Jay Cutler ruled out against Patriots; Matt Moore will start

It’s official, Matt Moore will starting his second game of the season in what’s shaping up to be a must-win matchup for the Dolphins.

Jay Cutler (concussion) has been ruled out of Sunday’s game against the New England Patriots, a move that doesn’t come as much of a surprise given that it was reported earlier in the week that Matt Moore was in line to start. The fact that Moore is starting likely leaves fans with mixed feelings, as neither Cutler nor Moore have shown the ability to be capable starters over the course of the season.

During Cutler’s last two outings, he’s made a series of egregious turnovers that have sunk Miami’s offensive momentum time and time again. Moore, however, looked even worse in his single start. Back in week 8, when Moore was forced to start due to a rib injury sustained by Cutler, the Dolphins were utterly obliterated by the Baltimore Ravens by a score of 40-0. Now, to be fair, a blow out like that doesn’t happen if the defense can play decent football, but Moore’s play that game didn’t help Miami’s chances to compete.

Fortunately, the two other times Moore has been called upon to perform this season, he’s done so admirably. In the Dolphins’ week 7 game against the Jets, Moore led a fantastic comeback that resulted in a Miami victory. He attempted to repeat the feat last week against the Buccaneers, and nearly completed it, but the Dolphins’ defense couldn’t stop the Bucs on the game’s final drive.

The question this week will be whether or not Moore can string together four quarters of good football. If he does so against a surging New England Patriots team, Cutler may be riding the bench for longer than just one week.