until the playoffs as to be considered the healthiest playoff team entering the playoffs. The same people who lack the obvious proper adjustment skills are still in charge.

The after the fact blame of Zeke and Dak injuries and of course Tyrons yearly game absences does not justify poor performance.

Using the injury excuse for 2020's overall team performance is more acceptable but ultimately injuries will be a part of every team every year.
Last year's overall team health should have yielded more on the field success.

I do not believe this season's overall team health will be as good as last year's by playoff time and I consider last year just another in a long list of years of blown opportunities.

Agree. Health was very good last season compared with most other teams. It's delusional to think the team suffered too many injuries as a reason why they lost to the 49ers. A better QB gets it done. Prescott had enough chances to win the game - including having the last drive, but ultimately came up short. It's fine. He gave it a go but was not good enough when it actually mattered.

 

[Buzzbait]

I doubt it. Garrett wasnt fired. He wasn't renewed. Probably still goes to the Jones' for Thanksgiving

Technically true, but for all practical purposes it's just a nicer way of saying "See Ya." He didn't want to leave but he's still gone, he wasn't given a choice. Thank goodness.

 

[FVSTONE]

I am confused.. How did the Packers TEAM lose to the 49ers but Dak lost by himself. How does that work? Nobody ever said it was "okay" to lose to any team. However morons acting as if the 49ers were some joke of a team need to explain to me how they held the great Aaron Rodgers to 10 points while that scrub Dak Prescott hung 17 on them...

Oh and his best games against toads? Weird cause Dak faced playoff teams 7 times in 2021 regular season.. Tampa, Philly (twice), New England, KC, Vegas and AZ. The Cowboys were 3-4 in those games. Here's the fun part. Dak had a 100+ passer rating in all of them except KC. 101.4 against Tampa, 108.7 against New England, 143.3 and 151.8 against Philly, 106.2 against Vegas and 105.8 against AZ. He went for at least 3 TDs in 5 of those games. Then he went over 400 yards twice (Tampa and NE) and hit 375 in another (Vegas.) Those are some pretty good numbers for a guy who is allegedly "struggling." Nobody is claiming Dak is perfect.. but frankly I don't care where these moron talking heads have him ranked. I can see for myself that he's good enough for this team to win the whole thing .. Yes he has room to grow.. And given how much he has already grown I am excited to see where he can go..

You're going to hang your hat on two victories against Philly? Ha-Haaaaaaaaa, You must be on Dakota's payroll!!!!!!!!!!!!! The TOAD HUNTER IS JUST THAT, HE'S A BIG TIME PLAYER AGAINST BUMS IN THIS LEAGUE AND SUCKS BIG TIME AGAINST AVERAGE TEAMS!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Dakota "Toad Hunter" Prescot is so dam over rated, the dude is a straight up BIG GAME TOAD HUNTER and when he goes up against decent DCs he looks like a deer in the headlights with his blank looks sweating out of control under throwing and over throwing receivers and TEs. DC's don't even cover our guys when they play us, they LOAD UP THE LINE WITH 9 or 10 PLAYERS and force the TOAD HUNTER to throw miserable uncatchable balls all over the field. Dakota is the reason the run game looked so horrible in the second half and that's because he's a lousy player and a lousy leader of men!

 

[Cmac]

I didn't "mention Dak." I responded to another poster's speculation about the role Dak's injury and whatever else played in the demise of the offense. Just as I am now responding to your brain dead trope about Zeke "not getting any blame whatsoever."

What I can say is Zeke was hurt. That severely impacted his effectiveness as a runner. The knee made it take longer for him to find his groove in games and when he did find it he was one hit, one twist or one wrong landing from it flaring up and turning him into a pegleg. That aint rocket surgery. I don't BLAME him for wanting to play rather I applaud it. If he's not playing well it's up to the coaches (ahem Moore) to either bench him or figure out how to get the most out of him given the limitations introduced by the injury. I also don't BLAME Zeke because the coaches didn't trust Pollard to keep Dak upright and were willing to play a guy operating at 65-70% over him most of the snaps. According to some folks he bullied the coaching staff and the training staff into letting him play. Anybody who has ever been on a football team knows that's bunk. Players cannot put themselves into the lineup nor can they call their own number. Other than the QB calling a sneak of course. So no.. I don't put much "blame" on Zeke for the offensive struggles. It's his job to suit up and do his best which he did .. If his best is not good enough it's the coach's job (ahem Moore) to replace him.

RonnieT24 preach......on this board Zeke is the answer for all the problems, including a battered OL last year and an overrated coaching staff, especially OC.

 

[noshame]

get Dak out of the pocket, and an OL coach everything else goes away

 

[xwalker]

We have all witnessed the struggle this team has toward the end of the season in recent years. While there will be people making their usual comments about Dak - and I challenge you to not and actually consider the question. There are contributing factors which cannot be answered by pointing at the QB.

Poor offensive line play
Injury
The wrong personnel being used

**There are those who suggest this team feasts on the under .500 teams solely. Defense has a hand in the final score. So this question(s) does ignore the defense and focus on offense, and I think, specifically Moore.

My opinion is the major factor of the offense stalling as the season progresses is Moore. It appears to me he gets stuck on plays - the WR screen just drives me crazy when you see it four times a half. And perhaps he is so married to his game plan he can't shift gears and make in game adjustments. All the clever things he does at times wander off his playbook page as he gets mired in a rut of a hand full of sets and plays.

Do you think he calls plays to the strength of his skill players?
Why doesn't Lamb fit the slant route to a Tee? And yet when was the last time you saw that with this team?

With two running backs, where is the clever play caller who gets both of them on the field at one time?
Fact is, where is the boy genius who devises a play that forces the defense to call a time out because they don't have the correct personnel?

When teams respond with defensive changes, have you seen Moore do anything to change his offense and take advantage of a defense?

I could be wrong about this, and expect the usual suspects will litter this thread with nonsense instead of taking the premise seriously.

But for those who actually like talking about the team and the particulars, and not just Dak hate and Zeke hate, what say you?

I disagree.

Kellen Moore might not be a top 5 O-Coordinator, but he is 1000x better than Garrett.

What fans tend to overlook is how plays are used to setup other plays.
- Moore uses the WR screen to setup other plays.
- There is a great example in a video someone posted in another thread of the CB biting on a fake WR screen and then CeeDee blowing by him to make a long catch.
- Some teams and some CBs like to play off-coverage. The threat of the WR screen can force the CB(s) to play up instead of off.

If you draw a dividing line half way between Garrett and Sean McVay, then Moore is closer to McVay than to Garrett.

Garrett ----------------------------------------------------------|---------------------------------------------------------- McVay
Moore is somewhere on this side.


The drawback with Moore is that the OL/RB coaches design the running plays and run blocking scheme.
- I'm not clear how much of that is McCarthy's decision and how much is Moore's preference.
- With Moore being a young coach, it's not surprising that he is more dependent on the OL/RB coaches as compared to a more experienced O-Coordinator.

With the 49ers, the running scheme is all about play caller and Head Coach Kyle Shanahan.
- That gives them a very integrated offense with run and pass plays complementing each other.

 

[CowboysFaninHouston]

Your first comment about Moore being the best QB on the team negated whatever came after. To actually suggest Moore, who never did squat in a uniform for Dallas is better than Dak is ridiculous. Even the Dak haters would agree with that.

Going after another QB with Dak's salary on the books is simply ridiculous. Garapolo is not an improvement over Dak in any universe, known or unknown. They may be close, but Jimmy was surrounded by better talent, even though people here will argue.

Sorry, I do not agree with your comments.

well, to know his drunken history and his battle with alcoholism....

He claimed and argued pages on that Moore is a HOF calibur QB. his argument based on one throw.....which btw, was intercepted. no kidding, he argued Moore is HOF type QB.

the otherside of is you have to know him. he hates Dak, so this was also his backhanded way of knocking Dak.

ask him his opinion about Tashard Choice...... you will get a laugh. I promise

 

[rnr_honeybadger]

Yea it’s Moore, it’s Cooper etc. this year find a new scape goat to blame for a sub par QB under center

 

[DC Cowboy]

We have all witnessed the struggle this team has toward the end of the season in recent years. While there will be people making their usual comments about Dak - and I challenge you to not and actually consider the question. There are contributing factors which cannot be answered by pointing at the QB.

Poor offensive line play
Injury
The wrong personnel being used

**There are those who suggest this team feasts on the under .500 teams solely. Defense has a hand in the final score. So this question(s) does ignore the defense and focus on offense, and I think, specifically Moore.

My opinion is the major factor of the offense stalling as the season progresses is Moore. It appears to me he gets stuck on plays - the WR screen just drives me crazy when you see it four times a half. And perhaps he is so married to his game plan he can't shift gears and make in game adjustments. All the clever things he does at times wander off his playbook page as he gets mired in a rut of a hand full of sets and plays.

Do you think he calls plays to the strength of his skill players?
Why doesn't Lamb fit the slant route to a Tee? And yet when was the last time you saw that with this team?

With two running backs, where is the clever play caller who gets both of them on the field at one time?
Fact is, where is the boy genius who devises a play that forces the defense to call a time out because they don't have the correct personnel?

When teams respond with defensive changes, have you seen Moore do anything to change his offense and take advantage of a defense?

I could be wrong about this, and expect the usual suspects will litter this thread with nonsense instead of taking the premise seriously.

But for those who actually like talking about the team and the particulars, and not just Dak hate and Zeke hate, what say you?

YESSSSSSSSS, he is our real problem

 

[RonnieT24]

You're going to hang your hat on two victories against Philly? Ha-Haaaaaaaaa, You must be on Dakota's payroll!!!!!!!!!!!!! The TOAD HUNTER IS JUST THAT, HE'S A BIG TIME PLAYER AGAINST BUMS IN THIS LEAGUE AND SUCKS BIG TIME AGAINST AVERAGE TEAMS!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Dakota "Toad Hunter" Prescot is so dam over rated, the dude is a straight up BIG GAME TOAD HUNTER and when he goes up against decent DCs he looks like a deer in the headlights with his blank looks sweating out of control under throwing and over throwing receivers and TEs. DC's don't even cover our guys when they play us, they LOAD UP THE LINE WITH 9 or 10 PLAYERS and force the TOAD HUNTER to throw miserable uncatchable balls all over the field. Dakota is the reason the run game looked so horrible in the second half and that's because he's a lousy player and a lousy leader of men!

LOL.. You should take this comedy routine on the road.

 

[Ranched]

Going after another QB with Dak's salary on the books is simply ridiculous. Garapolo is not an improvement over Dak in any universe, known or unknown. They may be close, but Jimmy was surrounded by better talent, even though people here will argue.

WOW! You're dead on on TwoDeep. Jimmy G has a great coaching staff as well. If he were any good then why are the Niners looking to depart w/him?! When I see some of these posters avatar, I just keep scrolling because I know their post will be idiotic.

 

[CowboyFrog]

Bro, your response is totally solid and you and I have an excellent posting history so I respect your opinion.
While your points are true I guess I could easily counter that scoring 7 points at home thru 3 quarters of a playoff game with the so called stats based number 1 scoring offense left a lot to be desired.
In this particular case I'm just gonna stick with my old reliable opinion of "defense played good enough to win" while also respecting your opinion that they didn't.

No worries.

For sure most of the season we would've all taken that bet because the offense was the strength and they laid several eggs comming down the stretch including that big one in the playoff game.

 

[CowboyFrog]

Yea it’s Moore, it’s Cooper etc. this year find a new scape goat to blame for a sub par QB under center

Your post actually yells the truth though....Dak has not been here 26 years, so when he is gone you will indeed have yet another Scapegoat. Dak did not get Phillips fired, he certainly does not own the first half mediocrity that was JG and pick your OC...Bill Parcells and crew it would be hard to explain how that was Dak..right?