McCarthy says Dallas Cowboys ‘taking steps in right direction’ after loss to Steelers
Mike McCarthy is now 2-7 as the Dallas Cowboys’ coach after a 24-19 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers Sunday at AT&T Stadium.
Immediately after the game, McCarthy addressed Garrett Gilbert’s gutty performance, the Cowboys’ special teams play, Ezekiel Elliott and Tony Pollard, and why he saw more improvements in the loss during his post-game press conference. He also touched on several crucial penalties called against the Cowboys late in the game.
Here’s an edited transcript of his comments:
McCarthy’s opening statement
That was a hard-fought football game to say the least. I felt that we had contribution from all three phases. I felt that was clearly our best team football that we played this year. It was good to see the production starting with the offense and moving the football and then the ability to stay with the run/pass mix. They primarily played base defense to load up against the run and make the passing game the emphasis. I felt like Kellen Moore showed great patience. I felt the defense really built off of what we’ve established the last couple weeks. I really feel the defensive group was more comfortable just playing together and I think we are past the spot where we are out there thinking. Special teams, we knew we needed one or two big plays in the game today and we were able to get that on both the throwback and the kickoff return. So, tough game. But once again, it came down to taking care of the football. We have to get rid of that [issue]. That has haunted us all year. And then we obviously had more penalties than they did. I love the way the guys fight. I’m proud of what we had to go through to get to this point. We keep having challenge after challenge and these guys keep answering it. We are disappointed, very disappointed. I felt our players did enough today to beat an excellent football team. But that did not happen.
McCarthy on Garrett Gilbert’s performance
I thought that Garrett kept us in good plays. There’s a lot that was going on at the line of scrimmage. He was prepared. You could see that during the course of the week. He was getting more and more comfortable as he had the opportunity to exercise the game plan. I thought he definitely thought he brought it from the practice field to the game. The only negative in the performance was the two turnovers.
McCarthy on Gilbert’s interception in the red zone and releasing sooner
I think that’s the general opinion. That would play more to the play design which the defense played to be more specific. I think we all understand that the red zone, there’s less space, things happen quicker down there and there is a different type of pass rush. It looked like we had pressure inside. If I remember correctly, he was getting ready to throw the ball away. That obviously took points off the board for us.
McCarthy on Cowboys’ progress and improvement
I just focus on what we do every day. Today is a reflection on what we are capable of doing. I spoke to the football team. We need to continue to focus on the things that we can control, the plays we can control. We clearly understand that it comes down to only so many plays each and every week that determine whether you win or not, and that’s what we will continue to do. I think the understanding of how we are playing and how we want things done, you can see it building throughout the preparation phase. You can see it building on the practice field. I think we’re definitely taking steps in the right direction the last two weeks as far as the understanding and speed of what we are trying to get done. We have a bye week. We’ll spend time self-scouting it all, both individually for the players and all three phases. We’ll get loaded up because it’s time. We’ve got to get going. Everyone knows what our record is, so we need to get going and we need to start stacking wins.
McCarthy on three late penalties against the Cowboys
Well, I tell you what — you can write as much as you want. Go for it. I’m not going to. As I said to the football team, we need to focus on the things we can do better. What was called, what wasn’t called, we don’t have control over that. I think our players do a really good job with that. You want to play with a lot of energy. Obviously, it’s a physical football team that we played today. We expected a knock-down-drag-out type game. That’s what we prepared for. At the end of it and you’re on the edge there and guys are getting after it. We’ve got to be disciplined through those spots. I say that without seeing the actual tape and having a chance to review it. But we had some tough calls and the timing of it was a real challenge.
McCarthy on Garrett Gilbert’s two-minute drill performance
I thought he was excellent. Frankly, I think our quarterback guys do a great job with the amount of preparation. Garrett’s poise in that drill is exactly what you’re looking for. We talk about the characteristics of two-minute. One of them is that you’ve got to be comfortable winning the game on the last play. That’s what it came down to there. We just wanted to make sure we were a position to win it on the last play of the game. Obviously, we didn’t convert but you see, more times than not, people trying to do too much. I thought he did a great job managing the clock with his decision making.
McCarthy on special teams successes
I definitely feel that the special teams, particularly the last four outings, has been played at a very high level. John Fassel does a tremendous job. Our guys, you’re seeing the continuity that is so important in this game. That’s the one part of our team that has been able to play consistent with similar lineups week in and week out. Obviously, I feel really good about what they did today. But this past month, I feel like they’ve really come on strong.
McCarthy on [special team’s coach] John Fassel’s creativity
I knew that when I hired him. I can’t say enough about the way he goes about it. [Assistant special teams coach] Matt [Daniels] does a great job also. But these things are practiced. Everything that we do is well-repped, It’s just great to see the players go out there and execute it. They are very well prepared and they did a lot of things that put us in position to win the game.
McCarthy on Ezekiel Elliott and Tony Pollard
I love the way that Zeke grounded it out today. He was in question at the pregame workout. I think he did a great job. It was definitely a phone booth we were running into today. Also with Tony. Tony did a really good job pressing the course, being patient trying to cut back. They had an extra hat in the box primarily the whole day. I thought both runners did a really nice job of trying to eliminate the negative runs, falling forward, and attacking the apex, things like that. I thought both those guys played well.
McCarthy on 4th down decisions
I’m trying to win the game. All decisions are made based on what’s going on in the game. You don’t just make 4th down decisions off an analytics book. There’s other factors that are involved and they change based on what’s going on in the game. That’s what those decisions came down to.
This story was originally published November 9, 2020 at 6:00 AM.
