Houston Texans

Why did the Cowboys part with Brandon Weeden?

Published Dec. 22, 2015 3:06 p.m. ET

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When Tony Romo went down with his first injury in Week 2, it was Brandon Weeden who stepped in to fill his role.

In his three starts (and a relief effort in Week 2), Weeden completed 71 of his 98 passes, good for a 72.4 completion percentage.

But Weeden went just 1-3, and lost all three games that he started.

The Cowboys cut Weeden, and he was claimed by the Houston Texans.

And when T.J. Yates went down with a knee injury in Houston's matchup against the Indianapolis Colts, it was Weeden who powered the Texans to victory, completing 11 of his 18 passes for 105 yards and a touchdown. That win pushed the Texans into first place in the AFC South.

With that relief effort for the Texans, did the Cowboys make a mistake in parting ways with Weeden?

The question was first brought up by ESPN's Todd Archer, and he brings up some good points as to why Dallas were far too quick to pull the trigger on Weeden.

Dez Bryant was injured during Weeden's time as the Cowboys' quarterback.

Weeden was under constant pressure, sacked eight total times.

Weeden was the quarterback during Dallas' sporadic run game, well before Darren McFadden became an every down back.

Was Weeden ever really given a true chance to be a starting quarterback with Dallas?

It's impossible to ever know how Weeden could have done had the Cowboys stuck with him. But what we do know is that despite those above circumstances, Weeden completed 72 percent of his passes. Matt Cassel, who replaced Weeden, has completed just 58 percent of his passes. Cassel had an incredibly difficult time moving the ball, and while Weeden didn't do all that much better, he still was able to facilitate the offense better than Cassel.

The quarterback situation in Dallas has been abysmal, but could they have avoided this dreadful season if they stuck with Weeden?