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Garrett not ready to name Kellen Moore starting QB

Kellen Moore isn't a long-term answer for the Dallas Cowboys' backup quarterback quandary, but he's better than Matt Cassel.

Moore threw three picks in Saturday's loss to the New York Jets, but moved the ball better than Cassel. While Moore's physical limitations are a liability, he gets the ball out quick and spreads the wealth.

Despite clear better play from Moore than Cassel, Cowboys coach Jason Garrett wouldn't commit on Saturday night to giving Moore the final two games to audition for next season.

"We'll go back, and we'll evaluate the tape, and we'll make the determinations and really throw out a roster as to who we want to play and how we want to play it," Garrett said, via ESPN.com. "Our focus is to win a ballgame, and the byproduct when you get to this time of the season with where we are, there's an opportunity to evaluate every player."

When he looks at that tape, we expect Garrett to conclude that he might as well stick with Moore. Now mathematically out of the playoffs, there is no reason to turn back to Cassel -- a free agent who has given Dallas zero causes to bring him back.

Moore garnered a modicum of praise from owner Jerry Jones.

"He has a lot of poise," Jones said. "He really knows the offense, not to say that Cassel didn't, but he has been in it more than Cassel has. He does have a better understanding. It's obvious that he has the instincts, very good instincts."

Moore doesn't have the arm to fit the ball into tight spaces, which were displayed on his first two picks. However, he's a smart quarterback who at least displayed the ability to spread the ball around and target Dez Bryant in the red zone.

In the offseason, Jones will need to address the backup situation behind Tony Romo -- perhaps with a high draft pick. For the final two games of a disastrous 2015, Moore should be the man, even if Garrett wasn't ready to declare the obvious after Saturday's game.

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