Dallas Cowboys offensive coordinator Kellen Moore was the talk of the NFL after his red-hot start to the season, calling plays and averaging 32.3 points per game in his first three weeks. Talking-heads and podcast hosts around the league’s orbit began questioning whether Moore was about to lead a coup and take coach Jason Garrett’s job after the season.
Then, the Cowboys visited the Mercedes-Benz Superdome and were limited to just 10 points by the New Orleans Saints defense. The Saints played with tight coverage and smothered the vaunted Cowboys rushing attack, holding $90 million running back Ezekiel Elliott to one of his worst performances (gaining 35 yards on 18 attempts). Saints defensive backs like cornerback P.J. Williams consistently showed off his play-recognition in run defense, crashing down to drop Elliott out on the edge.
According to Steve Wyche of NFL.com, the Saints included Moore’s stint with the Boise State Broncos as an All-American quarterback from 2008 to 2011 in their week of film study. And their efforts were rewarded; Moore had installed some of the same hand signals and adjustment calls to the Cowboys offense that he used back in his college days. Now clued-in, the Saints defense went to work, and left the game victorious.
Ironically, this isn’t the first time the Cowboys have had issues with other teams picking up on their tendencies. Los Angeles Rams offensive linemen John Sullivan and Austin Blythe told Danny Heifetz of The Ringer that they went into last year’s playoff game with a good feel for Dallas’s pressure packages, having noticed patterns in the Cowboys’ pass-rush alignments.
The best teams go out of their way to spike these tendencies in the regular season to give postseason opponents fresh, unexpected play designs. New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick is famous for it, having debuted new coverage looks and defensive line fronts in Super Bowl LIII to shut down the Rams. As impressive as Moore’s start may have been, it’s clear he still has plenty to learn in his first year on the job.
