Dallas Cowboys: Is Kellen Moore’s short tenure already turning sour?
After winning his first three games as the Dallas Cowboys new offensive coordinator, Kellen Moore’s short tenure is turning sour after three straight losses.
Through the Dallas Cowboys first six games of the season, their offense ranks second in the NFL averaging 443.8 yards per contest. Their passing attack ranks third averaging 305.0 yards per contest. And the Cowboys’ rushing attack racks up 138.8 yards per game, good enough for seventh.
The Cowboys’ scoring average is up from 21.2 points per game in 2018 to 25.5 points per contest so far this season. What’s been the main catalyst for this change? The improved play fourth-year quarterback Dak Prescott and the playcalling of new offensive coordinator Kellen Moore.
Prescott has the third-most passing yards in the NFL going into this weekend’s action, throwing for 1,884 yards, 11 touchdowns, and six interceptions through his first six games. Dak is posting career-highs in both completion percentage (69.7) and yards per pass attempt (8.9) plus he has a quarterback rating of 102.9.
But in Prescott’s last three games, all of which have been losses, Dak’s thrown for just two scores and racked up four interceptions. He threw for a career-high 463 yards against the Green Bay Packers in Week Five. But he also had three picks and was sacked a season-high three times in the 34-24 home loss to the Packers.
Prescott’s early success figured to be partly the result of Moore, the team’s 31-year old wunderkind offensive coordinator. The former Boise State star quarterback implemented more disguises into the gameplan with a lot of pre-snap motion. And for the first three games, that seemed to work. Against the last three opponents though, including a loss to the winless New York Jets last week, there’s an argument to be made the NFL defensive coordinators have caught up to his tricks.
Moore’s inexperience as a play-caller is once again in question just six games into his tenure as offensive coordinator in Dallas. Here’s what Ali Bhanpuri, Tom Blair, Gennaro Filice, and Dan Parr wrote about the young play-caller and the Cowboys’ diminishing use of play-action after ranking Prescott 11th on their recent Week 7 QB Index that appeared on NFL.com.
"” … the glow around first-year offensive coordinator Kellen Moore is quickly diminishing. The Cowboys have gotten away from using the play-action that worked so well early in the season (decreased by 22.2 percent from Weeks 1-3 to Weeks 4-6; largest decrease in that span, per Pro Football Focus). When they have utilized it during their three-game losing streak, it’s been shut down for the most part (Prescott has a 54.6 passer rating on play-action passes in Weeks 4-6, lowest in the NFL for QBs who have thrown 20 or more play-action passes).”"
When Kellen Moore was first promoted from quarterbacks coach to offensive coordinator this offseason, many questioned the move. After all, the Cowboys parted ways with former OC Scott Linehan for a reason. And Moore has basically been Linehan’s understudy since 2012, following him to Dallas after their stint together with Detroit Lions.
Wide receiver Amari Cooper even admitted this offseason the Cowboys are basically running Linehan’s plays only disguising them better. Is it any wonder why fans are seeing some shocking similarities between Linehan and Moore predictable playcalling, inconsistent use of the play-action, and a tendency to run the football on first down? The improved numbers that are being generated by the offense don’t matter if you aren’t winning.
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If the Dallas Cowboys continue to lose ball games, the likely scapegoat will be head coach Jason Garrett who doesn’t currently have a contract in-place for 2020. But don’t be surprised if first-year offensive coordinator Kellen Moore goes with him as his short tenure in Dallas is already turning a bit sour.