Getting to know a Denver Broncos coaching candidate: Kellen Moore

NINTH IN A SERIES

The elephant in the room is the most recent play called by Kellen Moore.

But that doesn’t tell the story. Imagine for a moment if you crossed Kyle Shanahan off your coaching list because his play-calling was too aggressive when the Atlanta Falcons reached field-goal range with a 28-20 lead late in Super Bowl LI.

No, the story of Moore revolves around his ability to adapt. To create a functional offense capable of keeping the Cowboys from complete collapse without Dak Prescott — to the point where Dallas won at Minnesota this past season when forced to start Cooper Rush at quarterback. To borrow elements from two schools of offense: the Don Coryell-originated scheme installed by Jason Garrett and run by the Cowboys through the 2019 season, and the West Coast principles re-introduced in 2020 with the arrival of Mike McCarthy.

Moore created an attack that was a bit of both, with myriad elements: plenty of motion, straight-up play-fakes and run-pass option looks.

As noted in a story from The Ringer last November, the Cowboys hit the midway point of the year ranked anywhere from 11th to 21st in their use of no-huddle, pre-snap motion, play-action and run-pass options. Yet their success rate was in the top three in each category.

So, what can you expect from a Moore offense?

In summary, a little bit of everything.

Which is why the Cowboys offense didn’t completely fall to pieces without Prescott — at least not compared to the standards to which Broncos Country has sadly become accustomed.

In Moore’s three seasons as Dallas play-caller, he had 12 games without Prescott at quarterback, being left with Andy Dalton, Cooper Rush or Ben DiNucci. The Cowboys went 5-7 in those games. Their offense averaged 19.8 points per game and accounted for more than 30 points three times.

That isn’t great.

But consider this: That modest average is still 0.8 points per game better than what the Broncos offense averaged over the last three seasons with their first-team quarterbacks: Joe Flacco, Drew Lock and Teddy Bridgewater. And the four games for the Dallas offense with more than 30 points with backups in the last three years is just one fewer than the number of games Denver’s offense had in 42 games with its first-team quarterbacks at the wheel in that span.

Dallas’ offense did better over the last three years with its backup quarterbacks than the Broncos did with their first-teamers. That is a testament to Moore’s ability to adapt and maintain a decent level of productivity despite having to play without a quarterback who has $126 million in guaranteed money coming to him.

It probably isn’t the right time for Moore to become a head coach. But when it comes to patching up a wounded offense, he is already among the sport’s best.

One bad day doesn’t change that.