Kellen Moore Bizarrely Abandoned Offensive Philosophy in Sleepy Loss to Saints

The Dallas Cowboys were lauded for the first three weeks of the season for their offensive production under new coordinator Kellen Moore. While those outings did come against three of the worst defenses in the NFL in the New York Giants, Washington Redskins, and Miami Dolphins, everyone was buying into the Dallas hype (as per usual).

On Sunday, the honeymoon was officially over, as the Cowboys lost to the New Orleans Saints 12-10, and it was caused by Moore abandoning his innovative offensive scheme with a more by-the-book approach.

When watching the game, you can see that Dallas' best approach to put points on the board was to pass the ball. On first down, Moore opted to call rushing plays with Ezekiel Elliott, whom the Saints completely contained for the entire game (36 yards on 18 carries). In fact, Moore called a run play on nearly 70% of first down plays.

Just look at how ineffective Elliott was on Sunday night. Yet Moore was still adamant on running the ball against the Saints, eternally trying to get him going.

It's almost like Amari Cooper wasn't on the roster.

In the first three weeks of the season, Moore utilized plays which saw the likes of Devin Smith and Tavon Austin finding the end zone. That didn't happen down in the Big Easy.

Also, it's never a good sign when 37-year-old Jason Witten logs the most receiving yards for Dallas with 50. That's all thanks to Cooper being blanketed by Marshon Lattimore all game.

Moore showed his inexperience in his first game against a solid defense after an easy start to the season. Once his top two weapons were held in check, Moore faltered in his play calling and opted with the always dangerous conservative approach, which doesn't work in today's gunslinger era of the NFL.

Remember, never buy into the hype too early.