Despite 2020 uncertainty, Mike McCarthy knows expectations are high for Dallas Cowboys
An off-season of doubt, apprehension and change has turned into an NFL season of uncertainty in the COVID-19 world of 2020.
The league is saying all the right things and is expressing the utmost confidence that it will play a full 16-game season with the playoffs and Super Bowl LV in Tampa Bay similarly intact.
But there is no denying it won’t look the same at the start of the season, with no fans in the stands at the majority of the stadiums, safety protocols on the minds of everyone and contingency plans in case games have to be postponed or eliminated.
It’s in this sea of diffidence that the Dallas Cowboys will kick off the Mike McCarthy era Sunday night against the Los Angeles Rams at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood.
And on top of the coronavirus dubiety, there will be the specter of a social justice protest taking attention away at the start of the game, with some Cowboys expected to take a knee during the national anthem for the first time ever.
McCarthy, however, has his eyes wide open.
His job remains the same. And the expectations, whether real or imagined, are clear.
The incertitude of things surrounding the season don’t change what it means to be the ninth coach in Cowboys history and the certainty that yearly playoff and Super Bowl conjecture come with the job.
“I think the reality is that every team in this league is competing to win the championship,” McCarthy said. “I don’t why you would do otherwise. I know some people believe you keep the expectations low, keep the pressure off of you. Trust me, I knew the day I walked in this building what the expectations are and always will be with the Dallas Cowboys.
“I am not going to sit here and beat the drum and talk about what our expectations are. To me, it’s a given. I think some people are scared to say it. But there is no need to say it. At the end of the day, it will always be the expectation here in Dallas and I love that.”
It was that way for McCarthy in Green Bay, hence it was why he was fired in 2018 after 13 years, despite winning a Super Bowl title in 2011.
And it’s the reason why he was hired in Dallas, where a franchise with five Super Bowl titles has sniffed the conference championship game since the last title in 1995.
McCarthy is focused solely on Sunday’s game against the Rams, but he has made a point to acknowledge the big-picture expectations to a team that blew a 3-0 start to finish 8-8 last season, resulting in then-coach Jason Garrett getting fired.
“I did an analytics presentation to the team on really the course of last year’s team,” McCarthy said. “Just to show examples of the importance of playing with consistency and keeping your valleys from your top performances to lowest performances. Your peaks and valleys have got to be short, they can’t be deep. Not only do we want to win games, win all of our games, but we want to be playing our best football in December. And take it into the playoffs.
“That is the mindset. That is the understanding. That is the everyday conversation when we talk outside of the specifics of what we are trying to get done. I think it is important to clearly express those thoughts and approaches. But more importantly, have a clear understanding of why you do what you do to keep you on that course. So I think it brings a clear understanding and keeps us all on the same page. But to me, that’s a given. That is part of the deal here. I embrace that.”
It all starts Sunday against the Rams, and the players are understanding it and embracing it as well. As for many, the expectations are nothing new to them, despite their lack of success.
“Expectations are always high,” defensive end DeMarcus Lawrence said. “Just like (owner) Jerry (Jones) said once he bought the Cowboys way back, Dallas has expectations from the get go, so I mean, we’re focused on trying to bring that championship back to Dallas and that’s going to be our expectation every time we touch the field.”
Things may not be perfect at the start because of all the aforementioned stuff that impacted the off-season and training camp. But winning remains the expectation, per running back Ezekiel Elliott.
“He was showing the proof to the plan,” Elliott said of McCarthy. “The first game you know is not going to be your best game. You know it’s going to be a little sloppy, especially this year with no preseason and kind of a late start to training camp. It’s going to be messy the first couple of weeks. It’s not going to be perfect. You got to fight for a win.
“His whole thing is no matter where you start, you always want to end up here. You want to be trending upward by the end of the season playing your best football.”
