1 day Ago
Mike McCarthy plans to arrive early before today’s season finale at AT&T Stadium. That’s nothing new since he became the Dallas Cowboys head coach. It’s part of his pregame routine to be there well before the players arrive.
But this time will likely include more reflection than usual. It could be his final game as the franchise’s ninth head coach. McCarthy is only under contract for another week .
He has been given no indication by team owner Jerry Jones if they plan to work out an extension or go their separate ways. Advertisement “I’ll be honest with you,” McCarthy said, “I go to the stadium much earlier this time in my career than I used to. I won a Super Bowl in that home locker room at AT&T Stadium.
So I have a very strong emotional attachment that it hits me every time I walk in there and every time I walk out. So, yeah, I’m definitely aware of it. I’m not thinking about it right now, but, yeah, I’m definitely in tune with that.
” McCarthy was the head coach of the Green Bay Packers when they defeated the Pittsburgh Steelers 31-25 at AT&T Stadium in 2011. As a head coach, he’s never been in this situation where a season is ending and he doesn’t know if he’ll be back. He would like to be, but no one outside of Jones seems to know for sure if that could actually happen.
Sunday’s top priority For the past two games, the idea of a miracle postseason ticket has been dead. The games have been about playing spoiler in the NFC playoff picture and seeing what on this 2024 roster is transferrable to the future. To a certain extent, those two things remain the same for the Cowboys’ Sunday afternoon season finale against the Commanders .
But given the game has become a glorified preseason contest for the home team, the top priority for this game is the same as it would be for any preseason game: leave the stadium healthy. The Cowboys are already dealing with injuries to key players who will impact their 2025 season. DeMarvion Overshown ’s absence due to a brutal knee injury is going to leak into 2025, and may cost him the entire next season.
Trevon Diggs’ injury isn’t as severe but it will limit him in the offseason program, and his training camp participation is uncertain, too. Injuries are unpredictable and the playing roster is limited, in terms of how many players can realistically be held out of action. But if you’re looking to gauge how the game went after it’s over, look at the injury report instead of the scoreboard.
Advertisement A lesson from the past I was covering the Cowboys in a part-time capacity in 2019 but was around the team often. In fact, I traveled to Boston for the Cowboys’ trip to play the New England Patriots . After the game, Jerry Jones held court in the road locker room with reporters.
Jones speaking after games is nothing unusual but I’ll never forget his pointed comments about the coaching job by the Cowboys. “It’s frustrating just to be reminded that some of the fundamentals of football and coaching were what beat us out there today,” Jones said that day. Jason Garrett was in the final year of his contract that year, much like McCarthy is this season.
After Jones’ media session that rainy night up north, I knew there was virtually no chance Garrett would be back. The way the end of that season played out, though, was strange. The Cowboys’ final game that season was, coincidentally, at home against Washington.
They won, finished 8-8 and missed the playoffs. It felt like a forgone conclusion that a change at head coach was coming, but the Cowboys dragged it out. For six days after the game, there was no announcement.
Finally, on Jan. 5, the team put out a statement to officially end that chapter. McCarthy was hired two days later.
On Tuesday, Jones said on 105.3 The Fan, “I assure you I have been, for weeks, thinking about how we go forward.” Nothing about the conclusion of this Cowboys season is coming out of left field.
I would expect an official decision, one way or another, to come sooner than it did five years ago. Pregame prep • Dallas’ future harder to predict this time • McCarthy on Zeke’s release • Commanders at Cowboys: What to watch, picks, odds and more Predictions Jon Machota, Cowboys beat writer: There’s really only one somewhat intriguing storyline in this game from a Cowboys perspective, and that’s Trey Lance . He didn’t look great in the preseason.
Could he turn in an outstanding performance against Washington and make everyone second-guess why he didn’t play more this season? Possibly. But highly unlikely. Commanders 26, Cowboys 10.
Saad Yousuf, Cowboys beat writer: The Commanders have seeding to play for, the Cowboys have nothing to play for. Commanders 27, Cowboys 13. (Photo: Geoff Burke / Getty Images).
