Kellen Moore has been praised as a boy wonder since his ascension to the offensive coordinator position during the Cowboy’s 2019 campaign. At first glance the fan fair seems well warranted. In 2019 the Cowboy’s offense finished first in yards and 6th in total points. While the offense was atrocious in 2020 due to the absence of Dak Prescott it returned to form in 2021, ending the season as the number one offense in terms of yardage and total points scored.
While on the surface these numbers seem outstanding a closer look reveals a very troubling trend.
Moore’s offense struggles against winning teams
Moore’s offense is drastically less effective against winning teams. In 2019 the Cowboys played 8 games against teams that finished the season with winning records. The offense struggled in these contests and only averaged 21.5 ppg in these games while posting a lowly 2-6 record. In four of these games the offense was held under 20 points, with the Cowboys failing to reach 10 points twice. In 2020 the offense continued to struggled against better competition, averaging only 24.4 points per game against winning teams in 5 games while being held under 20 points in three of them. This year did see an improvement in his offenses overall performance against winning teams but it comes with a deceptive caveat. While it is true that the Cowboy’s offense averaged 27.3 points per game against winning teams this number is bolstered by the Cowboy’s two blow out wins against the Eagles, whom themselves failed to beat a single winning team all season. In the two aforementioned games the Cowboys scored a combined 92 points and if they are removed from the equation the offense again was mediocre against winning teams averaging only 22 points per game. While the Cowboys are able to score 50 points against weaker division rivals such as Washington and Philly they all to often have offensive duds against contenders, such as their disappointing 9 point outing against Kansas City. Sadly the Cowboy’s ability to beat good teams has taken a hit since Moore’s elevation to play caller. From 2016-2018 the Cowboy’s were a respectable 11-11 (.500) against teams with winning records however the team has been an abysmal 7-15 (.318) during his three year tenure as OC. Until Moore can prove he can score against and beat winning teams he will continue to be viewed as a fraud in the eyes of many of the Dallas faithful.