ARLINGTON - There are reasons for the Dallas Cowboys to consider re-upping lame-duck head coach Mike McCarthy. Really there are; squint just hard enough and maybe you can see them.
And there is a time and a place for discussing the concept as well.
But late into the night after a mind-bogglingly odd "Monday Night Football'' 27-20 loss to the Cincinnati Bengals that saw Dallas' thin playoff hopes virtually disappear in part due to mistakes that can be tied to coaching ... is a bold time and place to do it.
Welcome to Jerry Jones' world, where "bold'' and even bizarre statements aren't the half of it.
Customarily, after a loss, the Cowboys owner feels the same devastation that his locker room does. I know: In the minds of some, the billionaire doesn't really care about winning and losing. But this was weird ... Jones used the word "devastated'' - "Of course, that locker room is really devastated by the turn of events on the blocked kick," he said, acknowledging the boneheaded manner in which Dallas gave this game away to slip to 5-8 - but then he flipped a switch to something "outstanding.''
"Well, let me just say this quickly, and Mike is an outstanding coach. He has an outstanding record. He's got great experience," Jones said of McCarthy. "A lot of what he's about, some of the benefits that we're having out there, we're gaining from the type coach that he is."
"And so there's an old adage, 'When you start thinking about any coaches, you better give it a good look,' because he's one of the most outstanding. So again, I've spoken to that about any consideration I'm having, but this was a hard one for him tonight. I'm sure."
I'm sure, too. So why, after a "hard one,'' are we celebrating McCarthy's "outstandingness"?
It's likely that Jones is setting up Cowboys Nation for the possibility that McCarthy - who has on his resume a Super Bowl in Green Bay, three straight 12-5 campaigns in Dallas and the continued effort of his players in this sad "Blow It Up'' season - will indeed be retained.
Related: Aikman Changes Cowboys Prediction on McCarthy
Maybe that's why Cowboys legend Troy Aikman in a pregame visit predicted McCarthy will be back. I'm betting Troy - who'd spent the previous three days hanging out at The Star doing his preparatory homework for the "MNF'' telecast - got that information from somebody. Somebody up high.
That does conflict with what others have been told, and it even conflicts with what Aikman himself said to us just a couple of weeks ago. Which leads me to this thought: Maybe Jerry and the Cowboys should quit making semi-decisions and pseudo-announcements about McCarthy until all the evidence is in.
There is a time and a place for evaluation. But Bengals 27, Cowboys 20? Capped by a play that had this coaching staff's fingerprints all over it? Leading to the coming elimination from playoff consideration? This ain't it. ... which makes Jerry's comments both "bold'' and "bizarre.''
Related: Cowboys Boneheaded Mistake Keys Shocking Collapse vs. Bengals
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This story was originally published December 10, 2024, 4:37 AM.