The Dallas Cowboys Have Issues at Head Coach
The Dallas Cowboys have a wealth of riches on the offensive side of the ball. From an All-Pro level WR in CeeDee Lamb, to one of the NFL’s best RBs in Tony Pollard, and one of the NFL’s best offensive lines when healthy. So why are the Cowboys losing games to the Arizona Cardinals, who are basically in full tank mode? I will say, the Cardinals loss doesn’t look as bad considering the Cards hung with the Cardinals this week, getting the game as close as one score in the fourth quarter. Still, if you are one of the best teams in the league, you shouldn’t be dropping games like that.
Week 4, the Cowboys faced off against the New England Patriots at home, looking for a bounce back after the dissapointing loss in week 3. The final score definitely looks like the Cowboys had a good offensive day (38 points scored), however 14 of the points came from the defense on a Van Der Esch fumble return for a touchdown and a Daron Bland pick six. When you look at the scoring breakdown, the Cowboys finished the game with just ONE offensive touchdown (an 11 yard pass from Dak Prescott to CeeDee Lamb), and a lot of the same issues we’ve seen the first three weeks continued in week 4.
Red Zone Woes:
Through four weeks, the Cowboys have been in the redzone more than any other team in the NFL (20 trips through 4 games). Today against the Patriots the Cowboys got inside the 10 yard line on 4 separate occassions. The first 3 times, the Patriots were able to stop the Cowboys and they were forced to kick a field goal. The final trip inside the 10, the Cowboys were finally able to punch it in for a touchdown. However, by that time the Cowboys were already leading 31-3, and many of the Patriot starting defenders were out of the game.
The Boys Have a MIKE Issue
The issue for the Cowboys largely seems to be stemming from one key place: head coach Mike McCarthy. McCarthy took over play calling duties on the offensive side of the ball this season after the departure of Offensive Coordinator Kellen Moore, who was hired as the Chargers OC. It’s hard to evaluate the overall effectiveness of McCarthy through 4 games because of the performance of the defense. Three of the first four games, the Cowboys defense has been so dominant, that the play calling for the Cowboys was pretty much forced to be conservative, building big leads early in the game and leaning on the run for most of the remainder of the contests. However, the one game the Cowboys were forced to throw the ball (week 3), the offense looked extremely shaky. And not just in the redzone. A lot of really poor calls by McCarthy put the Cowboys in way too many third down and medium/long situations. And it led to stall outs and punts far too many times.
Even in the game against the Patriots, the Cowboys were getting soft coverage all game long. They had significant success pushing the ball downfield in the passing game. Yet, we continued to see drives started with a wide receiver screen for 1 yard. Or a quick out to one of the Cowboy’s speedless tight ends for 2 yards. Plays that basically grade as “unsuccessful” according to advanced metrics. It begs the question of why? What is it with McCarthy that blocks his ability to see that these calls stall the offense? Whatever it is, I don’t think it’s going away any time soon.
In addition to the play calling there were a few other red flags for McCarthy in the game. For instance, at the end of the first half with his team leading 28-3, McCarthy decided to attempt a 66 yard field goal (which would be an NFL record) with a rookie kicker who was good from no more than 56 in warmups. In a game in which you led 28-3, why take a risk of even allowing something to happen on a play like that. The odds of a blocked field goal on an attempt that large are significantly higher than a normal kick. Not to mention the fact that the kick could very likely come up short, and the Patriots would have a chance to return the kick back with a bunch of slow linemen and special teams blockers in the game. Additionally, late in the third quarter, the Patriots threw an incompletion on 2nd and 10, but were flagged for an illegal blindside block. The penalty would’ve backed it up to 2nd and 25. The average yards/per play for an NFL team is around 6. Easy decision right? McCarthy didn’t seem to think so. He declined the penalty making it a managable 3rd and 10, which the Patriots very nearly converted. Again, would this have mattered in the outcome of this game? Probably not. But it’s the fact that he consistently makes these decisions that leave fans and analysts scratching their heads. What happens when we’re in a close game and that happens? We all remember the end of the playoff game in 2022.
Lastly, you look at his player management late in games in which the Cowboys have big leads. Coming into the game, the Cowboys had a ton of injury concerns. One of those guy being Left Guard Zack Martin. Martin is an all-world offensive lineman, and he single handed could be the difference between the Cowboys offensive line being elite or just decent. Yet in the fourth quarter, in a 31-3 game, while the Cowboys have the ball, McCarthy is trotting out his already vulnrable left guard. Martin was hit on a play early in the fourth and limped off the field. Again, I believe Martin will be okay, but it’s the fact that McCarthy is unable to recognize that these things can cost you games. It’s hard to win the NFL. It’s even harder when you have a coach who doesn’t have the ability to make good decisions. And, it’s almost impossible to make a real run at a SuperBowl with a head coach of this caliber.
For sake of my favorite team and our chances of winning a SuperBowl, I really hope I’m wrong and McCarthy is the guy for this team, because I truly believe the Cowboys have the roster good enough to win a SuperBowl. But from what I’ve seen thus far, not just this season, but his entire time in Dallas, I just don’t see it. Either way, the Cowboys have started 3-1, and they still have a shot to make some noise this season. But I have a sneaking suspicion that we’re going to be talking a lot more about McCarthy over the course of this season; and, not for good reason.
