Moore a bright spot in Cowboys’ loss
The Cowboys are distinctly average again after their worst season since Jerry Jones’ first year as owner.
A year after winning 12 games and the NFC East, Dallas wrapped up a 4-12 record Sunday with a 34-23 loss to the division champion Redskins.
The Cowboys played most of this season without quarterback Tony Romo, who broke his left collarbone twice, and big-play receiver Dez Bryant was never fully healthy while missing seven games, including the last two.
“I’m well aware of all of the contributing circumstances this year, and we’ve got some good things. They’re not as many as you would like for there to be,” Jones said. “I don’t want to be trite, but we know that it really limited us to not have Romo this year. … We’d like to not have to replace him next year.”
As for coach Jason Garrett, Jones made it clear that he is “not interested in any change, or thinking about any change there.”
Jones said a priority this offseason will be getting backups at several key positions, including quarterback.
Kellen Moore, the fourth-year pro who had never taken a regular-season snap before last month, will likely be in that mix after completing 33-of-48 passes for 435 yards with three TDs and two interceptions in the finale.
Kirk Cousins hit 12-of-15 passes for 176 yards, with three touchdowns in the first quarter for the Redskins (9-7). Washington led 24-0 before lefty Moore had three scoring passes, two to Cole Beasley and another to tight end Jason Witten. Terrance Williams had career highs with eight catches for 173 yards for the Cowboys.
Moore’s 435 yards are the sixth-most in a single game for any Cowboy quarterback in team history. It was the ninth 400-yard game by a Dallas quarterback, and the team is 1-8 in such games. Moore also became the 129th NFL quarterback to throw for 400 yards in a single game.
Moore finishes the season 61-of-104 for 779 yards with four touchdowns and six interceptions in his first NFL action. He played three quarters Dec. 19 against the Jets and got his first start Dec. 27 against the Bills.
This story was originally published January 3, 2016 at 11:30 PM with the headline "Moore a bright spot in Cowboys’ loss."