Could the Mike McCarthy era in Dallas be over?
The Cowboys exited the NFL playoffs much earlier than anticipated on Sunday, and they did so in embarrassing fashion. Dallas became the first No. 2 seed to lose to a No. 7 seed since the playoffs expanded to 14 teams in 2020, falling to the Green Bay Packers 48-32 in the wild-card round.
The Cowboys, who were riding a 16-game home winning streak, found themselves down 27-0 before the halftime break at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas. Dallas entered the locker room down 20 and never got any closer than to within 16 points, as Green Bay cruised to a decisive upset win.
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The question on the mind of many after the stunning playoff result was whether Dallas' loss would cost McCarthy his job. Well, Cowboys owner Jerry Jones was asked about McCarthy's future postgame but said he hadn't even thought about what's next for the team.
“I haven’t thought one second about it,” Jones told reporters of McCarthy's future, via ProFootballTalk. “My whole thought process was getting ready for a playoff game here next week. I am amazed to be sitting where we are right now.”
Jones added that Sunday's loss "seems like the most painful" playoff defeat since he purchased the team in 1989.
McCarthy, 60, has one year remaining on his contract with Dallas. ESPN's Adam Schefter reported earlier Sunday that, throughout the season, sources believed McCarthy would be judged on how Dallas' final game of the season went.
That could spell bad news for McCarthy's prospects of making it to Year 5 as Cowboys coach. While Dallas is 36-15 with two division titles over the last three regular seasons, two of those campaigns have now ended with a home loss in the wild-card round.
The Cowboys became the first team since the 1970 merger to win 12 games in three consecutive seasons and fail to make a conference championship game in any of them, according to ESPN. Dallas is still seeking its first conference title game appearance since the 1995 season when the franchise won it all.
With Bill Belichick suddenly available, could Jones make a move for one of the greatest coaches of all time in an effort to make it back to the Super Bowl?