Photo by John Rivera/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images Next Monday night will be interesting. This Week 11 matchup between the Dallas Cowboys and Houston Texans is one of those interstate rivalries that can divide household’s, pitting friends against friends and family against family in the state of Texas. Due to the current state of one of these teams, the excitement of this rare head-to-head regular-season meeting has all but lost its appeal. These two teams are on different ends of the spectrum heading into this Week 11 matchup. The Cowboys really have nothing left to play for this year with their playoff hopes ended, but the Texans are playing for the playoffs, even with their close but unfortunate loss to the Detroit Lions last week. One thing that makes this game interesting is some of the individual matchups that should be entertaining to watch. Sadly the brother-against-brother battle between Stefon and Trevon Diggs won’t take place, but there are several other battles to keep an eye on this week. DE Micah Parsons vs. LT Laremy Tunsil After missing multiple weeks with a high ankle sprain, Micah Parsons’ triumphant return to the field proved why he is one of the most feared pass rushers in the entire league. He registered two QB sacks last week against the Eagles and will try to replicate that success in Week 11 against the Texans. That’s easier said than done though considering Houston’s LT Laremy Tunsil has only given up two sacks this year. He is however the most penalized OT in the league (14), which means Parsons could at least get the better of him that way. CB Trevon Diggs vs. WR Nico Collins A lot of us had this Week 11 matchup circled on the calendar to watch the head-to-head battle between brothers Stefon and Trevon Diggs. Unfortunately a season-ending knee injury for Stefon prevents that from happening. Instead of that matchup, the one between Trevon and Nico Collins is a pretty interesting one as well. Collins has been out since Week 5 with a hamstring injury, but led the league in receiving with 567 yards at that point. Neutralizing his impact on the game could fall mostly on Diggs’ shoulders this week. All of this is predicated on Collins playing, which is expected at this point. LT Tyler Guyton/Asim Richards vs. DE Will Anderson It’s unknown right now if Tyler Guyton will return to the starting lineup after being inactive for last week’s game, but whether it’s him or Asim Richards, they will have their hands full with one of the best young pass rushers in the league in Will Anderson. Like Guyton, Anderson also missed last week’s game. Despite that though, he is still tied third in the league with eight QB sacks this season. The second-year pass rusher could be a problem this week. The same is true for Danielle Hunter versus Terence Steele on the other side.
Cowboys fans get glimpse of another potential Mike McCarthy replacement in Week 11
Cowboys fans get glimpse of another potential Mike McCarthy replacement in Week 11 reidhanson All indications are the Cowboys will be looking for new head coach this winter when Mike McCarthy’s contract runs out. Armed with draft picks, available spending cash, and a desire for change, Dallas will be an attractive place for a head coach looking to make an instant impact. Bobby Slowik, the Texans’ prized offensive coordinator, is likely on his way out of Houston this winter. The Shanahan-like play caller has seen his stock rise to meteoric levels over the past season and a half and is now one of the hottest names on head coaching market in 2025. Slowik is a play designer who creates deception by using a series of similar looking personnel groups and alignments. He’s a run truther but he backs it up by designing run-friendly plays and using run-friendly wrinkles. He’s taken a fledging Houston offense and built it up to sky-high levels with an inexperienced QB. Play action, motion at the snap and various post-snap options all put his offenses in position to succeed. It’s allowed his offenses to produce higher outputs as complete unit than the individual pieces would otherwise provide. It’s these traits that make Slowik such an attractive option for Cowboys fans. Eager to turn the page on yet another disappointing chapter in Cowboys history, many fans look at Slowik as a true step in the right direction. He’s not only an offensive savant up to date on all the tips and tricks that drive defenses wild but he’s also someone with a fair degree of defensive coaching experience. Unlike most head coaches, Slowik is a coach who adds considerable value with scheme on one side of the ball and also has work experience on the other side of the ball. As if that wasn’t enough, Slowik worked for three years at Pro Football Focus, understanding analytics in a way very few NFL coaches can. Slowik is the complete package, and the Cowboys may be able to hire him this winter. For anyone interested in getting a glimpse at the trending head coach candidate they needn’t look much further than Monday. In Week 11 the Cowboys take on the Texans and get a great firsthand look at someone who could be the next head coach of the Cowboys. Not since Week 6 against the Lions and Ben Johnson did Dallas get such a privilege. If Slowik can show half as much as Johnson did, fans are in for a real treat, so to speak. Related articles [affiliatewidget_smgtolocal] Read all the best Cowboys coverage at the Austin American-Statesman and Cowboys Wire.
Cowboys analytics roundup: Cooper Rush stats didn’t make the team that much worse
Photo by Cooper Neill/Getty Images Things with the Cowboys are so discouraging these days. The Cowboys are bad. Everyone knows that by now, and in case you thought it might change with Cooper Rush coming into the lineup, it did not. This team is too bad right now for any move to serve as a quick fix or save the season. But even the most optimistic Rush fans had to be blown away by how bad he was. Ditto for Trey Lance in his limited playing time. The question, though, comes down to how bad the Cowboys’ backups really were. Watching the game was rough, as both Rush and Lance made several especially egregious mistakes, but did their play really drag this team down considerably more? Let’s take a look at the advanced statistics to see. In short, no they did not. The Cowboys took a very small step back in their offensive efficiency grades this week, but their rankings – offense, defense, and special teams – remained the same as a week ago. Their total team DVOA grade dropped one ranking, but only because they were just barely ahead of a Dolphins team that just won. We also now pivot to tracking weighted DVOA instead of DAVE, casting out any preseason projections and instead focusing on more recent performances versus how the team did earlier in the year. Right now, the Cowboys’ weighted DVOA doesn’t deviate too much, but if it starts to shift significantly one way or the other, that will offer some clues as to the real impact of the quarterback change. 2024 NFL Team Tiers, Weeks 1-10, courtesy of rbsdm.com The team took a more significant tumble in the EPA-based team tiers. A week ago, they were still pretty bad but at least sat comfortably ahead of the Patriots, Browns, Giants, and Titans. Now, they’re practically even with the Browns and only ahead of the abysmal Panthers and Raiders. Thinking just about the NFC East, the Giants made almost no movement here, but the Cowboys just fell that far behind them. Meanwhile, the Eagles and Commanders are among the league’s best teams right now. And as far as playoff seeding goes, there are nine NFC teams in the top three tiers here with only seven spots open. Even if Dak Prescott was going to return this year, the playoff window is as firmly shut as it could be without being mathematically eliminated. Offense So the offense didn’t get all that much worse in going from Dak Prescott to Cooper Rush, which is both an endorsement of why Rush is the top backup and also an indictment of how bad this offense has been. Rush is not a particularly gifted quarterback, but his command of the playbook and solid fundamentals have made him a valuable backup because there isn’t likely to be a massive decline when he plays. That’s reflected here. However, when the offense is so disastrous already, it’s hard to get much worse. That said, it’s not impossible either: here are six offenses behind Dallas in offensive DVOA, three of which have either fired their offensive coordinator or changed play-callers. These next two months of football are going to make it painfully obvious that this offense is in need of serious structural changes. This will be the last week we look at Dak Prescott’s efficiency in this analytics roundups for two reasons. For starters, Prescott’s season was officially ended when he opted to undergo surgery on his hamstring tear on Monday. Additionally, one more game of Cooper Rush as the starter will give us just enough of a sample size to really dig into here, even though it’ll still be tough to compare him against the rest of the league. So, in looking at Prescott’s final standings for the year, this was one of the most precipitous dropoffs we’ve seen in quite some time. A year ago, Prescott finished the season ranked second in EPA/play, second in QBR, and fifth in CPOE. Similarly, he was second in MVP voting. This year, as his season ends, he’s in the bottom quartile of the league in nearly every category. Whoever is in charge of this offense next year will be tasked with reviving Prescott’s career, which looked to be hitting its peak not even a full calendar year ago. The offensive line has been a mixed bag all year. They’re not getting their quarterback sacked at a high rate, but they have a tendency to fall apart in big moments. Their run blocking has its moments – and it’s worth noting Rico Dowdle is behind only Bijan Robinson in running back success rate – but it’s not consistently dominant. One player on this offensive line that’s consistently been an issue is Terence Steele. Only two tackles in the NFL have surrendered more pressures than Steele this year, and none have allowed more sacks. That’s not a good sign considering that Steele’s base salary next year will increase from $1.6 million to $13.3 million. Even worse: the Cowboys can’t get out of his contract without taking on serious amounts of dead money until the conclusion of the 2025 season. Defense Micah Parsons returned, at long last, and immediately proved why he’s the best defensive player in the league. What he may lack in PR skills is made up for with another type of PR skills: pass rush. Parsons’ 92.1 pass rush grade from Pro Football Focus was the best of any defender in Week 10, and he helped the Cowboys climb all the way up to fifth in the league in pressure rate. Outside of that, though, everything else is bad for this defense. Parsons couldn’t fix a leaky secondary or squishy run defense. The game was a testament to Mike Zimmer’s ability to scheme up pressures, especially when Parsons is in the game, but the veteran coach simply lacks too much talent elsewhere to put a complete product on the field. Speaking of that leaky secondary,
Cowboys news: Dallas named only second-most disappointing team in 2024
Barry Reeger-Imagn Images The latest news surrounding the Dallas Cowboys. Dallas Cowboys surprisingly aren’t the NFL’s most disappointing team – Josh Sanchez, Sports Illustrated Saying the Cowboys aren’t the most disappointing team this season is surprising. While the Cowboys have been a major disappointment, they are not the league’s most disappointing team, according to CBS Sports. “Dallas had the fifth-best odds in the NFC prior to the season. Heading into Week 11, the Cowboys are not only barely in contention for the NFC East, but also three games out of the final playoff berth,” the report reads. As a result of their underperforming, the Cowboys are ranked as the second-most disappointing team in the NFL through 10 weeks, surpassed only by the New York Jets. Mailbag: Time to let Martin get healthy? – Tommy Yarrish, Mickey Spagnola, DallasCowboys.com The season’s is all but decided, is it time to save us from ourselves? I consider Zack Martin one of the greatest players in Cowboys history. He should be in the Hall of Fame someday. But he’s clearly hurting and not himself. Is it time to sit him out a game or two and let him get healthy? Obviously, he doesn’t want to sit, and the team will only be worse without him, but I hate seeing this great player struggle, especially when they’re losing anyway. – Steven Morris/Louisville, KY Mickey: That sounds like a very compassionate thought on your part, and Zack is battling through that shoulder injury, because it’s not like him to miss the padded practice on Thursday that he did this past week. But you must factor in who would be taking his place, and at this time the guy would be T.J. Bass, a second-year guard who came into the NFL as a rookie free agent last year with just three starts under his belt as an injury replacement. Also, must consider increasing the lack of experience on the offensive line if Martin isn’t out there, and with youngsters starting at left tackle and center, and now then at right guard might be creating a worse problem. Now if he’s injured to the point he can’t play, then that is another story. Tommy: Obviously if Zack Martin is hurt enough to the point where it would be detrimental for him physically to be playing, then you absolutely sit him. If this is just your normal mid-season banged up though, then he’s the best option you have at right guard even though time is starting to catch up to him. You’re absolutely right that it’s not fun seeing great players struggle, but all great players have and will struggle throughout their career. This is just, unfortunately, seeming like the time in Martin’s career where you start to see those signs build up. Cowboys’ Jake Ferguson takes blame in stadium sunlight debacle, has faith in backups after losing Dak Prescott – Jordan Dajani, CBS Sports Prescott’s security blanket has faith in his entire quarterback room. Despite the slow start to the second half of the season, the Cowboys still have confidence. Tight end Jake Ferguson voiced his support for Rush and Lance when speaking with CBS Sports this week. “I have all the faith in the world in those two,” Ferguson said. “I tell everybody, my first NFL touchdown was from Cooper Rush. The way those two approach the game, the way they approach each day getting into the facilities … the meetings, the practices, whatever it may be, the walk-throughs. Those guys are approaching it full steam ahead with supreme confidence. And my job as 1/11ths of the offense is not only to do my job at the best level that I can, but also to give them that confidence that, ‘Hey, I can throw the ball to 87 if I need to …’” One of the big storylines to come out of the Cowboys’ loss to the Eagles was the sun. Yes, the big ball of fire in the sky. With Dallas playing in the late afternoon, the sun was peeking through the windows of AT&T Stadium, which caused some problems for CeeDee Lamb in the end zone. After missing a touchdown catch due to the glare, Lamb told reporters he is “one thousand percent” in favor of blackout curtains being used for Cowboys home games. Ferguson, who was somewhat a part of this now infamous “sun drop,” actually took responsibility for the fiasco that it has evolved into. “You know, I wasn’t standing where CeeDee was. I wasn’t seeing what he was seeing,” Ferguson said. “In my eyes, I think I should have caught that ball. If you watch the video back, you can kind of see me in the area. If I reach my hands out and catch that ball, the whole country isn’t having this conversation. So in my eyes, I should have caught that ball. In my eyes, I also should have finished the route. I stopped in the route and came back. I shouldn’t have done that, I should keep stretching it. But like I said, in my eyes I should have caught that ball.” 10 Cowboys head coaching candidates to replace Mike McCarthy – David Howman, BloggingTheBoys.com We all know how Black Monday will go this year, so let’s look at possible replacements. This begs the question of who might replace McCarthy when, not if, the job becomes available. Looking around the league, there are quite a few hot names in the coaching world that could be contenders in Dallas. While there will surely be some interest among fans in plucking a coach from the college ranks (Deion Sanders, anyone?), Jerry Jones has been pretty adamant that such a move can’t work in the modern NFL. Without further ado, and as the regular season keeps on rolling, here are 10 names to watch as potential candidates for the top job with America’s Team. Ben Johnson Current role: Lions offensive coordinator The skinny: Ben Johnson has been the hottest head coaching
Cowboys RT Terence Steele proving quite the tricky analysis
Cowboys RT Terence Steele proving quite the tricky analysis reidhanson Terence Steele isn’t very good. The fifth-year vet has allowed the third most pressures in the NFL from the tackle position in 2024. In Pro Football Focus’ pass block grades he’s fourth lowest among those with seven or more starts. And the seven sacks he’s given up ties him with backup OT Fred Johnson for worst in the NFL. At the same time, Steele is also pretty darn good. The 27-year-old is, at times, a dominant run blocker. Steele grades as the 13th best run blocking OT in the NFL. On zone runs in 2024 he ranks eighth amongst his peers. While Steele has been called for three false starts, he hasn’t been called for a single hold in run blocking this season. Steele is a liability in pass protection and an asset in run blocking. It’s a situation that surely gives the Cowboys fits because Steele represents both extremes at the OT position. He’s a player to run the ball behind but also someone in pass protection to be wary of. When Steele originally signed his five-year, $82,500,000 extension, he was coming off a career season. Though injury ended that year prematurely, Steele had established himself as an elite run blocker and adequate pass protector in 2022. It’s taken time for Steele to bounce back, but as a run blocker, he appears to be finally arriving. Unfortunately, as a pass protector he’s still a far cry from adequate. It’s made Steele a lightning rod for criticism in 2024 and a likely cap casualty in the offseason. While he’s technically signed through 2028, the Cowboys can cut him in 2025 for $14 million in savings. The Cowboys will likely be looking to cut costs over the winter as they rebuild their roster for next year. Middle class players like Steele could very well be out the door, even if they have posted some impressive highlights over the years. It’s understandable many have been critical of Steele over recent weeks. He’s one of the highest-paid players on the roster and routinely gives up pressures, killing drives and frustrating fans. But it’s worth acknowledging Steele is pretty good in some areas too. Steele’s an excellent run blocker and for that he deserves recognition. Related articles [affiliatewidget_smgtolocal] Read all the best Cowboys coverage at the Austin American-Statesman and Cowboys Wire.
Cowboys backup predicted to get $10 million contract in free agency
Cowboys backup predicted to get $10 million contract in free agency K.D. Drummond The Dallas Cowboys might not be able to resuscitate their playoff chances in 2024, but that doesn’t mean there’s nothing to salvage from the season. Dallas sits at 3-6 and will watch the rest of the league play their Week 11 games before they get a chance to take the field. While there’s still plenty of action left in the season, the Cowboys are likely playing for draft positioning, not playoff positioning. But playing out the string can benefit individual players. Dallas has a ton of free agents who could be auditioning for either a new coaching staff in Dallas or a new franchise outside of the DFW. That includes quarterback Trey Lance. Sooner or later, the coaching staff is going to give Lance a shot at starting, though it won’t be in Week 11. But when he does, one outlet has confidence he’s going to play pretty well. Bleacher Report’s Brad Gagnon identified the fifth-year quarterback as someone on the verge of making a name for himself in the writer’s 5 Bold Predictions for the rest of the 2024 season. Gagnon thinks Lance will take the opportunity afforded with Dak Prescott’s pending surgery, and run with it all the way to a lucrative contract in the offseason. Right place, right time. The Cowboys have lost Dak Prescott for the remainder of the year, and Cooper Rush has been so bad that Trey Lance is bound to get some serious work down the stretch. Surrounded by plenty of talent, look for the skilled 24-year-old to put on some shows just as his contract expires. I’m not saying he’ll salvage his career, but the 2021 No. 3 pick is in the ideal environment to fire up some teams that might be desperate enough to believe he could be a late-blooming answer. At the very least, Lance will do enough to earn a Sam Darnold-like top-tier backup contract as an insurance policy somewhere. A Sam Darnold like deal would net Lance around $10 million on a one-year contract to prove himself; that’s what the former Jet was provided to be the backup in Minnesota to a rookie QB. JJ McCarthy was lost for the year to injury and Darnold stepped in and has led the Vikings into the playoff picture, surprising many. If Lance has that in him, then he will probably lose the Cowboys some draft slot positioning and earn them a 2026 compensatory pick.
Why the Cowboys would be wise to sign Rico Dowdle to an extension before season’s end
Brett Davis-Imagn Images Should the Cowboys consider getting ahead of things a bit (lol) and sign Rico Dowdle to an extension? Disaster is a fair word to describe the Dallas Cowboys 2024 season. After entering the season with lofty expectations, the Cowboys are all but eliminated from the playoff race as we sit in at the second week of November. It’s been a while since the Cowboys have had to endure a season like this. 2020 was a bad year, but Dak Prescott’s injury in Week 5 gave Dallas a chance to have some optimism things would have gone differently if he was healthy. While Prescott suffered a season-ending injury again this season, it was very clear that even with their star quarterback, the Cowboys were not going anywhere this year. While this season has not produced many positive developments, a few players have exceeded expectations and given Dallas some hope for the future. One of those players has been 26-year-old running back Rico Dowdle. Dowdle, who many believe would serve as Dallas’ true number one running back this year, has been given fewer opportunities than expected but has produced at a high level when he’s been on the field. On the season, Dowdle has carried the ball 83 times for 374 yards, an average of 4.5 Y/A, and recorded career-highs in first down runs (21) and rushing success rate. (55.4) Rico Dowdle looking good todaypic.twitter.com/y5MiMUe7sK — Tom Downey (@WhatGoingDowney) November 10, 2024 #Cowboys Rico Dowdle among all running backs for Week 9 (pre-MNF): • 58.3% success rate – (4th)• +3.0 rush EPA – (4th)• 6.3 yards per carry – (2nd)• 3 rushes of 10+ yards – (T-2nd) Rico needs a minimum of 20 touches a game. (via NFL Pro) pic.twitter.com/fcAEThb1A8 — Brandon Loree (@Brandoniswrite) November 5, 2024 There is a clear difference in explosiveness between Dowdle and the Cowboys’ other running backs. The 26-year-old has an 8.5% explosive rush rate, which isn’t anything all that special, but when you consider how much the Cowboys have struggled to run the ball this season it’s much more impressive. Dallas’ other two primary running backs, Dalvin Cook and Ezekiel Elliott, have explosive rush rates of 0% and 2.1% respectively. Dallas’ run game as a whole is going to need a complete overhaul this spring, but adding multiple running backs and offensive linemen in one single offseason may not be a realistic option. While he may not be one of the top running backs in the league, Dowdle has proven he is capable of being a valuable piece of an effective rushing attack. It would benefit the Cowboys greatly to lock him up long-term to take one thing off their offseason to-do list. If the Cowboys were to sign Dowdle to an extension, it wouldn’t break the bank. Devin Singletary, a similar runner production-wise to Dowdle, signed a three-year, $16.5M deal with the New York Giants last offseason. Dallas could likely lock up Dowdle with a similar type of offer only costing them $5-6M a year. Signing Rico Dowdle to an extension isn’t going to be the singular move that thrust Dallas back into Super Bowl contention next season. However, it would help lessen their load this offseason and would allow them to pair him with another free agent or draft pick at the position.
Cowboys doghouse: Ezekiel Elliott’s return to Dallas has been a disaster
Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images The Cowboys seem to feel confident in Ezekiel Elliott. The Dallas Cowboys made the decision to basically ignore the running back position this offseason despite losing Tony Pollard in free agency. However, they did bring back an old friend, Ezekiel Elliott. As much as it was a head-scratcher considering Elliott is simply not the same guy anymore. nor did it boost the running back room to a high degree, the Cowboys wanted, or should I say Jerry Jones, to make the two-time rushing champion a part of their committee approach. No matter how anyone felt, Elliott being back in Dallas made sense if they used him a certain way as in letting him be a short yardage and goal line type of guy to keep the chains moving and punch the ball in end zone. However, after two months of the season, Elliott isn’t even being used in those situations regularly, making his role a pretty useless one. On top of that, Elliott recently had a talk with the organization about his role or lack thereof, which led to him getting more carries than Rico Dowdle against the Detroit Lions although the latter was coming off of the best game of his career with 87 yards. After the bye week, Elliott would get the start against the San Francisco 49ers due to Dowdle being a late scratch because of being sick, but he only managed a pedestrian 34 yards on 10 carries. Then, things got even more messy around Elliott’s return. Before the Cowboys took on the Atlanta Falcons, it was reported that Elliott and the team mutually agreed that he would miss the game due to disciplinary reasons. Come to find out, the situation had been boiling over as Elliott has exhibited habitual tardiness and has missed three team meetings with the one the Friday before the Falcons game pushing things over the edge. That was a complete shocker to everyone, considering that one of Elliott’s strengths has always been that he was a locker room guy, but this type of behavior is the complete opposite of that. Last week, the Cowboys took on the hated Philadelphia Eagles at home. Near the end of the second quarter, Dallas had a first-and-goal at the six-yard line in a 7-3 game. Elliott was given the opportunity to give the Cowboys the lead, but he fumbled the ball into the endzone for a touchback. There’s quite a bit to unpack here, but none of it is positive. Not only is Elliott not performing well at what he was brought back to do, but he’s also not being a leader with how he’s handling preparation before game days. It’s just been a mess when it comes to Elliott and his reunion with the team. It’s clear that both sides need to part ways no matter how much Jerry Jones says he’s seen good things from Elliott. It’s a mystery as to what he’s talking about because Elliott is averaging a career-low 3.2 yards per rush. Elliott will always have a positive legacy with the team given everything he gave to the franchise in his first run with the team. It’s just what he brings to the table now, and what the Cowboys need, just don’t match anymore.
Cowboys starter with rehab group to start Week 11; backup OL has practice window activated
Cowboys starter with rehab group to start Week 11; backup OL has practice window activated Todd Brock Get ready for the possibility of more personnel swapping along the Cowboys’ offensive line. With rookie left tackle Tyler Guyton already having sat out last Sunday’s game against Philadelphia with a neck/shoulder injury, backup Asim Richards got the Week 10 start and played well enough to leave Cowboys head coach Mike McCarthy “impressed,” despite the team’s 34-6 blowout loss. Guyton is reportedly “trending towards being healthy” for the team’s next outing, per the team website. But now the spot next to him on the Dallas O-line is suddenly worth monitoring with the 6-4 Houston Texans coming to town for a Monday night intrastate clash. Third-year left guard Tyler Smith was seen wearing a knee wrap during the media portion of Wednesday’s practice session, according to multiple observers. The 23-year-old worked with the rehab group, along with cornerback DaRon Bland, who has yet to make his 2024 debut after a foot injury suffered in camp. https://twitter.com/tommy_yarrish/status/1856769903971233857/ It is not known what sort of issue Smith is experiencing. The team will not release its first practice report of the week until Thursday. Houston enters Week 11 ranked seventh leaguewide in sacks, with 29. [affiliatewidget_smgtolocal] In a separate move that may or may not be coincidental, reserve lineman Chuma Edoga had his 21-day practice window activated on Wednesday. The veteran had been sidelined with a toe injury prior to the season opener. Edoga started six games last season– four at left tackle and two at left guard- and could therefore theoretically be in play if Smith is unable to go. T.J. Bass is officially listed on the team website as the primary backup to both right guard Zack Martin and Smith at left guard. Smith currently has the third-most snaps on the Cowboys offense through nine games this season, appearing in nearly 96% of the unit’s on-field action. Read all the best Cowboys coverage at the Austin American-Statesman and Cowboys Wire.
Eagles loss another glaring example of why Mike McCarthy has to go
Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images From the field to the locker room, Mike McCarthy’s influence on the Cowboys isn’t working. Another week, another embarrassing home loss for the Dallas Cowboys. A predictably one-sided, 34-6 defeat from the Philadelphia Eagles hardly moved the needle on where the team is at this season. But how the loss happened further indicates just how badly Dallas needs to move on from head coach Mike McCarthy. You don’t lose by 28 at home without a group effort, but McCarthy and Brian Schottenheimer’s offense was more complicit by far. Between Cooper Rush and Trey Lance’s work at quarterback, Dallas managed just 49 passing yards and a 49.1 passer rating against Philly. Five turnovers, four fumbles and one interception, showed the Cowboys’ offense to be completely out of sorts. As we’ve harped on all season, a lack of ingenuity in design and play-calling didn’t give Dallas’ outmatched roster any chance against the Eagles’ superior talent. It was only 14-6 at halftime because the defense did their best. DeMarvion Overshown was a menace, Micah Parsons returned with solid work, and Trevon Diggs got one of his classic interceptions to stop an Eagles drive in the endzone. But even with such a manageable halftime score on paper, there was never a point that you felt much hope of Dallas pulling off the upset. This void of optimism is directly linked to McCarthy. There’s no sense that he has a handle on things anymore, either in the X’s and O’s of running an offense, head coaching basics like clock management and challenging plays, or managing the team’s chemistry and culture. Parsons’ well-covered postgame comments may not have been intended to blast the coach’s effort, but the words still came out the way they did. And the reason they resonated is because McCarthy does seem like a guy who’s phoning it in. Or worse, a guy who’s now so bad at his job that you can’t tell the difference. We never saw the team look this bad, on the field or backstage, under Jason Garrett. We never saw Cooper Rush look this bad when Kellen Moore was offensive coordinator. People want to make such a big deal about McCarthy’s three-straight seasons with 12 wins, but let’s not pretend that Garrett wasn’t a 2015 Tony Romo injury away from a similar feat from 2014-2016. McCarthy’s highs haven’t been any higher than previous coaching regimes, and his lows are starting to look much lower. A midseason firing probably isn’t happening at this point. Jerry Jones seems more stubborn than ever about doing things his way, whether it’s blinding his own players with sunlight in the stadium or hanging on to a head coach who’s team is just not competitive. What Jerry decides here is about what he wants to do, not what he should do. He should absolutely fire McCarthy. He should have done it after the playoff loss last January, but at this point there’s no room for debate. The entire atmosphere around the team has become putrid and dragging your fans through two more months of garbage is just negligence. Firing McCarthy isn’t about saving this season but rather saving some goodwill for the future. We’ve reached the “it can’t get any worse” point with Mike McCarthy’s run in Dallas. Getting outclassed by the next generation of coaches is one thing, but now he’s proven to be counter-productive to winning football games. Maybe that’s what you want if you’re focused on 2025 draft positioning, but it could cost you the morale and loyalty of your roster and fanbase along the way.
