Somewhat lost in the ugliness of the Dallas Cowboys’ loss to the Saints in New Orleans on Sunday night is the fact that backup quarterback Brandon Weeden looked pretty darn good for most of the night.
Weeden played well two weeks ago in the loss to the Falcons as well, but failed to complete any long passes downfield, leading to criticism that he was powerless to do anything but dink and dunk the ball down the field. Against the Saints, he answered the calls for more throws downfield with a beautiful toss to Brice Butler for a 67-yard gain, and a 17-yard fade to Terrance Williams in the end zone for the game-tying touchdown.
To borrow a phrase from Jerry Jones, both passes were things of beauty. Jones offered up some high praise for Weeden after the game, before ending on a kind of weird note about Weeden's limitations.
“I thought he did really good and he did good all night,” Jones said, per Todd Archer of ESPN Dallas. “When he took his initial look he threw it, and he did all night. He does some real good things, though it’s not quite apples to oranges when the other guy on the other side is Brees and you’re dealing with a guy that is as limited as Weeden.”
Weeden finished the night 16-of-26 passing for 246 yards, a touchdown and no interceptions. He was sacked three times.
