Cowboys will have Kellen Moore calling their plays

Kellen Moore — not Mike McCarthy — will call plays for the Dallas Cowboys in 2020.

In a span of two seasons, Dallas Cowboys offensive coordinator Kellen Moore went from third-string quarterback to quarterbacks coach to mastermind of one of the league’s most productive offenses. Dallas’ 431 yards per game was best in the league with Moore in his current post, and their 27.1 points per game ended up sixth-best in the league.

Realizing that the best way to ensure Dak Prescott repeats his standout 2019 season, in which he threw for a career-high 4,952 yards, was to not upset the apple cart too much, Mike McCarthy confirmed that he will not call plays with the Cowboys. McCarthy called the decision to let the 32-year-old offensive coordinator call plays “the best decision” for the team.

Kellen Moore revitalized the Dallas passing game in his first year as offensive coordinator

This comes off as a bit of a surprise, as McCarthy called plays during his time with Aaron Rodgers as head coach of the Green Bay Packers. Given the unceremonious end to his tenure there, perhaps McCarthy is learning from his mistakes.

While Moore’s revamping of the Dallas air attack has been his most noteworthy achievement to this point, his insistence on stuffing the Cowboys’ playbook with RPOs was beneficial to Prescott and Ezekiel Elliott, who totaled 1,777 yards and 14 touchdowns in his first season under Moore.

Given the addition of CeeDee Lamb to a receiver room that already had Amari Cooper and Michael Gallup, Dallas’ offense could put up even gaudier statistics.

Even though Moore is younger than Andy Dalton, Dallas’ backup quarterback who faced off against Moore twice in college, he clearly has a unique, innovative offensive mind that helped Prescott almost top 5,000 yards last year. With Lamb now in the mix at wide receiver and McCarthy having relinquished control of the offense to his hotshot OC, expect the Dallas passing game to be among the league’s most explosive in 2020.