The McCarthy Chronicles: Cowboys head coach enters his most important season yet
“I think at the end of this year, we’ll be all in.” When Jerry Jones said the comment above a little more than seven months ago, Cowboys supporters went into a frenzy. This fever has persisted for the most part of the offseason, with the Cowboys scarcely making any decisions that would be seen as “going all in.” In actuality, the Cowboys’ offseason has been characterized by their lack of action after an upsetting and humiliating playoff defeat to the Packers. Beyond this season, Dak Prescott is still unsigned, and Mike McCarthy will coach in the last year of his deal. Mike Zimmer, the recently appointed defensive coordinator, will also do so. Everything about it shouts dysfunction when viewed from the outside.
Lost in the headline of “all in” were the other comments Jones made that day in late January, specifically regarding his head coach.
My point is that, after considering that, I believe that, when we recruited Mike McCarthy four years ago, we made a wise decision. Since then, he has had some outstanding in-season success. He has now failed three times and helped us advance in the playoffs. However, I appreciate that he is hanging around the rim and the work the team has put in to do so. Thus, I believe my response would be that I am aware that we are hanging out near the edge. Not that we’re getting the ball in, but when you hang around the rim—let’s not undervalue that—where we are with the players we have at the moment, and I’m considering.
Now, with less than a week to go before the Cowboys officially commence their season, the plan is to continue hanging around the rim and, ultimately, get the ball in the hoop. That’s what Jones is hoping for, and it’s what McCarthy – who has done this before, in Green Bay – has plans to do.
Naturally, the external commotion that precedes this season cannot be ignored. McCarthy should know by now that Dallas always has the brighter limelight. However, things are very different this year. If McCarthy can’t put the ball in the hoop, he may lose his job in five months. McCarthy signed a new agent this offseason. And after this season, the team he presently leads may decide to start over at quarterback, McCarthy or not. At least in terms of the unknown futures of numerous important players involved, this circumstance may be compared to the fabled Last Dance of the Chicago Bulls during the Michael Jordan era.
But the Bulls had already reached the mountaintop. again and again, with that group, whereas this Cowboys team is still figuring out how to get there come playoff time.
McCarthy, of course, knows how to do it. He won a Super Bowl in Jerry World as the Packers head coach and has a street named after him outside of Lambeau Field. And the decision to move on from Jason Garrett – who himself had just coached on the final year of his contract – and hire McCarthy was largely predicated on getting a coach who had been there and done that.
The experience hasn’t produced the breakthrough that Jones was hoping for. Not yet, at least. But the Cowboys have enjoyed consistency under McCarthy that they haven’t had since the glory days of the 90’s. Three straight 12-win seasons is nothing to sneeze at. McCarthy’s Cowboys, if nothing else, are great at getting to the playoffs. And, of course, you can’t have a chance at the Super Bowl without making the playoffs.
The Cowboys aren’t a clear favorite to make the playoffs for the fourth consecutive season, though, since the team is just days away from opening the season on the road at Cleveland. While some sportsbooks are a touch more bullish at 10.5 wins, the majority of sportsbooks, including FanDuel, have their win total line at 9.5 wins. Nevertheless, Vegas believes the Cowboys will regress this season, despite all indications that they require a significant uptick in performance.
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