The news of Jerry Jones deciding to stick with Head Coach Mike McCarthy through the final year of his contract has Cowboys Nation split down the middle.
Ok maybe not right down the middle. The overwhelming majority are pissed off, and is there a more appropriate response?
It’s giving “heeeeere we gooooooo” again vibes, and that’s why fans are emotional.
“How could Jerry do this to us?? Three straight playoff exits and yet another season without an NFC Championship Game appearance!” -every Cowboys fan out there.
McCarthy is taking more arrows than Brandin Cooks has in his quiver on social media, and Defensive Coordinator Dan Quinn is not safe from the air raid.
Most fans are shouting for the proverbial beheading of both play-callers, but they haven’t put down their torches and pitchforks long enough to think that sentence through.
You might not want to hear it, but the return of Mike McCarthy and the possible return of Dan Quinn are good things for this team.
I know I’m in the minority at the moment, but cooler heads always prevail, and continuity is the best recipe for the Cowboys to reach the ultimate goal in 2024.
It’s What’s Best For Dak Prescott
Dak Prescott’s eighth season didn’t go out with a bang like expected, instead ending in more of a puff of smoke from a defective Roman candle on the 4th of July.
So much was made of Prescott’s 2023 season this time last year.
The eighth year was THE year for other quarterbacks like Peyton Manning and Drew Brees, and Prescott was poised to follow in their footsteps.
The first five weeks were the antithesis of that, but a switch flipped for the offense after the embarrassment of a 32-point loss at the hands of the eventual top-seed San Francisco 49ers.
Dak and CeeDee Lamb were shot out of a rocket after that game as McCarthy made adjustments to his struggling offense.
Those adjustments catapulted Prescott into the MVP conversation, and Lamb into the Offensive Player of the Year consideration.
Prescott was dialed in, finishing the regular season with arguably the best performance of his career.
It call came crashing down in the Wildcard round, but it doesn’t erase what he accomplished with McCarthy in his first year as the play-caller.
There are some tweaks needed to beat heavy zone coverages, but there is a full offseason to incorporate those tweaks.
Dan Quinn is Still the Best Option
What’s funny about the people who are clamoring for Quinn to be hired elsewhere is they can’t name better options besides Joe Whitt Jr. or Al Harris.
Let me if I’m understanding this correctly.
You want to get rid of the man who has built and led his defense to break franchise records as a unit while individual players are breaking long-standing NFL records?
Yes, he also called a defense last week that put together the worst postseason defensive performance in franchise history, but those two coordinators mentioned above were also there.
If they were so much better and the season was on the line, don’t you think they would have called upstairs with a better plan on how to stop Green Bay?
The problem is that Quinn’s hands were tied as far as his personnel is concerned, and if we are being honest, that’s been the case all season.
Injuries are an unfortunate part of the job that coordinators have to navigate for every team, but Dallas lost some big names from that defense this season.
All-Pro Trevon Diggs was lost prior to Week 3 with a torn ACL suffered in practice.
Leighton Vander Esch was lost just a couple of weeks later to a neck injury that very well may end his career.
Losing Vander Esch wouldn’t have been so detrimental to the defense, but Dallas had already lost promising rookie DeMarvion Overshown to a torn ACL in the preseason.
Dallas remained thin at linebacker all season, eventually coming back to haunt them in the playoff loss.
The defense is made in Quinn’s image, and as the creator, he knows exactly what to do to remedy the ailments from 2023.
The Team is Too Close to Start Over
Attempting to start over with a new head coach and/or defensive coordinator is the worst possible thing the Cowboys could do.
The wound is still fresh, and fans would rather amputate than use a bandage and allow it to heal, but healing your wound instead of losing your leg is still the better option in the long run.
I already know what you’re going to say so let me jump out ahead of you with the common responses:
- “McCarthy and Quinn can’t make adjustments!”
- “Doing the same things and expecting different results is insanity!”
- “Jerry Jones only cares about the bottom line!”
- “Dak Prescott can’t perform in big games!”
Honestly, trying to respond to each of those comments is a story for another day, but I can tell you that all those things can be fixed.
This was a very uncharacteristic draft class from the Cowboys.
Uncharacteristic in the sense that they received minimal contributions.
Will McClay and his scouting department do such an incredible job at evaluating talent to help immediately that when they do miss, it affects the team greatly.
Two years in a row of that is not likely, and 2024 will feature two draft classes essentially making their impact felt at once.
So relax, Cowboys Nation.
Go ahead and be angry, but understand that not only is there nothing you can do about it, but this is the best route to see the team hoist the Lombardi Trophy in 2024.