Right now, the Cowboys are in a bad spot. They were there even before local radio DJs were threatened with termination by Jerry Jones on Tuesday for challenging him. Furthermore, even though Jones has been very clear—perhaps too clear—that he is not dismissing Mike McCarthy, the idea needs to be at least considered.
These weekly McCarthy Chronicles have mostly been critical of the Super Bowl-winning coach’s work in Dallas for the past five years. Despite many curveballs thrown at him during the 2020 season, McCarthy was able to establish a new culture in the locker room and close the season with the Andy Dalton-led Cowboys winning three of their final four games.
Since then, he has won 12 games annually entering this season—something that no Dallas head coach has accomplished. For this team, the degree of continuity is unheard of—at least when it comes to the duration of a single coach—since the Jerry Jones era. Furthermore, after taking over the offense the previous season, McCarthy made significant improvements to the team in every area. As a result, Dallas finished second in EPA/play, first in points scored, tenth in offensive DVOA, and sixth in yards per game. Dak Prescott, who had a stellar year, finished second in the MVP voting for his efforts.
It seemed as though the McCarthy period was only beginning in many ways. At last, the offensive playcaller of many years was engaging in his passion, and the Cowboys
It seemed as though the McCarthy period was only beginning in many ways. Now that the veteran offensive playcaller was doing what he loves most, the Cowboys were winning. Then followed the postseason loss via the Wild Card.
Things in Dallas have felt strange since the end of the previous year. To begin with, Jones took an unorthodox stance by allowing his coach to work into the last year of his contract rather than extending McCarthy’s. Subsequently, the front desk took even longer than normal to complete Prescott and CeeDee Lamb’s extensions. Numerous other choices resulted in the 2024 season beginning with maybe the least amount of fan excitement in a ten-year period.
Things seemed even worse when the season started. With a 3-3 record, the club has not yet won at home. They have actually lost all three of their home games, despite putting on a strong fourth quarter display against the Ravens that was akin to cheap lipstick on a pig. Though it is difficult to criticize a defense that was forced to start four backups this past week and had eight backups playing at least 25% of the snaps on Sunday, the defense has not been spectacular.
Given that they are largely healthy, the offense is the more pressing problem. McCarthy’s offense is now ranked 14th in yards per game, 19th in points per game, and 25th in offensive DVOA, indicating a significant decline from the previous season.
Drive success rate, which gauges how frequently an offense’s down series result in either a first down or score, is another important metric. With a 78% mark, the Cowboys and 49ers shared the best mark in the league the previous season. It has decreased to 69% thus far this year, which is 19th in the NFL.
To put it nicely, the offensive is having trouble, and the club struggles to motivate themselves for home games. They had a perfect regular season at home a year ago, and from 2021 to 2023, they went 21–4 at AT&T Stadium. McCarthy made it a priority to defend their home field, but now days the squad performs at its lowest level when playing in front of their home fans.
What is happening, then? What remedies does McCarthy offer before the bye?
The squad was similarly disorganized when they went into their bye week the previous season, but they bounced back from the week off to win six of their next seven games and win the NFC East. Is McCarthy capable of pulling a hat trick again? It is rumored that he is requesting that his players examine themselves closely in the mirror this week in an attempt to rediscover who they are.
Nevertheless, the team should not be juggling these issues in the fifth year of the McCarthy administration. There should be less misunderstandings between your top quarterback and star receiver, the offense should be competitive in shootouts, and the culture should be well-established. Right now, this team’s glass is already beginning to fracture, and the pressure in Dallas never lets up.
McCarthy will have the opportunity to change direction, and he must do so immediately. McCarthy will not need to be fired, despite Jones’s insistence that he won’t. The former Packers coach’s contract will just expire if he can not work things out, much as his predecessor in
The former Packers coach’s contract will just expire if he can not work things out, much like it happened to his predecessor in Dallas.
And it will be very difficult to support the concept of terminating this coaching staff if the fissures that are now developing grow into broken glass. Since that Wild Card playoff matchup with McCarthy’s former team, far too many things have gone wrong to accept more of the same. McCarthy has the qualifications to resolve the issue before another coach in Dallas has a chance to make the necessary changes. And why is he even here if he can’t?
