It’s over.
The 2015 season, in all of her unrelenting evil, got her last laugh on the Dallas Cowboys yesterday when the NFC East Champion Washington Redskins came to town and stuck it to the ‘Boys 34-23.
Dallas was pretty much in “organic tanking” mode as they hit the field with Tony Romo and Dez Bryant already on season-ending IR. This was a game played by a lot of people who don’t normally get significant playing time.
The offense had some life in it, a rare sight in 2015, but ultimately was the second best one on the field. We’re here to assess it a little more thoroughly. Shall we?
Kellen Moore Surpasses 400 Yards
As I noted earlier the Redskins landed in Dallas with the NFC East Division Crown already sitting atop their heads. Washington had absolutely no incentive to win as, thanks to NFC-wide circumstances, they were already locked in to the four seed.
The Redskins backups came in around the second quarter… which is when Kellen Moore got, and I use this word lightly, rolling. Moore ended the day 33/48 for a staggering 435 yards, 3 touchdowns, and 2 interceptions.
Throwing the ball to the opposing team is one of the only things that Kellen has done consistently since we saw him enter our lives against the Jets a few weeks back, but he did show some signs of life with the numbers he put up.
I’m not sure if Cowboys Nation will ever get used to a left-handed thrower behind center, but Kellen seemed to do enough to at least earn a trip to Training Camp in 2016. He did something that only Tony Romo has been able to do when he made Terrance Williams useful, and with enough work he could potentially be a serviceable backup someday.
Overall Grade: B-
Run DMC Hits A 300K Bonus
Darren McFadden entered this game just three yards shy of 1,000 on the season. The moment that he picked up those all-important nine feet he triggered a bonus in his contract worth $300,000. So lunch is on McFadden today.
McFadden ultimately toted the rock 12 times for 92 yards on Sunday, with a long of 30 along the way, and looked fairly explosive at times.
One of the biggest items on the Offseason Wish List for Cowboys fans is a running back named Lamar Miller, but McFadden needs to be brought back to some degree.
The Cowboys seemed to adopt a “anyone can run behind this offensive line” mentality when they let DeMarco Murray walk after the 2014 season. As awful as this season has been that arrogance seems to have held true as they turned Darren McFadden into a 1,000-yard rusher. He’s valuable and he proved it again on Sunday.
Overall Grade: B+
Cole Beasley Leads The Corps
When there’s 435 yards in the air you’re bound to have some receivers with some nice days in the box score.
Terrance Williams came to life, in a meaningless game, with 8 receptions for 173 yards. Thank goodness Terrance decided to have a big-time game when everything was on the line with Dez Bryant sidelined… sigh.
T-Will had one of the more disappointing seasons of the guys who were healthy all year, and his spot as the number two wide receiver is in jeopardy heading into 2016. A big day against some backups did little to convince me otherwise.
Jason Witten showed off his Hall of Fame type skills as he hauled in 6 catches for 58 yards and a big-time touchdown. I’m not at all questioning Witten’s efforts here, but when was the last time you saw him reach over the goal line? That was sick!
Cole Beasley stole the show in terms of touchdowns as he doubled up with two, his 5 total catches for 53 yards weren’t too shabby either.
Also Devin Street caught a pass so I would expect rain wherever you live. You’ve been warned.
Overall Grade: B+
[signoff author=”rjochoa” source=”fancred”]
What did you think of the final Offensive performance of the Dallas Cowboys for the 2015 season? Let me know! Comment below, Email me at Roel.Ochoa.Jr@Gmail.com, or Tweet to me at @rjochoa!
