Per NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport and Tom Pelissero, offensive coordinator Kellen Moore is expected to be heading to the Los Angeles Chargers after being fired by the Dallas Cowboys. The Chargers parted ways with OC Joe Lombardi following their upset loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars in the AFC Wild Card round despite being up 20+ points and the defense creating five total takeaways.
It’s being speculated that Cowboys HC Mike McCarthy will take over play-calling duties for the offense going into the 2023-24 NFL season. Kellen Moore deserves better, and it’s possible he will find himself in a better situation offensively working with Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert.
Herbert threw for over 4,700 yards, 25 touchdowns, and only 10 interceptions. Most will look at Herbert’s Playoff debut and say that he’s going to a worse situation than Dak and the Cowboys. However, you can argue that it was more than just Herbert that lost them that game. You don’t choke away a lead like that and think “Oh it’s all Herbert’s fault”. From a pure QB standpoint, Herbert is the better talent in comparison to Prescott.
Moore arguably had his best coaching season this year; most notably when he had backup quarterback Cooper Rush filling in for Dak Prescott for a handful of games due to a hand injury.
Prescott played in 11 total games this season, but still found a way to be top of the league in terms of interceptions. That’s not Kellen Moore’s fault. Unfortunately, someone had to take the blame for the loss against San Francisco, and it wasn’t going to be Dak due to his large contract. Now, Moore will forever be remembered in Dallas as the OC that had a RB playing Center on the last play of the game.
Rookie quarterback Brock Purdy, who was this year’s Mr. Irrelevant as the last pick in the draft, has put together a better postseason showing than Dak has in his entire career up to this point. It’s been over twenty years since the Cowboys last sniffed a Super Bowl.
At some point, Jerry Jones and the Cowboys will have to come to terms with the fact that Dak Prescott is exactly who he has portrayed himself to be on the field: a feast or famine type of quarterback. This is not to take away from his outstanding leadership ability off the field, and nobody can question his character or work ethic. However, he has always been consistently inconsistent. There’s nothing thus far that confidently answers if he can take the Cowboys back to the promise lands.
Flip the page for the Chargers announcing the hire.