Jerry Jones Not Firing Mike McCarthy In-Season Even As Coach Does Questionable Things

We support our Publishers and Content Creators. You can view this story on their website by CLICKING HERE.

A different club owner would look at the situation with the Dallas Cowboys and seriously consider firing coach Mike McCarthy. Like, today. Now.

Because the Cowboys aren’t playing well. And they’re not rallying. And McCarthy is doing some really questionable things.

Jones Keeping McCarthy For Now

But that’s not how Jerry Jones is thinking.

And it’s pretty smart.

“I have made a change early on a coach with Chan Gailey, and I’ve always regretted that, and I’ve made a change during the season [Wade Phillips in 2010] and regretted that,” Jones told reporters after Monday night’s loss to the Houston Texans.

“And that’s the music I’m listening to.”

It is a sad tune of failure. But it’s the smartest thing Jones has done in a while – perhaps this entire Godforsaken Cowboys season.

The Cowboys ultimately got blown out by the Texans in this game, 34-10. So, they lost the battle of Texas. And they lost their fifth consecutive game.

And in that loss, make no mistake, McCarthy did some pretty questionable things.

McCarthy Blows Multiple Decisions

He called a fake punt from his team’s own 33 yard ine on fourth-and-9. So, he trusted his punter to throw a pass for a first down deep in his own territory in the first quarter of a game Dallas was trailing only 7-0.

“They won the chess match there,” McCarthy said. “That was a poor call by us.”

No kidding.

Another questionable call was taking points off the board after kicker Brandon Aubrey booted a 64-yard field goal that would have made it a one-score game, 20-13 in the third quarter. The Cowboys instead accepted a head slap penalty (they still exist) and eventually turned the ball over on downs.

McCarthy actually passed up two field goals on that same drive, casting aside the one Aubrey made and also going for it on fourth-and-2 from the Houston 8-yard line. Which did not work.

“Obviously, had the big penalty on the field goal,” McCarthy explained. “But we needed seven there. You know, fourth and two and everything that we’re talking about leading into that series, that that’s a go-for-it situation. I felt good about the call.”

McCarthy Doesn’t Protect Cooper Rush

McCarthy, we remind you, came into this game with backup quarterback Cooper Rush playing for starter Dak Prescott because the starter is out for the rest of the season following a hamstring injury and surgery.

So, of course, the coach protected his backup quarterback by giving him a good running game, right? By not asking him to carry the team, right?

Wrong.

Rush threw the ball a whopping 55 times. That was McCarthy’s decision because he’s the offensive play-caller. And the offensive play-caller dialed up only 18 running plays.

“Just really couldn’t get it going, frankly, you know the run game,” McCarthy said. “That was a primary focus coming into this. I would have liked to have been a lot more balanced, run and pass. I don’t want to throw the ball 40 times.”

When a team throws 55 times, bad things generally happen unless the quarterback, the pass protection, and the receivers are playing career-best games. The Cowboys don’t have players performing at a career-best level.

So Rush was sacked five times, including once when he fumbled, which eventually was returned for a touchdown. He was also intercepted once.

Jones, meanwhile, felt good about his wilting team’s effort.

Jerry Jones Doing Fine

Amid players, particularly CeeDee Lamb, giving each other side-eye looks after a teammate threw an errant pass or missed a block or something went amiss, Jones was content with his team.

After Ezekiel Elliott caught a check down with nearly 8 minutes to play and, needing a first down, headed directly for the sideline, Jones is good with the effort and has no worries about McCarthy losing the locker room.

“You don’t need to worry about anybody in that locker room giving everything they’ve got and more and how bad they feel when they get beat on a play or get beat in a quarter or the whole game, at all,” Jones said.

It’s fine Jones feels good about his failing multi-billion-dollar business. Because, despite the ongoing embarrassment of this season, staying the course promises the best long-range outcome.

Staying the course is likely to carry the Cowboys to continued failure. And that will help a team already positioned for a top-10 draft pick next year to secure that pick.

The Cowboys haven’t had a top-10 pick since 2016, when Elliott was selected No. 4 overall.

This is good because the Cowboys need to maximize their draft picks next April. The reason is the Cowboys, in a rough salary cap position and needing to pay Micah Parsons, need as much inexpensive young talent as possible.

That cheaper talent only comes from the draft.

And replacing McCarthy for an interim coach that might rally the team – as Darren Rizzi has done in New Orleans, for example – might feel good this year. But it would ultimately hurt the team long-term starting next year.

So Jones letting McCarthy finish out the season and then firing him is the right way to handle this situation. Even if McCarthy continues doing questionable things. 

Follow Armando Salguero on X: @ArmandoSalguero