Kellen Moore watch will be on for Cowboys vs. Jets
6:13 PM ET
Todd ArcherESPN Staff Writer
ARLINGTON, Texas -- Welcome to AT&T Stadium where the Dallas Cowboys look to keep their feint playoff hopes alive with a win against the New York Jets.
Or at least avoid double-digit losses in a season for the first time since 2010.
Matt Cassel will be making his seventh start, but if things do not improve for the offense, then look for Kellen Moore to get some playing time after getting some first-team snaps during the week in practice.
If Moore does play it will mark the first time since 2001 the Cowboys will have used four quarterbacks in a season since 2001 when Quincy Carter, Ryan Leaf, Anthony Wright and Clint Stoerner took snaps. Oh, and the Cowboys finished 5-11.
A hard matchup: Whether he has been playing for Denver, Miami or Chicago, Brandon Marshall has given the Cowboys problems. He will be playing against the Cowboys for the fifth straight season for his third different team.
Marshall has 25 catches for 493 yards and three touchdowns against the Cowboys, and in his first season with the Jets he has 89 catches for 1,187 yards and 11 touchdowns, one off his career high.
"He’s a hard matchup guy,” Dallas coach Jason Garrett said. "He’s a good route-runner. He’s great at the ball, both on intermediate type stuff and certainly down the field. He’s just a difficult guy to cover, and he and the quarterback have a really good feel for each other."
Jets' diamond is rough: The Cowboys struggled when they went against Todd Bowles' Arizona Cardinals defense last season with a backup quarterback (Brandon Weeden). How will they fare with Cassel against a similarly tough defense?
Muhammad Wilkerson has 12 sacks. David Harris has 102 tackles. Darrelle Revis has three interceptions.
The Jets have 12 players with at least a half sack.
"He really challenges you up front," Dallas tight end Jason Witten said of Bowles' defense. "They’re No. 1 in the league in stopping the run. They’re big. They’re strong. They’re physical. They’ve invested there. Two really good corners. Good safeties. We expect that whether they play the five-man fronts like they did in Arizona and man-to-man on the outside and create pressure with their backers and their safeties."
The ref: Craig Wrolstad and his crew will be working on a shorter week than the teams after officiating Monday’s game between the New York Giants and Miami Dolphins. Wrolstad had 15 penalties for 148 yards in that game, with the host Dolphins accounting for 12 flags for 123 yards. The Cowboys are 0-1 with Wrolstad as the referee, losing to the Arizona Cardinals last season.