CFZ Why the Cowboys needed to move on from Moore

[Reality]

Someone commented in another thread that fans had no real reasons for wanting to move on from Moore and it was mostly driven by a reaction to losing.

Even if you ignore the fact that well respected coaches like Parcells and Johnson have come out questioning the Cowboys offense, it really is obvious at this point that what the Cowboys have been doing has not been working when in matters .. the playoffs.

I do not blame Moore for all of the offensive problems in the playoffs because the players still have to play the game and Prescott throwing two game-changing interceptions against the 49ers is not Moore's fault, at least not directly.

That said, I have had some issues with Moore's playcalling for a while such as ..

• the constant comeback routes, especially when playing against zone defenses.
• the short of the line-to-go throws on third downs.
• the slow developing out routes.
• the quick wide out throws without any misdirection or attempt to hide the play.
• the lack of attacking downfield, especially early in the game to keep the safeties honest.
• the lack of attacking the middle of the field.
• the badly designed trick plays.
• the trick plays called when there is no reason to call them.
• the lack of misdirection plays to keep the defense honest and guessing.
• giving the quarterback too much control over audibles when it's clear he's not great at it.

At times, Moore's play calling can be impressive while other times it looks like he's spinning a playbook randomizer wheel to select the plays he calls.

I think the biggest reason the Cowboys need to move on from Moore though is the fact that his offense, whether his fault or not, has simply not produced in the playoffs.

When you combine that with the fact that the NFC East teams are quite familiar with the Cowboys play calling as they have been running a similar offense for years, it makes sense to change offensive systems to see if that can improve the team's performance.

I do not hate Moore and as long as he ends up with an AFC team I hope he does well.

I really think he needs to spend some time under another offensive minded coach because it's not his fault he was trapped in Jason Garrett's offense for a lot of his playing and coaching career.

Going forward though, I think the most important part of this move is that the 2023 team will be all on McCarthy and his chosen staff.

That means any failures now will be all on him and since he was with the team when it signed Prescott to his current contract, Prescott's successes and failures are all on McCarthy as well.

For better or worse, with Moore leaving and Quinn returning, at least Cowboys fans have something to grasp on to for optimism for next season.

 

[RS12]

Well thought out post but I think it will take a McVay or Shanahan level OC to get this team any further than the last one did with the current QB. They arent going to get that level OC.

 

[visionary]

Good post
I’m thinking Quinn or Payton as HC next year unless we get to the NFCCG

 

[diamonddelts]

Good post
I’m thinking Quinn or Payton as HC next year unless we get to the NFCCG

No way in hell Dallas gets to the NFCCG

 

[Chuck 54]

I’ll also add that no one can really make many comments about the passing game or the QB (other than he should have taken the sack or thrown it away) simply by watching the game on TV.

When you watch some of the film breakdowns former professionals do and hear a HOF SB QB like Kurt Warner looking at plays and commenting, “That’s a bad decision by Dak, but I really have no idea what they are trying to accomplish with the routes on this play,” or “The design here is okay, but there’s no attention to detail. The receiver must get to that defenders outside shoulder; then he can keep going making it an easy throw for the QB, or if that other S drops down, he now has more room when cutting back. By stopping where he did, he made even the low outside throw too easy to be deflected.” Over and over and over, former QBs and OCs look at the film, love some designs, but too often can’t figure out what the play is trying to accomplish. Too often also talking about little adjustments that make plays work and help set up something else down the line.

It was time, past time for a change.

 

[big dog cowboy]

Someone commented in another thread that fans had no real reasons for wanting to move on from Moore and it was mostly driven by a reaction to losing.

Even if you ignore the fact that well respected coaches like Parcells and Johnson have come out questioning the Cowboys offense, it really is obvious at this point that what the Cowboys have been doing has not been working when in matters .. the playoffs.

I do not blame Moore for all of the offensive problems in the playoffs because the players still have to play the game and Prescott throwing two game-changing interceptions against the 49ers is not Moore's fault, at least not directly.

That said, I have had some issues with Moore's playcalling for a while such as ..

• the constant comeback routes, especially when playing against zone defenses.
• the short of the line-to-go throws on third downs.
• the slow developing out routes.
• the quick wide out throws without any misdirection or attempt to hide the play.
• the lack of attacking downfield, especially early in the game to keep the safeties honest.
• the lack of attacking the middle of the field.
• the badly designed trick plays.
• the trick plays called when there is no reason to call them.
• the lack of misdirection plays to keep the defense honest and guessing.
• giving the quarterback too much control over audibles when it's clear he's not great at it.

At times, Moore's play calling can be impressive while other times it looks like he's spinning a playbook randomizer wheel to select the plays he calls.

I think the biggest reason the Cowboys need to move on from Moore though is the fact that his offense, whether his fault or not, has simply not produced in the playoffs.

When you combine that with the fact that the NFC East teams are quite familiar with the Cowboys play calling as they have been running a similar offense for years, it makes sense to change offensive systems to see if that can improve the team's performance.

I do not hate Moore and as long as he ends up with an AFC team I hope he does well.

I really think he needs to spend some time under another offensive minded coach because it's not his fault he was trapped in Jason Garrett's offense for a lot of his playing and coaching career.

Going forward though, I think the most important part of this move is that the 2023 team will be all on McCarthy and his chosen staff.

That means any failures now will be all on him and since he was with the team when it signed Prescott to his current contract, Prescott's successes and failures are all on McCarthy as well.

For better or worse with Moore leaving and Quinn returning, at least Cowboys fans have something to grasp on to for optimism for next season.

Good post. I think the Cowboys will bring in another offensive coach to help Big Mike. Offensive assistant, QB coach or some fancy title.

 

[Xeven]

I do not think Moore understands how to design run plays, run blocking either.

 

[Diehardblues]

We’ll find out if it was more about Moore or Prescott.

And will McCarthy also be directed by Jethro to try and make Dak look like he’s an Elite passer.

Or it could simply be another casualty with Dak. And McCarthy could he next.

 

[WillieBeamen]

Almost every offensive coordinator has their own set of issues. Kellen is one of them.

With that said, we had a top offense with him here as the OC.

Ill never understand how almost the entire fanbase complain about lack or weapons and then in the next breath say Kellen needs to go…

 

[Pevansjr]

If you're a it's all Moore's fault guy or an it's all Dak's fault guy. I think we are going to find out next season who was the bigger problem. Personally I don't have an issue with Moore going.

 

[Jake]

Dak is Dak, but a change was needed. Too many times it appeared defenses knew what was coming. Sometimes, they even said as much.

 

[Mannix]

• the constant comeback routes, especially when playing against zone defenses.
• the short of the line-to-go throws on third downs.
• the slow developing out routes.
• the quick wide out throws without any misdirection or attempt to hide the play.
• the lack of attacking downfield, especially early in the game to keep the safeties honest.
• the lack of attacking the middle of the field.
• the badly designed trick plays.
• the trick plays called when there is no reason to call them.
• the lack of misdirection plays to keep the defense honest and guessing.
• giving the quarterback too much control over audibles when it's clear he's not great at it.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Iowa's fingerprints all over this philosophy

 

[CATCH17]

We’ll find out if it was more about Moore or Prescott.

And will McCarthy also be directed by Jethro to try and make Dak look like he’s an Elite passer.

Or it could simply be another casualty with Dak. And McCarthy could he next.

Hint.. It’s Dak.

Moore was not a bad offensive coordinator. It’s just easier to blame him then put blame on a QB that you can’t get rid of.

 

[Aven8]

Well thought out post but I think it will take a McVay or Shanahan level OC to get this team any further than the last one did with the current QB. They arent going to get that level OC.

Hurts is in the SB with a RPO one read offense. He just has talent around him. Remember last year against Tampa in the playoffs? He was horrible. In fact they were pass happy when Sirianni first came aboard and they switched last season to the run game and they won like 6 of 8 to finish and make the playoffs. This year they added AJ and Devonta is another year older and developed the offense around him to make it easy. Think about Philly’s big games. They beat us against Rush and he threw for 150. Today they won 31-7 and he threw for 121.

Dak can do this but he needs to play within himself. He can’t do what these top dudes can do.

 

[doomsday9084]

Good thread, I just want to add this rather obscure stat group: Per possession

Dallas ranked 18th in the NFL in yards per drive
Dallas ranked 17th in the NFL in plays per drive

You are saying "Well Doomsday, that's odd. I thought Dallas had one of the best offenses in the NFL?"

They did scoring wise but Dallas ranked 1st in takeaways this year. They also ranked 1st in takeaways last year. Sooooooo many of Dallas' points came on short fields. When the defense didn't generate turnovers, the offense couldn't put points on the board and they always struggled to sustain drives. From a yardage standpoint, Dallas simply got more possessions than other teams.

Dallas wasn't nearly as good on offense as some people believe and conversely, were better on defense. Those same stats for defense
Dallas ranked 6th in yards allowed per drive
Dallas ranked 9th in plays allowed per drive
Dallas ranked 1st in turnovers created per drive

Turnovers were the story of 2022 on both sides of the ball and for some reason, a lot of people selectively forget about them.

 

[CATCH17]

If you're a it's all Moore's fault guy or an it's all Dak's fault guy. I think we are going to find out next season who was the bigger problem. Personally I don't have an issue with Moore going.

I don’t have a problem with it either but it accomplishes nothing.

 

[Chuck 54]

If you're a it's all Moore's fault guy or an it's all Dak's fault guy. I think we are going to find out next season who was the bigger problem. Personally I don't have an issue with Moore going.

Dak made lots of bad decisions this year, and his INTs were unacceptable. But he never had even a hint of INT issues in the past. Low INT numbers were one of his bright spots. I think that’s all on Dak this year, but it has nothing to do with previous years as it’s an outlier at this point. I also don’t blame Moore for the INTs. Take away the bad routes or give ups not fighting for the ball and the few dropped passes that were picked, and all the others were 100% on Dak, mostly bad decisions and forcing things.

But I wanted Moore and his offense gone long before this season, so I’m glad to see us run a less predictable, more modern offense that is better coached on details.

 

[Roadtrip635]

Someone commented in another thread that fans had no real reasons for wanting to move on from Moore and it was mostly driven by a reaction to losing.

Even if you ignore the fact that well respected coaches like Parcells and Johnson have come out questioning the Cowboys offense, it really is obvious at this point that what the Cowboys have been doing has not been working when in matters .. the playoffs.

I do not blame Moore for all of the offensive problems in the playoffs because the players still have to play the game and Prescott throwing two game-changing interceptions against the 49ers is not Moore's fault, at least not directly.

That said, I have had some issues with Moore's playcalling for a while such as ..

• the constant comeback routes, especially when playing against zone defenses.
• the short of the line-to-go throws on third downs.
• the slow developing out routes.
• the quick wide out throws without any misdirection or attempt to hide the play.
• the lack of attacking downfield, especially early in the game to keep the safeties honest.
• the lack of attacking the middle of the field.
• the badly designed trick plays.
• the trick plays called when there is no reason to call them.
• the lack of misdirection plays to keep the defense honest and guessing.
• giving the quarterback too much control over audibles when it's clear he's not great at it.

At times, Moore's play calling can be impressive while other times it looks like he's spinning a playbook randomizer wheel to select the plays he calls.

I think the biggest reason the Cowboys need to move on from Moore though is the fact that his offense, whether his fault or not, has simply not produced in the playoffs.

When you combine that with the fact that the NFC East teams are quite familiar with the Cowboys play calling as they have been running a similar offense for years, it makes sense to change offensive systems to see if that can improve the team's performance.

I do not hate Moore and as long as he ends up with an AFC team I hope he does well.

I really think he needs to spend some time under another offensive minded coach because it's not his fault he was trapped in Jason Garrett's offense for a lot of his playing and coaching career.

Going forward though, I think the most important part of this move is that the 2023 team will be all on McCarthy and his chosen staff.

That means any failures now will be all on him and since he was with the team when it signed Prescott to his current contract, Prescott's successes and failures are all on McCarthy as well.

For better or worse with Moore leaving and Quinn returning, at least Cowboys fans have something to grasp on to for optimism for next season.

I'm with you on those comebacks, but it's not even necessarily a comeback route, it' drives me nuts when everyone is running a comeback. There should be someone running another route. The same with everyone running verts, gotta have someone running something across.

 

[Diehardblues]

Dak is Dak, but a change was needed. Too many times it appeared defenses knew what was coming. Sometimes, they even said as much.

This was mostly a reaction to the playoff loss.

We had #1 offense last year and top offense last 10 games or second half of season after Dak returned.

As usual Dak struggled against top defenses. But I’m fine with change just for the sake of change.

And it’s entirely possible opponents knew what was coming because of Dak.

Interestingly though they said would keep same offense. Is Dak not capable of learning a new offense? Or is this just all about the playcalling?

 

[kskboys]

Dak made lots of bad decisions this year, and his INTs were unacceptable. But he never had even a hint of INT issues in the past. Low INT numbers were one of his bright spots. I think that’s all on Dak this year, but it has nothing to do with previous years as it’s an outlier at this point. I also don’t blame Moore for the INTs. Take away the bad routes or give ups not fighting for the ball and the few dropped passes that were picked, and all the others were 100% on Dak, mostly bad decisions and forcing things.

But I wanted Moore and his offense gone long before this season, so I’m glad to see us run a less predictable, more modern offense that is better coached on details.

Not defending Moore, but there's more to it than that. Dak desperately needed to take the next step to become a better QB. These picks were needed while Dak learned to be more than a bus driver. This should've been done in 2017.