I still say they would have been better off trying to take Moscow, Stalin may not have been able politically survive had Moscow fallen.
They did try to take Moscow, unsuccessfully. Both sides were exhausted and the hostilities stalled. Then fresh Russian troops arrived from Siberia and Russia Far East, well fed well clad and repelled the Germans from Moscow. Actually, the Germans came so close to Moscow, they could see it throgh the binoculars and shelled it with artillery. The Battle of Moscow is deemed to have taken the steam out of the the Germans’ offensive while the Battle of Stalingrad broke the back of the German army. And then there was Kursk and many other great battles.