NFL
By: Brock Vierra
Is Kellen Moore a scrub? Yes. You can follow me on Twitter @mnstoday and view my other articles here at Team NBS Media. Brock Vierra is a writer, podcaster, NFL Draft Analyst, and Football Fanatic.
Oh alright, I guess I have to add more to my point which is fueled by one part irritation at what I see from the Cowboys offense weekly and one part insanity brought forth by the yearly whooping that Moore and the Boise State Broncos would put on my Hawaii Warriors but when you break down the tape, there is no excuse for the Cowboys to consistently underperform offensively in the way that they do. The one factor, the one constant, the ever-present truth is that it hasn’t mattered who is under center or who plays center, the man calling the plays is responsible for the mediocrity football fans witness on Sundays.
Now the final play in yesterday’s NFC divisional matchup between the Dallas Cowboys and San Francisco 49ers is a small sample of what Cowboys fans have been accustomed to seeing since Kellen Moore took over. It was one part creativity, one part idiocy. A spread formation with a receiver flanking the offensive linemen next to them, followed by Ezekiel Elliott playing center called for 2 possibilities. A quick out to the eligible receiver so he can run out of bounce or a quick out to set up a last-ditch lateral play. It was neither.
A quick pass up the seem to KaVontae Turpin who in return was immediately slammed to the ground by Jimmie Ward and ended the game. No lateral, no more chances. Game and season over. Oh, and Ezekiel Elliott got slammed to the ground by a Niner’s defensive lineman just to add insult to injury. Unlike Moore, we all know, running backs shouldn’t play center. This was the play, there was no other read. Trust me, I watched this play 30 times trying to find one. However, this play is one piece in a very large puzzle titled disaster.
It’s in the details. The Cowboys ended their season last year on a QB Draw that took too much time for the follow-up spike to occur and we laughed at the Cowboys for it. This year, they somehow came up with something worse but the whole game was about being awful. Dak Prescott who is notorious for making game-wrecking mistakes threw the ball 37 times when the numbers show a dramatic fall-off in his performance when he throws the ball over 30 times. They bailed on their run game like they always do when it doesn’t have immediate success and even when Tony Pollard went down, Malik Davis who has shown bursts of potential, got zero carries and on the final two drives of the game, drives for which the Cowboys could’ve won the game, we’re marred by idiotic playcalling and a lack of attention to detail by both Kellen Moore and his players.
On the second to last drive of the game, he left Dak out to dry on third down by calling two straight pass plays to no effect on first and second down while his starting tight end Dalton Schultz was in la la land, not putting his second foot on the grass to complete the catch while on the previous play, he was knocked backward and out of bounce, keeping the play clock rolling extinguished all chances at a very much achievable Hail Mary attempt.
Moore always does this. We praise him for those little wrinkles and tricks he puts in plays to turn simple gains into touchdowns but that same cuteness prevents the Cowboys from playing effective football when it matters most.
He does not adjust, he restores to the pass way too quickly, and he trusts Dak way too much as shown in the playcalling styles when Dak is on the field and when Cooper Rush is out there and the worst part is that he doesn’t change. He’s been the OC for 4 years, under 2 coaches and the Cowboys have won only 1 playoff game in that time.
He can call a good offense, he has drawn up solid, balanced offensive attacks in the past and that is the most infuriating part. Moore knows what to do, does what he wants to do, fails at it, and continues to do it. I don’t know if it’s ego or stubbornness but it isn’t working and that is unacceptable.
Moore has been given the playmakers and tools one could only dream of and with precious football material, Moore has produced garbage.
Jerry Jones, Dallas, Cowboy Nation. It’s time to call time on this experiment. When Mike Nolan was in charge of the worst defense in football, a change was made and Dan Quinn has these boys rolling. Though Kellen Moore has a bright future in coaching, it’s time to move on from big D.
