Set aside the fact that the Dallas Cowboys let Jason Garrett dangle in the wind for nearly a week, conducting interviews with coaches while having Garrett sit around waiting to get fired for little reason other than “because…”. The Cowboys letting Jason Garrett go was inevitable.
But Mike McCarthy? Really? Like…really?
It’s not that Mike McCarthy didn’t win in Green Bay; he was 125-77-2 across his 13 years with the Packers. But, he only one one Super Bowl with arguably the most talented quarterback of this generation; he went 18-10 in the playoffs.
He has also been knocked for having, perhaps, the least creative offense of all time. (Slight exaggeration.) His Hall of Fame bound quarterback called him one of the least bright football minds he’d ever been around. (Less slight exaggeration.) His defenses were routinely undermanned and terrible. He is, possibly, the most boring, mediocre choice the Cowboys could make for a head coach, especially as the Cowboys’ would-be franchise quarterback marches ever closer to a new contract that will even more severely hamstring the Cowboys’ salary cap.
So, like, what’s the endgame here? The likelihood that McCarthy can make due with a cash-strapped roster that signs Dak is basically “zero”, given that one of McCarthy’s primary frustrations in Green Bay was the lack of signing free agents. He royally pissed off Aaron Rodgers with play calling, and while Dak is more likely to just go with the flow, McCarthy runs an offense that basically has no easy throws, relying on the tried and true “it’s the West Coast Offense, OF COURSE it’s gonna work” mentality that doomed him to Rodgers changing his playcalls on the fly in Green Bay.
Leaving Jason Garrett twisting in the wind just so you can sign “Basically Jason Garrett Only He Looks Like The Beav” is a strange lateral move for a team that allegedly wants to win, and win soon
On the other hand, football is better when Dallas is terrible, so fuck the Cowboys, I hope this is as bad an idea as it seems on the surface.
I was happy to hear this news. How many weeks are we giving him before he has his play-calling rights stripped from him and he becomes the cheerleader that Garrett was?
I’ll put $100 on week 9.
I agree with you, but at the same time, it’s really hard to come up with a candidate who would be a good fit with Dallas.
I don’t think this is an improvement over Garrett and might be a downgrade. One defense I’d make of McCarthy is I don’t think Packer managment is very good and don’t think they put in the effort to win on the field. Another is that I’m not so sure A-A-Ron is all that skilled at personal relationships and will take his comments with grains.
The thing I notice about Dak is that he never moves his feet while in the pocket. For all the bullshit about his pre-game hip warm-up the other month he is flat footed and has no legs in his motion. I also don’t think he can learn it at this stage of his career. He has to be on the move to be effective and if they start to waggle and roll it will open space for Zeke too.
I’m speaking from an 80s & 90s understanding of the ‘West-Coast’ offense but the hardest part then was finding Wides that could read their own coverage. The idea is that it is a qucik hit off the slant or single move and the throw was fairly easy. Montana and Young didn’t have the strongest arms but read and placed the ball well. Low throws to avoid tipped picks and not kill the receiver. This evolved into the rub routs we see on about every play today. The Wide had to be able to tell if his 1 move was in or out, up or down and would relay this with by tapping their hats. But this is another thread…
I don’t know who really designs the gameplan and I can believe that Jerry get a say on that but they have a 21st century QB and need to adopt the 21st century offense and get in on the RPOs. Is McCarthy that person? Not sure because he had a pretty good 20th century QB at his last job and ran that kind of O. If A-A-Ron thought that was stale and/or not too bright then maybe he should have been a different type of QUBE.
Bottom line is Jerry is the problem in Dallas. This can not be questioned. The data is in and the only common denominator is the ass-hat in charge.
I have no intelligent sports things to say, except that I like when the Cowboys lose because the worst members of my family are Cowboys fans and throw a fit. I mean my whole family is but the worst ones are the ones who get so affected. I eat their pain for breakfast.
Even though I don’t sports, I can name more 90s Cowboys players than current football players (both college and NFL put together).
SPROTS!
What I’d like to know is how Giants fans feel about maybe ending up with the former Cowboys coach. Isn’t that one of the biggest, longest-standing rivalries in the game, or was that just my ex?
Sort of…the bigger rivalry is Washington and Dallas.
What’s the root of that, the original AFC/NFC divisions?
I think it has more to do with the Wild West mythology and the cowboys and indians bullshit.
the cowboys are the newer team in that division and back in the day the guy running the cowboys, Tex Shram was all about marketing. From the phrase “America’s Team” to the cheeleaders he was going to make the Cowboys a thing. He was the only one to volunteer to play on Thanksgiving just so they had a TV spot each year and he wanted it to be the Washington game.
Actually, it originally had to do with the “Hail to the Redskins” song…if you can believe it.
per wiki:
As a 49er fan in the Sixties, Cowboy fans were the worst. Because of my special hatred of the Cowpies, I endorse the hiring of Mike (“if the West Coast offense was good enough for Bill Walsh, it’s good enough for us”) McCarthy. Under McCarthy, mediocrity will continue to be the theme, nay, the goal, in Irving, Texas. Another round of Johnnie Walker Blue for Jerruh!
I was less than inspired when they announced the hire but the more I have heard since I am encouraged. More than anything I am just happy to be rid of Redball.