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By Bob Sturm
7h ago
Mike McCarthy’s third year has officially ended.
In some ways, it feels like we are in exactly the same place this franchise has been post-dynasty for about three decades, more or less. … It’s a feeling of frustration and failure, mixed with mild hopelessness and deja vu. The Cowboys have tried very hard to change the narrative since McCarthy was hired three years ago this month, but here we remain in the cycle of mid-to-late-January pain and repetitive misery of not being able to break on through to the other side of success. It seems like the jump in levels from Jason Garrett to McCarthy was overestimated. Progress was not attained in great volume.
To make matters worse, other teams — including hated rivals — seem to climb this mountain much easier. The Eagles are just a home game away from reaching the Super Bowl after winning a Super Bowl in February of 2018, tearing it all down, changing coaches and quarterback, starting over and building it right back in just five years. The 49ers team that just beat the Cowboys will now play for their chance to go to the Super Bowl in an NFC Championship Game for the fifth time in 12 seasons with four starting QBs (Alex Smith, Colin Kaepernick, Jimmy Garoppolo and Brock Purdy). San Francisco has employed four head coaches and six different opening-day QBs during that span. Meanwhile, Dallas has had Garrett and McCarthy coaching over teams led by Tony Romo and Dak Prescott.
Stability has been the Jones family order of the day during this time, but to what end? An organization definitely can change too much and too often only to see it is spinning its wheels and running in place, but have the Cowboys actually committed to the opposite plan? Standing firm and overestimating their assets? Staying the course with the belief that they are well on their way to turning this ship completely around, only to find out in the end that they are most certainly not?
The annual repetition of the entire journey can grow tiresome and the days after another ending can exhaust. This is when evaluations are best done — before the wounds begin to heal and the moods decompress. If there is frustration and problems are not being solved, perhaps there should be more change than Dallas has considered. If the Cowboys aren’t moving out of their ruts, they should start again.
https://theathletic.com/4115978/2023/01/23/dallas-cowboys-nfl-playoffs-loss-dak-prescott/
But, is it true?
To some extent, yes.
Many fans, though, have allowed the cumulative effect of three decades to carry over from man to man. Prescott continues to pay for the sins of Drew Bledsoe, Tony Romo and Quincy Carter. McCarthy must right the wrongs of Dave Campo, Wade Phillips and Garrett. And that, of course, has nothing to do with them, nor should it really be a part of their individual evaluations. As far as I am concerned, if you weren’t present for the mess, you shouldn’t be asked to explain it. But, given that the only people to span the entire mess happen to be the ownership family, we know that looking in the mirror is off the table.
How should McCarthy be evaluated and more importantly, how will he be evaluated?
The Cowboys have made some reasonable incremental progress under the coach to report. Let’s make a modest list that does not include the big two they seek: a spot in an NFC Championship Game and a Super Bowl.
• They have made the playoffs in two consecutive years for the first time since Bill Parcells and Phillips combined to do so in 2006 and 2007, which seems a ridiculous 15-year span to consider.
• That means the last coach to say he led the Cowboys to back-to-back postseasons — far from a high bar — was Chan Gailey in 1998-1999, 24 seasons ago.
• The Cowboys have posted consecutive .700 winning percentage seasons for the first time since 1994-1995 under Barry Switzer, which corresponds with the last time they won the Super Bowl (28 seasons ago). Only Andy Reid and the Chiefs have won more regular-season games (26) than Dallas (24) since Week 1 of 2021 (Buffalo also has 24).
Are these world-beating numbers that warrant an extension? Probably not. But, it also probably does not warrant going back to the start with another guy who merely can hope to be the guy who breaks the streak of falling short. That Garrett was given 10 seasons and never had to make the playoffs twice in a row is a staggering truth.
Mike McCarthy won 12 games in each of the past two seasons with the Cowboys. (Jayne Kamin-Oncea / USA Today)
I write about the coach at the end of every season. In that piece, I expressed disappointment that McCarthy did not seem to have or even need the control that I assumed he required to take this job. He was not running his own offense, he was not given the ability to decide who will and will not be on his roster, and he didn’t seem bothered by the terms of that deal. He should probably be congratulated for not being a control freak like so many in his line of work, but instead, I find it disconcerting. The reason is simple: If the goal is change, it has to come from him. If he is fine with how things were, how will things become different?
Change is needed in certain spots right now and that is consistent with every offseason ever. Even the champions have things to tweak. A team that lost by scoring 12 points in a playoff game one year after scoring 17 points against that same playoff opponent has work to do. We can talk about league rankings all day, but if you wish to move to the next level of accomplishment, then it is beholden on you to focus on how to beat the elite defenses in January. Easier said than done, of course, and the Cowboys are not the only team that San Francisco has beaten on multiple occasions. You could argue that McCarthy would have another ring (or two) if he didn’t run into that 49ers defense in the postseason. His old superstar QB from his last gig would say the same thing. The 49ers are the best defense in this conference consistently and it shows. Their fans would remind you that this has not shortened their Super Bowl trophy drought, but parades are difficult to come by.
At the same time, I will report that what I saw in these playoffs was a very physical and tough team.
https://theathletic.com/4116463/2023/01/23/dallas-cowboys-playoff-loss-49ers-jerry-jones/
The Cowboys played strong, physical playoff-caliber football this year. One year ago, they did not. I realize we are talking about shades of progress that are difficult to prove, but Dallas did not lose this game because it was meek. The Cowboys were hitting, tough and took plenty of bruises for the cause. The offensive line held up when many of us wondered. The defense was as mean and tough as advertised and McCarthy’s role in hiring and empowering Dan Quinn deserves lots of credit. The Cowboys needed to be prepared to fight playoff street wars and they did very well. That is the trait of a McCarthy team and you won’t convince me that he hasn’t pushed this team in that familiar direction.
But, if we are to assume that he is back and also that Quinn is not, I think the general point of this column is to understand what needs to happen next. I submit three major areas of emphasis for McCarthy this offseason. In each of them, I encourage the soon-to-be 60-year-old who will be entering his 17th season as a head coach to take more control than he has since arriving in Dallas.
1. Reimagine this offense
Prescott has one more year at the very least and given the financial minds of the Jones family, we should not be shocked if they mess with his contract to fix the cap. And yes, that might mean an extension to lower his current numbers. I would not advise this, but we would be foolish to not anticipate they will talk themselves into it. Right here we can stop anyone from their pipe dream of a new QB1. That said, it is time to get outside the box on how this offense operates.
As Prescott enters his eighth season, he has run nearly the same offense with nearly the same voice in his ear since 2016. I don’t doubt that Kellen Moore and Prescott are tight and that is fine. I would hope that McCarthy would now change that. Sometimes change is good and as great a job as Moore has done, there are too many details that this offense still gets wrong. Further, the links to Jason Garrett and Scott Linehan and their concepts remain the bones of this offense. Why? There are things Prescott does well the Cowboys seldom do enough of and things he doesn’t do well that they run into the ground hoping he will master. I think the offense is stale and opponents know it by heart. They are still running “all curls” on a key third down in a playoff game? That must stop. I want a new approach, a new voice and yes, probably a new scheme altogether. Dallas has its QB and some new pieces. Now, the Cowboys have nine months to dream it all up over again. McCarthy is an offensive coach with 30 years of experience in this league. This offense needs to be reimagined. I propose that starts today. I think it starts with a change at offensive coordinator because the last two playoff losses demand it.
Cowboys coach Mike McCarthy and defensive coordinator Dan Quinn (Raymond Carlin III / USA Today)
2. Replace Dan Quinn
I would love this one being hilarious to read in two weeks because DQ is returning somehow, but I don’t see it as a reasonable hope. I think he is someone’s head coach and it could happen quickly. Quinn has been tremendous and if there is something that can last after he is gone, it should be a defense with Micah Parsons as the centerpiece. This is obviously a massive opening and needs to be replaced well. I would be fine with a promotion, but McCarthy should know that this is one where the Cowboys cannot afford to regress. They have enough young talent that this could keep being great for a while, but the pieces are going to get very expensive soon.
3. Turn the page
This is where McCarthy might need to speak up more. The turnover of talent needs to happen and I just know he believes in the competition and meritocracy for jobs over a status order of things. The Ezekiel Elliott situation is solved with a thank you note and a goodbye. If Tyron Smith is no longer able to hold off Terence Steele and Tyler Smith as the two best tackles, then that should be OK, too. I assume Tyron Smith is one of your two best tackles, but I want August of 2023 to inform that decision, not our regard for his past decade. If Michael Gallup is ineffective because he hasn’t completely healed, then why is he playing as many snaps as CeeDee Lamb? He was a net negative more often than should have been allowed. There are ties that need to be cut in the name of moving forward.
I don’t think the Cowboys wish to change McCarthy and believe he is on a proper path. But, that next step is a big one and he might need to replace both coordinators. You might be ready for a break from this football team for a few months, but McCarthy has plenty on his plate that will be very important.
