Back in January, in the wake of the Cowboys’ embarrassing 48-32 loss to the Packers to open the NFL playoffs—on their home field—there appeared to be little chance that coach Mike McCarthy would survive that fiasco. It was not even in the wake of that game, actually. Even by halftime, there was chatter that the game represented a death march for McCarthy’s Cowboys career.
The reasoning was simple. McCarthy has a team good enough to rack up a 12-5 record in each of the last three seasons. Yet he also coached the team to a 1-3 record in the postseason, saddling this group with a reputation for softness when the going gets tough.
McCarthy survived, though, as Jerry Jones said he valued the continuity that the coach brings over an abrupt change, even with the playoff flops.
Now, though, with the Cowboys reeling after their defense, under new coordinator Mike Zimmer, was throttled in a 44-19 loss to the Saints—the score was not really even that close—fans and observers around the Cowboys have begun to call for owner Jones to reconsider his stance on McCarthy, and fire him before things unravel even more in Dallas.
Cowboys Were Trounced in the Running Game in Week 2
Now, it’s hardly a new thing for fans to call for the firing of a coach after a loss. But with McCarthy, the questions are seeping in more and more among NFL media, and appeared to even be weighing on Jones when he was shown in the owners’ box during Sunday’s game.
As Taylor Mathis, a respected analyst for Draft Kings, wrote on Twitter/X: “Today is Day 1 of my campaign to fire Mike McCarthy! Retweet if you second this motion!”
One source of frustration is the way the Cowboys, who yielded 243 yards on the ground to the Saints in Week 2, generally fail when they go up against a coach who has worked with 49ers offensive guru Kyle Shanahan. The Saints’ Klint Kubiak is the latest example.
John Williams, who writes for USA Today’s Sooners Wire, shared on Twitter/X, “When the #DallasCowboys fire Mike McCarthy, they better hire someone out of the Shanahan tree.”
Former coach Rex Ryan, speaking on ESPN’s “Get Up!” program on Monday morning, could not believe the Cowboys made no adjustments during the game.
“Maybe it’s me,” Ryan said. “But is it OK to sit back and take an a**-whipping like they did? Shouldn’t they bring a safety up off the edge, something to stop the run, something to disrupt the running game? I don’t know, why just take a butt-kicking? Wouldn’t you have that in your bag of tricks?”
Mike McCarthy in Contract’s Final Year
Jones did weigh firing McCarthy, of course, but in bringing him back, he left McCarthy without a contract extension, essentially with him coaching on a one-year deal. That’s a risky proposition to put a veteran coach into—it’s very easy for players to tune in a coach they know is going to be fired in a few months anyway.
Assuming the Cowboys are not going to grant McCarthy a surprise in-season extension, especially not at this point, firing him in order to jolt this roster into playing better might make the most sense in the end.
But on Sunday, at least, Jones did not appear to be in a hurry to pull the plug on McCarthy.
“This is early,” he said, via Todd Archer of ESPN. “This is very, very early. And we certainly didn’t see it coming. Obviously we’ve got a lot of room for improvement here.”
