Dallas Cowboys: Kellen Moore is right decision at QB

In his postgame press conference, Garrett refused to name a starting quarterback for next Sunday’s game on the road in Buffalo, but most believe Moore will get the starting nod.

Dallas Cowboys quarterback Kellen Moore (17) throws a pass in the first half of an NFL football game against the New York Jets on Saturday, Dec. 19, 2015, in Arlington, Texas.

The Cowboys were officially eliminated from playoff contention with a 19-16 loss.

Moore became the first former Boise State Bronco to play quarterback in an National Football League regular-season game – and he did enough for several media members to call for him to start the Cowboys’ final two games. He made some mistakes.

Moore started off badly, throwing the second interception of the game, but he showed more ability to move the ball than Cassel had, and did throw one touchdown pass to Dez Bryant.

Cowboys placekicker Dan Bailey scored a field goal to put them first on the scoreboard in the opening quarter, but the Jets had a touchdown with 30 seconds remaining to take a 6-3 lead entering the second quarter. Cassel was 1-6 filling in for Romo after Brandon Weeden went 0-3 following the first injury.

If you just look at the stat line, sight unseen of Moore, don’t do that, because at least he was playing a better overall game than Cassel.

Cowboys owner Jerry Jones said Moore’s greatest strengths are his knowledge of the Cowboys’ offense and “how well he gets the ball out with that knowledge to the right areas of the field”. Cassel was the third string quarterback for the Bills to start the season, his trade to the Cowboys in-season only showed the reasons for which the team soured on him.

I actually let Moore off-the-hook for two of his three interceptions during the Jets game.

Dallas receivers had six catches that allowed them to pick up a total of 52 yards after catch after their receptions. He completed 15 of 25 passes and had a passer rating of 52.2.

The Cowboys may do one of three things; They could turn to the draft to develop a young quarterback over the next few years, or try trading for Johnny Manziel, who Jerry Jones is still very fond of.

If the Cowboys had a decent back-up quarterback this season, maybe they wouldn’t have been 1-9 without Romo and still have a chance to make the playoffs. Veterans options like Johnny Manziel and Robert Griffin, III could be offseason possibilities as well.

“He just deserves an opportunity”, coach Jason Garrett said of Moore. Cassel finally got benched in favor of Kellen Moore on Saturday night, and might be best remembered in his Cowboys days for tossing an interception and being flagged for intentional grounding on the same play.