Matt Moore could be better for team than Cutler

When the Miami Dolphins lost Ryan Tannehill to a knee injury during training camp the question was whether or not they should ride the season with Matt Moore or go outside to find a starter. They went outside.

For the Dolphins the plan to spend $10 million this year on Jay Cutler hasn’t looked like the best decision but understand this, Cutler joined the team mid-camp and hardly played in pre-season. He had been out of football since a shoulder injury ended his 2016 season after five games.

Cutler was thrown into the team as the defacto starter and Adam Gase hasn’t wavered on his trust in Cutler. As the season continues, Cutler is only now starting to find his rhythm and timing with his offense. That is now going to be delayed. For how long? It is still unknown.

On Sunday, Dolphins fans watched the Dolphins fall 14 points down to the Jets as they entered the fourth quarter and it was Matt Moore that rallied the team to a victory. Naturally, fans are pointing at Moore for the remainder of the season.

The question of who is the better quarterback has already been debated and some would say that while Jay Cutler is the better quarterback as a player, Matt Moore could be the better quarterback for this team. Unlike Cutler who is getting to know the players on the roster, Matt Moore already does And the team? They love him.

Moore has already earned the respect of his teammates. He has been a vocal leader on and off the field. He leads by example. Having to chances to leave Miami for potentially starting jobs elsewhere, Moore chose to stay with the Dolphins on short-term deals. That hasn’t been unnoticed by the other players.

The offense trusts Matt Moore. The receivers believe in him and they know how he delivers the ball. There is no learning curve with them. It was Moore after all that took over the team and took them into the playoffs when Tannehill went down last year.

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Moore isn’t fallible though. He is a gunslinger much like Jay Cutler. He will throw passes that simply shouldn’t be thrown and he will force passes into places he simply doesn’t have the accuracy for. Moore throws interceptions and the only real question is whether or not those INT’s come at a time that really hurts the team.

On the other hand, Moore is the type of quarterback that takes chances and many times those chances pay off in a big way. He can make the deep throw and the out throw. He can create time in the pocket and move around. He plants his feet when he throws and isn’t afraid to take a hit. Unlike Cutler, Moore can not only move out of the pocket but is more of a threat to take off and run the ball.

With Cutler you take the good games knowing there will be bad ones and Moore is the same type of quarterback. Unlike Cutler his teammates know his game management and they tend to know when he will take a risk. It’s simply a matter of repetition over the last few years.

How long Moore’s season lasts as a starter may be out of his hands. Adam Gase seems set on Jay Cutler as the teams starting quarterback and it will be interesting to see if Moore plays well and the Dolphins win without having to come back from a deficit, if Cutler is named the starter when healthy. For now, it appears that this is Matt Moore’s time to prove his value.