What happened on Sunday isn’t just an anomaly for the Cowboys, as it has become their M.O. under Mike McCarthy.
After two-years of the Mike McCarthy era, it’s clear that the Cowboys won’t win a thing. So, why are Jerry and Stephen Jones pretending like things are okay, when they clearly aren’t?
Sunday’s sequence late in the fourth-quarter was a train-wreck, that simply is indefensible on all levels. It was a sequence that really illustrated McCarthy’s entire tenure in Dallas.
It doesn’t matter if Kellen Moore gave Dak Prescott the play-call to run a quarterback draw with 14 seconds left, Mike McCarthy heard it in real-time and failed to adjust. As a veteran coach, it’s on McCarthy, as it would be on Bill Belichick, Mike Tomlin, or Andy Reid, if the same incident occurred to them. McCarthy has the ability to communicate with his quarterback up until there are 15 seconds left on the play clock. Or, at the very least, he should have made it known to Dak Prescott that the referee needs to touch the ball before the ball is snapped. Instead, the most predictable and most likely outcome occurred, with the clock at double zeros before Dak Prescott could get the snap off. As soon as I saw Prescott take off in the middle of the field, I knew the game was over. To make that play-call work, everything would have needed to be perfect, and the way Sunday was going for the Cowboys, there was no shot of that happening.
As bad a play-call as that was, it certainly could have been executed if coached properly. Instead, in typical Mike McCarthy fashion, his squad was ill-prepared, and undisciplined, and just not aware in key situations. Is Mike McCarthy solely to blame? Absolutely not., but again, as the head coach, it’s his responsibility.
Kellen Moore who is one of the most respected young, offensive minds in the game also deserves some criticism. As does the $160 million man, Dak Prescott for not checking out of the play, or for not sliding earlier. But, the majority of the blame should fall on McCarthy’s shoulders.
After the game, Dak Prescott didn’t hide his feelings towards the officials, as he was visibly upset that the ball wasn’t able to get spotted in-time. But, Prescott should instead be disappointed in himself and his coaching staff.
This incident wasn’t the only reason why the Cowboys lost the game. The Cowboys slow start was evident, as they were outscored 16-7 in the first-half, and it should have been worse. At one point, the Cowboys were down 13-0, and the offense was struggling seemingly at every turn.
Dak Prescott and the offense was out of sync, and Jimmy Garoppolo and the 49ers offense rolled over the Cowboys defense, right out of the gate. If it wasn’t for a slew of mistakes from the 49ers in the fourth quarter, the game wouldn’t have ended in the controversial way that it did. The Cowboys weren’t ready to go, and with the amount of talent that they have on both sides of the ball, it’s downright a failure on all levels.
Dallas was flagged 14 times, accumulating for a grand total of 89 yards. The penalty’s were a combination of a lack of concentration, and just a lack of awareness. They were flagged seven times for pre snap penalty’s. In a playoff game, that is virtually unheard of, especially for a team that concluded the regular season with 12 wins. Some of the other penalty’s were so egregious and so obvious, the officiating crew had no choice but to toss a flag.
Randy Gregory was flagged in this game three-times, and two of them just were unnecessary, and cost the team in a big way.
But, at this point, Cowboys fans should be used to the dumb penalty’s. The Cowboys were the most penalized team in the NFL this season. They led the league in offsides penalty’s (9), and led the league in unnecessary roughness penalty’s (10).
With a team as talented at this one, keeping McCarthy at the helm prevents the Cowboys from ever being true Super Bowl contenders. Can they win the NFL East and maybe win a playoff game under Mike McCarthy? Yes, they can.
But, there will always be a ceiling, and this team will never reach their true goal. It’s only a matter of time before some of their key playmakers hit free agency or age out, so the window is now.
Has Dak Prescott improved under Mike McCarthy? I don’t think so, it felt like Prescott and the offense regressed in the middle of the season. Yes, Prescott still put together a good season, but are we talking about Dak Prescott with the elites in the league? I don’t think so.
The run game hasn’t improved either. Ezekiel Elliot is coming off of a career low in carries and a career low in yards per game.
Why are the Cowboys just going to delay the inevitable and keep McCarthy around? At this stage, another year without a playoff victory is a colossal failure.
The Cowboys can’t afford to be patient here, their window is now.
If Jerry Jones and the Dallas Cowboys were serious about winning a Super Bowl, they’d move on from Mike McCarthy.