Brandon Weeden: Defending the Cowboys quarterback

Having been a rabid fan of the Dallas Cowboys for over 40 years, I have seen a lot of quarterbacks for this team. I won’t list every one of them, but suffice it to say that I watched Hall of Fame quarterbacks Roger Staubach and Troy Aikman combine for five Super Bowl wins. I have watched quarterback Tony Romo since his first start in 2006. Frankly, our team misses Tony a lot right now, following an injury to his left clavicle a couple of weeks ago.

This Sunday, the starting quarterback for the Cowboys is Brandon Weeden. I wrote about him previously on this site, suggesting that he might be the single biggest problem with our roster. With that in mind, what I am about to say may surprise you.

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In a nutshell, Weeden is doing well and exceeding expectations, and he has earned the right to continue starting in Romo’s absence.

No, he hasn’t yet won a game in a Cowboys uniform. However, he has done more than any of us could have expected.

This week, he faces his toughest challenge yet, and virtually no one expects a win against the New England Patriots. This is not a prediction post for Sunday’s game, so I won’t delve into my opinions on this game.

Instead, I want to put aside the notion that head coach Jason Garrett should even consider starting backup QB Matt Cassel anytime soon.

Consider these statistics:

In two games this season, Romo has 551 yards of passing, 3 touchdowns, 2 interceptions, and a 75% completion rate.

Weeden has started two games as well, having taken over for Romo in week 2. His stats? He also has 551 yards of passing, with 2 scores, 1 interception, and a 76.3% completion rate.

Obviously, stats don’t tell the entire tale, but Weeden has been beyond serviceable, even if he doesn’t bring the amazing elusiveness or pocket awareness that Romo does.

In Weeden’s first start, against the Atlanta Falcons, the game plan called for short passes almost throughout. In last Sunday’s game against the New Orleans Saints, he was given more opportunities down the field, and he delivered both a 67-yard pass to receiver Brice Butler, and a late and dramatic touchdown pass to Terrance Williams to tie the game.

Garrett summed up his opinion of Weeden’s performance while speaking with the Fort Worth Star-Telegram:

"“He made some good decisions. He made some big-time throws and then hung in there down there close. Those are pressure-packed throws when you’re down a touchdown and it’s fourth-and-seven, to come up and make a big throw like that for the touchdown was big. That’s big for his confidence. It’s big for the confidence of the offensive unit and the entire football team. Those are big moments. Those are important moments. I think the more you’re in those situations, the better able you are to handle them.”"

Because the Cowboys have now lost two games in a row, I have seen many fans online calling for coaches to replace Weeden with the newly-acquired Cassel.

Simply put, this would be a mistake.

Weeden is in his second year with the team, and he is far more comfortable than he appeared to be in his only start of the season in 2014. Obviously, I would love to see him move around more and stretch plays, but he is not Romo.

Neither is Cassel.

In fact, Matt Cassel hasn’t thrown a pass in an NFL game since last September. He started in three games in 2014 for the Minnesota Vikings, losing two of them. He threw 3 TDs and 4 interceptions last year.

I think it was a great idea to sign him as an insurance policy should Weeden get hurt or have a terrible outing, but there is zero need to put Cassel in at this point. He is still learning the offense and the Cowboys’ systems, while Weeden has settled in and at least has a general sense of what to do.

I would love to see a less conservative game plan this week and going forward. Currently, it feels like the Dallas play caller, Scott Linehan, is too tentative. The Cowboys have only had one turnover in the past two games, which is certainly positive. However, this seems to have come at the expense of being aggressive when needed.

As I said, I never expected to be defending Weeden publicly, but he is not responsible for either of the Dallas losses. As difficult as it is for me to say this, he is the best man to start for the Cowboys over the next several weeks. Having said that, I can’t wait for Romo to get back.

Next: Is Cowboys Joseph Randle's immaturity costing him his job?

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