Jones crushed after his Cowboys lose
ARLINGTON, TEXAS Mike McCarthy’s future as Dallas Cowboys coach wasn’t something Jerry Jones wanted to discuss after a wild-card loss that left the owner saying “I can’t remember” when asked if he’d ever been more disappointed in defeat.
Questions about McCarthy come in part because the Cowboys could lose both co-ordinators to head coaching jobs in Kellen Moore on offence and Dan Quinn on defence. Moore is getting interviews for a second consecutive year, and Quinn took Atlanta to a Super Bowl in that role.
The 23-17 loss to San Francisco on Sunday was another uneven performance from franchise quarterback Dak Prescott and Moore’s offence. It was punctuated by the hotly debated decision to run Prescott up the middle without a timeout with 14 seconds remaining, believing there was time to spike the ball and run one more play.
After it didn’t work and McCarthy, Prescott and other Dallas players criticized officials for the clock running out, Jones rejected the controversy with a dose of reality.
“I think this is a time that when you get this combination of players together, you need to have success, because we all know how it goes in the NFL,” Jones said after Sunday’s game. “The whole thing is set up to take away from the best, and add to the ones that need improvement, and personnel-wise, I think we have one of the best (teams).”
The Cowboys haven’t even reached an NFC championship game since winning the last of the franchise’s five Super Bowl titles during the 1995 season. It’s quite a drought for Jones, also the club’s general manager, after Dallas won three championships in four years early in his ownership.
The Cowboys hoped McCarthy’s experience of leading Green Bay to four NFC title games in 12-plus seasons would help end the drought.
The loss to the 49ers gave the Cowboys a finishing 2-4 stretch at home in the second year of McCarthy’s five-year contract. The NFC East champs were 12-6 overall.
“I don’t have any concerns,” McCarthy said when asked about his job security. “I’m proud to be standing here today. I’m proud of my football team.”