Kellen Moore's success in Philly leads to fundamental ask, when will Cowboys' front office grow up?
Watching the 2024 playoffs without their team is bad enough for Cowboys fans. Watching two division rivals fight for a Super Bowl spot in the NFC Championship game? Pain. The real kicker? The one that takes the cake? Both teams competing next weekend have former Cowboys coordinators playing key roles in their success.
Dan Quinn and Kellen Moore, the team’s defensive and offensive coordinators most tied to the Mike McCarthy era, will be coaching in the NFC Championship on Sunday. But while Quinn gets his flowers for transforming Washington’s franchise in the blink of an eye, Moore’s success comes with an asterisk. Having and undeniably impactful Saquon Barkley as his running back has been a cheat code for Moore.
And yet, that may be why Cowboys fans aren’t questioning whether parting ways with Moore was a mistake. They’re asking something bigger: The NFC East is evolving, so when will Dallas?
It’s one thing to move on from a coordinator. It’s another to keep watching former Cowboys coaches and players thrive elsewhere while Jerry Jones clings to a philosophy that hasn’t worked in decades.
BETTING ON THE WRONG FORMULA
Sayng no to one thing typically means saying yes to something else. When the Cowboys let go of Moore, they weren’t just moving on—they were doubling down on Mike McCarthy’s vision and betting big on what was eventually dubbed the “Texas Coast offense.”
McCarthy wanted balance. He wanted better time of possession, better clock management, and to “run the damn ball.”
And yet, the Cowboys waltzed into 2023 expecting Tony Pollard to do it all without a real offensive identity, much less a quality run scheme.
Meanwhile, other problems popped up, such as a lack of depth in the trenches, the reliance on WR CeeDee Lamb for offensive production, and the issues that rose from using safeties as undersized linebackers.
Now, not all of that is on McCarthy. The front office had opportunities to address some of those issues. They just… didn’t.
Cowboys fans watching the Commanders make the NFC Title Game, while Dez and Micah are beefing online and the team is still looking for a head coach, but realizing nothing will change because Jerry Jones runs the team… #DallasCowboys pic.twitter.com/qL4qbBQM2C
— Kevin Gray Jr. (@KevinGraySports) January 19, 2025
But back to Moore; keeping him wasn’t the answer. Anyone who watched his situational struggles against the Rams Sunday night can tell them that. Taking the ball out of Barkley’s hands? Shaky. A hurt QB dropping back in the snow? Disaster. If it weren’t for Jalen Carter’s sack and a desperate fourthdown pass, Cowboys fans wouldn’t even be talking NFC East on a holiday Monday.
But despite those struggles, Moore’s offensive success in Philly proves there’s more to the story.
Watching him thrive with the formula the Cowboys claimed they wanted? That should raise some eyebrows. Especially since Dallas, like Philly, had the opportunity to get a game-changing running back and passed.
And that brings up the real question that’ll dominate Cowboys discourse for the next few months: When Dallas let go of Quinn and Moore, did they have a plan… or just scapegoats?
The Cowboys don’t just need a new coach. They need a new approach.
Right now, the usual spotlight on Dallas has turned into an interrogation lamp on Jerry Jones & Co. The football world is watching. Have they learned from their mistakes? Or will they keep running in place?
Because real ones know: Changing one’s mind when the facts change? That’s intelligence. Admitting being wrong in order to get it right? That’s wisdom. Finally realizing that learning something new is better than forcing things to go a certain way?
That’s growth.
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