Dallas Cowboys took the cheap route on their backup QB, and it shows | Opinion
The Arizona Cardinals took the expensive option with their backup QB while one year after doing the same thing the Dallas Cowboys went the cheap route.
On Friday night, it showed in all of its burnt orange glory.
The Cardinals paid real money for Texas-ex Colt McCoy, the best backup QB in the NFL.
One year after paying real money for Andy Dalton, the Cowboys returned to the cheaper path, which is led by McCoy’s successor at Texas, Garrett Gilbert.
The Cowboys want Gilbert to win this job as QB2 to Dak Prescott, but he’s just not. If he does, it’ll be by default.
The Cowboys are back in the spot where if Dak gets hurt again, it’s over.
They have three backup QBs, which means they have less than zero.
(If you must, the Cardinals hit a field goal on the game’s final play to win, 19-16.)
With Dak still out nursing a sore right shoulder, Gilbert started the second fake game of the Cowboys season against the Cardinals and he delivered a plate of “Anyone else?” in Arizona.
In the Cowboys’ first six quarters of fake football this preseason, they have six points.
“It was tough sledding tonight. They made some things hard on us with some of their pressures,” Gilbert said during halftime. “I thought we did a nice job moving the ball a little bit, but again, we’ve got to finish drives. We kind of shot ourselves in the foot again tonight.”
He didn’t get too much help from his teammates, especially “center” Connor Williams, but Gilbert didn’t help himself either.
Cowboys coach Mike McCarthy has praised Gilbert for his ability to take whatever the coaches have handed him and to run it in practice.
The problem isn’t the practice. The problem is the game.
In one-and-a-half quarters on Friday, Gilbert was 7-of-16 passing for 80 yards, and had a passer rating of 59.4.
“I thought it was sloppy on offense,” McCarthy said at the half.
The highlights:
In the first quarter, Gilbert made one nice pass on a fourth-and-10 to Michael Gallup, who atoned for a prior drop.
In the second quarter, Gilbert made one beautiful throw down the sideline, a 34-yard completion to Cedrick Wilson.
The end.
On the next play after his long pass to Wilson, Gilbert made an ill-advised throw into the dirt.
But at least that was the one Gilbert drive that resulted in points, a field goal.
Gilbert may be one of those guys who looks the part of an NFL quarterback, but when the boat hits the beach and the play goes to hell, he can’t make a play.
He was relieved in the middle of the second quarter by ... Cooper Rush.
On behalf of Dallas Cowboys nation, we have all seen enough of Mr. Rush to know what he is — Dak Prescott’s good friend.
No knock on Rush, but you want your backup to show you a little bit more than being able to hang out at Mavs or Stars games with your starter.
The Cowboys want somebody they can moderately trust to run their high-priced offense if Dak is out for so much as one play.
They don’t have that guy, which means they may as well go with two quarterbacks and save the third spot for a player who may actually do something on the 53-man roster.
The other backup, second-year man Ben DiNucci, was given an impossible situation last season when he had to start for Dalton on Nov. 1 at Philadelphia.
DiNucci looks like a good athlete, and he has not started either of these two fake games for a reason. He may be destined for the practice squad.
It should be noted he led the offense to a fourth-quarter touchdown with a scoring pass to Brandon Smith.
In the last decade, the Cowboys have alternated between the more expensive backup over the young, developing passers and the results have been similar.
Brandon Weeden, Brad Johnson, Jon Kitna, Kyle Orton and Andy Dalton were all paid real money, and the results were just OK. They were all decent veterans who led the Cowboys to a lot of losses.
But a few years back there was one developing player they went with, and he wound up being pressed into service. His name was Dak Prescott.
Back in the present, there is neither a Weeden nor a Prescott in this crew of candidates, which has the Cowboys just hoping their starter is actually healthy — and that he stays that way.
This story was originally published August 14, 2021 at 12:21 AM.
