Garret Gilbert could reportedly challenge Dalton for Cowboys starting QB

Could the former Texas football quarterback Garrett Gilbert get the starting quarterback role over former Horned Frog Andy Dalton for the Cowboys?

The Dallas Cowboys played a much closer game than was originally anticipated in their narrow loss to the undefeated Pittsburgh Steelers over the weekend. Former Texas football and SMU Mustangs quarterback Garrett Gilbert got his first career NFL start last weekend for the Cowboys in taking on the previously 7-0 Steelers and head coach Mike Tomlin out of the AFC North.

Gilbert played better than expected for the Cowboys most of the way against the tough Steelers. The Cowboys even went into the fourth quarter with a 19-9 lead over the Steelers. But head coach Mike McCarthy saw his Cowboys team have another big second half meltdown. The Cowboys wound up losing the fourth quarter by a score of 15-0. As a result, the Cowboys fell short at the hands of the Steelers by the final score of 24-19.

This was a truly heartbreaking loss for the Cowboys, when it first seemed like they didn’t have much of a chance. They were a whopping two touchdown underdog just ahead of kick off for this game. And the Steelers had better than an 80 percent chance to win this game, according to the ESPN Football Power Index.

In this five-point loss to the Steelers, Gilbert registered 21 completions on 38 passing attempts, good for 243 passing yards, one passing touchdown, one interception, and an additional 28 rushing yards on just three tries. Gilbert was also rather elusive (at least compared to how you would usually think of him) in the pocket. An inconsistent Cowboys offensive line caused a lot of quarterback pressures on Gilbert, but he was only sacked twice.

Gilbert did play well enough for most of the game to get the Cowboys what would’ve been a marquee win over the Steelers. But a big effort from veteran quarterback Ben Roethlisberger got the Steelers over the hump in the end. “Big Ben” registered 306 passing yards, three passing touchdowns, and no interceptions, in an impressive overall outing.

But there will now be questions surfacing as to if Gilbert should be the starting quarterback moving forward for the Cowboys in the wake of injuries to the likes of Dak Prescott and Andy Dalton. The Cowboys might see Dalton return in the near future from a concussion, but Gilbert might be the better option as their starting quarterback.

And according to a piece from CBS Sports on Nov. 9, Gilbert is “positioned to challenge” Dalton for the starting job after his outing against the Steelers on Nov. 8. That would be interesting if the former Longhorns highly touted five-star recruit Gilbert could get this starting role for at least a few more weeks.

The Cowboys now hold a record of 2-7 following the loss to the Steelers. Yet they still somehow remain alive in the brutally bad NFC East this season. Pretty much every NFC East team is still in playoff contention halfway into the 2020 season.