Why the Dallas Cowboys are changing quarterbacks

The list of people that are shocked, disappointed or saddened by the news released this week related to a quarterback change by the Dallas Cowboys looks like this:

Brandon Weeden

Brandon Weeden’s family

That’s about it.

Regardless of how loyal you are to any player who dons the Star on their helmet, you can at least agree that Weeden was not doing enough to deserve being the starter moving forward. The Cowboys have four games before Tony Romo claims his spot back. In order to have any chance at salvaging this season, they need to win at least three.

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Brandon Weeden was not going to get that done. Whether Matt Cassel will is anyone’s best guess, but it’s the best thing for this organization to find out.

Neither of the upcoming four games would be considered an automatic loss. Dallas has already beat the Giants and the Eagles once. Doing so again will be more difficult sans Romo, but not impossible. The Seahawks look far from untouchable and the Cowboys better win against Tampa Bay, regardless of the venue.

So, why is the move to Cassel a good thing?

Besides the fact that Weeden has not been able to manage a win as of yet, Cassel is just, pure and simple, a better quarterback.

Let’s be completely fair to Weeden. No matter where he’s been, he has rarely been given the good fortune of having tons of weapons at his disposal. If Cassel has to play next week without the services of receiver Dez Bryant, the expectation for what he can do will dissipate severely.

Weeden did not have Dez at all in his three game run this year and never had anyone like Bryant during his time in Cleveland. Cassel, meanwhile, had a stint in New England where he replaced Tom Brady for one season due to a knee injury.

That one season just happened to be directly after the Patriots went 16-0 and lost on a ridiculous fluke play to none other than the New York Giants. That team featured Randy Moss and Wes Welker at wide receiver, a few veteran running backs that provided good depth and a pretty good defense.

So, in an effort to be fair, we’ll eliminate that season when we look at the numbers for Cassel as we compare him to Weeden.

Since 2009, Cassel has started 56 games. He has won 23 and lost 33. Cassel completed 999 passes in 1,732 attempts for 11,195 yards, resulting in 70 touchdowns and 54 interceptions. That translates into a passer rating of 77.6.

Not exactly what you would desire from your starting quarterback. However when looking at Weeden’s numbers as a starter, it’s not all that bad.

Weeden has started 24 games in his career. He’s won five. In those 24 games, Weeden has completed 493 passes in 852 attempts for 5,561 yards resulting in 23 touchdowns and 29 interceptions. That translates in a passer rating of 72.3.

The discrepancy in passer rating isn’t that bad honestly. If that was the only difference, you could logically argue that there is little difference between the two.

Where Weeden is far less the talent that Cassel is shows ups in touchdown to interception ratio and the number of wins he has been involved in.

It’s almost impossible to fathom that someone would only be responsible for five wins in twenty-four tries. Cassel has just one less win than Weeden has total starts.

As far as the touchdowns are concerned, Weeden has only started seven games in which he has two or more touchdowns. Since Weeden has taken over this season, he has thrown just one touchdown. Cassel has twenty career multi-touchdown games. It’s a safe bet he’ll throw more than one touchdown in three games, if he gets the opportunity.

Lastly, Weeden has only five games less than Cassel in which he has tossed two or more interceptions. Remember though that Cassel has 32 more starts than Weeden.

These reasons alone would be enough to make the change. Factor in the small amount of desperation that the Cowboys are facing and it’s easy to see why it’s Cassel’s time now.

Let’s hope he makes the best of it.

Next: Dallas Cowboys: Bye week thoughts and roster changes

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