Prominent head coaching candidate quietly had underwhelming audition for Cowboys job

The Dallas Cowboys are officially in the market for a head coach after they decided on Monday to move on from Mike McCarthy after five seasons. Jerry Jones has received quite a bit of backlash for how he handled the McCarthy situation.

For starters, Jones did McCarthy pretty dirty by denying him the opportunity to interview for the Bears' job only to move in a different direction a week later. McCarthy is reportedly set to interview with Chicago on Wednesday anyway, but time is a precious commodity during the hiring cycle and Jones needlessly kept McCarthy and his entire staff in limbo.

By dragging out the McCarthy decision, the Cowboys now lag behind other teams that are looking for a new head coach. As of this writing, Deion Sanders has been the only name linked to the Dallas job with any sort of legitimacy.

Former offensive coordinator Kellen Moore has already been name-dropped by prominent insiders. Unlike when McCarthy was hired in 2020, the front office will purportedly conduct an extensive search this time around.

Brian Flores had a disappointing audition for Cowboys job in Vikings' loss

A popular pick amongst Cowboys fans who has not been mentioned yet is Vikings defensive coordinator Brian Flores. While Flores had a fantastic year calling Minnesota's defense, he did not cover himself in glory in the Vikings' blowout loss to the Rams.

Sam Darnold is currently public enemy No. 1 in Minnesota, followed closely behind by head coach and offensive play-caller Kevin O'Connell. However, Flores got exposed by Rams head coach and offensive whizz Sean McVay.

McVay scripted a picture-perfect opening drive to put the Rams on the board early. The offense needed just seven plays to travel 70 yards and find the end zone. Flores, who has had success against the Shanahan and McVay coaching tree, had no answer.

Flores' defense allowed points on four of the Rams' first six possessions before LA took its foot off the gas late in the second half when the game was already decided. While 20 points not seem like the end of the world, Matthew Stafford was hardly heard from in the final quarter.

Nobody is saying that the Cowboys should cross Flores off their list (if he's even on it), but Monday night was not the playoff performance Flores was hoping for now that he's getting a second crack at being a head coach.

Flores is expected to interview this week with the Bears, Raiders and Jets. He's considered a top candidate for the Jets job and the Jaguars reportedly requested an interview as well. He would be an excellent hire for Dallas, Monday's dud notwithstanding.

While Flores didn't live up to expectations, he was hung out to dry by his head coach and quarterback. The result was more of a testament to McVay being one of the best head coaches and offensive minds in the NFL than an indictment on Flores.

Hopefully, Monday's loss wasn't enough to dissuade the Joneses.