As the postseason approaches, Dallas Cowboys’ Mike McCarthy remains under scrutiny.
Even though the Dallas Cowboys might surprise everyone by winning their division at the end of the 2023 regular season, Mike McCarthy’s position is still in jeopardy for 2024.
The fourth-year head coach’s job will depend on how the team finishes the season in the playoffs, as ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported prior to the Cowboys’ regular-season finale against the Washington Commanders.
“McCarthy would have an excellent chance to keep his job if the Cowboys play well in the postseason,” Schefter said. Nevertheless, some believe that Dallas may undergo change if they falter and finish the season with a humiliating loss, as has occurred in each of the previous two years.”
This occurs only a few weeks after it was suggested that McCarthy might be eligible for a contract extension in the wake of Dallas’ five-game winning streak, which ended in a Week 14 victory over the Philadelphia Eagles, 33-13.
That will follow a path that pursues its own timeline,” proprietor Jerry Jones stated in December. “I don’t do anything of that sort until the season is over.”
Even though the Eagles began the season 5-0 and are the only unbeaten team in the NFL, the Cowboys will win the NFC East if they defeat the Commanders this weekend. They are -13-point favorites.
But if Dallas keeps failing miserably in the postseason like it has in the past, winning the division title will be for nothing. It’s no secret that, since the 1995 campaign, the Cowboys have not made it to the conference title game. To make matters worse, the Cowboys have only won 5-12 games in the postseason since the 1996 campaign; two of those losses occurred when the team was the top seed in the NFC. Five of those defeats occurred at home.
Additionally, Dallas has lost to the San Francisco 49ers twice in a row in the playoffs—once in the divisional round of 2022 after winning the division and again in 2021—and McCarthy’s career would probably end with a third loss to the Niners or another top NFC team prior to the conference championship.
With four seasons under his belt, McCarthy’s 41 victories with the Dallas Cowboys are actually the most in any coach in Cowboys history, and the team has the second-highest total in the NFL since the 2021 season, trailing only the Kansas City Chiefs.
It should be mentioned that even with the loss of Pro Bowl running back Ezekiel Elliott and former offensive coordinator Kellen Moore, the Cowboys offense has remained among the best in the league. McCarthy has assumed control of the offensive play-calling, and quarterback Dak Prescott has benefited the most from it. After throwing 15 picks in just 12 games the previous season, Prescott has posted an MVP-caliber season with a league-high 32 touchdown passes and just eight interceptions.
The Cowboys, also referred to as America’s Team and led by owner Jerry Jones, have more expectations than any other NFL team. In the great scheme of things, Dallas’ regular season success is meaningless when you factor in their lack of postseason success during the previous 28 years.
The report isn’t exactly surprising considering this was considered to be a make-or-break season for McCarthy by many observers entering the postseason. In fact, McCarthy entered the season with the highest odds of any head coach to be fired first.
If the Cowboys enter as the No. 2 seed, they’ll clinch at least two home playoff games, which is imperative considering their success at home compared to their lack of success on the road. Dallas has won 16 straight home games while they’re 3-5 on the road this season.
