The Dallas Cowboys are coming off their most embarrassing playoff loss in recent times, and the blame is falling on Mike McCarthy.
Although many are calling for Jerry Jones to clean house, starting with McCarthy, that might not be the most productive decision by the Cowboys’ front office.
Change may be necessary for the Cowboys to get past their nearly 30-year slump of not getting past the Wild Card or Divisional Rounds of the playoffs, but there’s more that goes into firing McCarthy.
We discuss the pros and cons of Jones cleaning house, starting with McCarthy.
Pros of the Dallas Cowboys Cleaning House
To most, especially after an embarrassing 48-32 loss, the immediate action would be to fire McCarthy. If Jones decides to go in this direction, it would send a clear message that he wants to win immediately.
Plus, with coaches like Bill Belichick, Jim Harbaugh, and Mike Vrabel available in the coaching cycle, there could be an easy replacement in the doors almost immediately.
If Jones is willing to pay the price needed to get one of these big names to come to Dallas, it could be the culture reset he wants to get past the playoff threshold that has pledged the Cowboys for nearly 30 years.
If he’s going to clean house, it would mean more than letting McCarthy walk. Since Dan Quinn and John Fassel have been the coordinators for the last three seasons, it would be fair to say they would also be in jeopardy of losing their jobs.
If Jones is going to blow the entire operation, it would start with McCarthy and trickle down to the common denominators that have been with the team the last three seasons.
Although Quinn has multiple head coaching interviews lined up, Jones might consider letting him walk more easily than he has in the past two offseasons.
Cons to Cowboys Cleaning House
The grass is sometimes greener on the other side. Although the loss to the Green Bay Packers was the nightmare scenario that made the world question if McCarthy was the guy for the job, firing him might not be the solution.
McCarthy led the team to three consecutive seasons with 12 wins, the first time this has happened for the Cowboys since the ’90s. If Jones did get rid of him, that would make it the third consecutive year that Dak Prescott has a new play-caller to work under.
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This could be inadequate, considering Prescott’s success working with McCarthy’s “Texas Coast” offense this season. Despite early-season struggles in the red zone, Prescott led the NFL with the most passing touchdowns this season.
He was also the best of qualified quarterbacks on third-down attempts, averaging 9.7 yards per attempt. The Dallas QB had the second-best passer rating this season of 105.9.
The point is that Prescott was productive working with McCarthy and has given him credit since all season. Cleaning house and removing McCarthy could be counterproductive and set the soon-to-be ninth-year quarterback even further.
If Jones keeps McCarthy, it could set the offense up for another successful season, but it comes down to the lack of execution in the postseason and finding the solution for that next year.
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