The Dallas Cowboys were embarrassed by the Green Bay Packers in the Wild Card Round of the playoffs this past weekend, and afterward, owner Jerry Jones apparently unloaded on his players.
Cowboys cornerback Jourdan Lewis went into detail describing Jones’ message, and Jones certainly did not seem thrilled with the effort.
“We’ve got to win,” Lewis said was Jones’ message to the players, via Garrett Podell of CBS Sports. “This is the Dallas Cowboys. We had everything to win. We can’t let this feeling keep going on. I just feel like he [Jones] wants to win right now. The urgency is now. It was always that, and we always had that on our shoulders, but he made that clear. That was his point.”
Given that Jones is 81 years old and has not seen his team win advance past the Divisional Round of the playoffs since the 1995-96 campaign, which was the last time the Cowboys won a Super Bowl, you can see why he would feel a sense of urgency.
That’s why people were surprised when Jones announced that Mike McCarthy would be returning as head coach next season.
That being said, Jones has not fired a head coach after a season since Dave Campo in 2002, so Jones’ decision to retain McCarthy is certainly not without precedent.
But taking all factors into consideration, Jones opting to keep McCarthy does not seem like the wisest move in the eyes of many.
Dallas went 12-5 this season and captured the NFC East division title. Dak Prescott played like an MVP candidate, leading the NFL with 36 touchdown passes. The team looked thoroughly dominant in many of its wins throughout the campaign. On top of that, it had gone undefeated at home.
In spite of all that, the Cowboys found themselves trailing the Packers 27-0 at halftime this past Sunday, and they ended up losing 48-32 in a game that was not nearly as close as the score indicates.
You have to think Jerry Jones’ patience is wearing thin, so it will certainly be an interesting offseason in Dallas.
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