The prevailing belief following the Dallas Cowboys’ humiliating 48-32 home playoff loss to the Green Bay Packers in the NFC Wild Card Round on Sunday was that head coach Mike McCarthy would be fired by owner Jerry Jones following yet another early playoff exit.
However, the contentious owner has decided to keep Mike McCarthy on staff for the 2024 NFL season, so that’s not the choice he made.
This news completely astounds me because there is no justification for bringing Mike McCarthy back. The Cowboys have now embarrassingly missed the NFC Championship Game three times in a row.
On Sunday, everything fell apart. Despite being the clear favorites going into the game, the Cowboys trailed 27-0 at the half after quarterback Dak Prescott’s embarrassing pick-six. The team was vastly outmatched in every aspect, and there was a significant coaching gap between Mike McCarthy and his staff and Packers Coach Mike LaFleur and his staff.
Nor is this an isolated incident for McCarthy. Even though all three of these 12–5 seasons had strong rosters, they have now concluded prematurely in the playoffs three times in a row.
Furthermore, Mike McCarthy is no stranger to early playoff exits and underachievement with strong rosters. Despite having Aaron Rodgers, the Green Bay Packers did not return to the Super Bowl after winning Super Bowl XLV. Instead, they advanced to the postseason each of the following six years.
Additionally, Mike McCarthy isn’t particularly good at anything when it comes to coaching. Though he believes he is, he is not some elite play caller. He’s obviously not much of a culture guy or game planner.
Did Jerry Jones truly believe there wasn’t an improvement to be had here after looking at the available coaches like Bill Belichick, Jim Harbaugh, and Mike Vrabel? That appears absurd.
It appears as though they will miss the Super Bowl window featuring Micah Parsons and CeeDee Lamb on affordable deals.
