Dallas Cowboys: Why The Kellen Moore Hiring Makes Too Much Sense
Jason Garrett is taking a gamble on himself… possibly at the most pressure filled moment in his coaching tenure
The Cowboys have had one of the best regular season records in the last 5 years. They’ve reached the playoffs 3 of those 5 times but only going as far as the Divisional Round. In the last 3 years, we’ve seen talented teams underachieve because it always felt like one side of the team didn’t play their best.
Against the Packers in 2016, the offense started slowly and they almost came back until Aaron Rodgers pulled an… Aaron Rodgers. This year against the Rams, the defense allowed 273 rushing yards but only 30 points. In exchange, the offense couldn’t move anywhere for two and a half quarters before they scored 2 TDs in the 4th.
Regardless of playoff performances, the Cowboys had a poor pass offense from 2017 until Amari Cooper’s arrival, and after his arrival the Cowboys red zone scoring was lackluster. The Cowboys are in need of some serious help. Adding into all these concerns, Jerry Jones did not extend Jason Garrett past this upcoming season.
After two seasons where the offense hasn’t performed (with a QB who has regressed each of those two seasons) it was time for a change. While basic statistics and extra points added would suggest differently, according to NFL Next Gen Stats, his Average Completed Air Yards and Average Intended Air Yards have decreased while his aggressiveness has increased significantly. (Aggressive is when a QB throws a pass to a receiver with less than 1 yard of separation between the receiver and the DB at the time of a pass).
The Cowboys just hired Jon Kitna who is gaining a following for his lecture on footwork which I agree with and many believed the OC position would be filled with someone of Kitna’s experience. However, the hiring of Moore does the exact opposite.
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What this move suggests is Garrett is betting on a coach he has developed to help call plays and hopefully adapt to opposing defenses so he can visit the promise land whether that be a new contract or the Super Bowl.
If the Moore experiment doesn’t work and the Cowboys find themselves in a similar position as either of the last two years, you MIGHT see Jason Garrett out the door. Once again, MIGHT.
Jason Garrett isn’t a bad coach nor a bad offensive mind. Romo had his best seasons with Garrett and so has Dak. However, his inability to win games when a significant player loses playing time is a serious concern and him not getting past the second round of the playoffs is a continuous issue for fans.
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In all, this move was made to help the QB. Dak is entering a contract year. If Dak can’t find himself in the NFC Championship game next season, we can expect a lot of coaching changes.