Mike McCarthy says Dallas Cowboys win only means something if team ‘stacks success’
For the Dallas Cowboys’ win over the Minnesota Vikings to really mean something they must keep winning.
Coach Mike McCarthy seized on that fact moments after Sunday’s 31-28 win in Minneapolis. Thanks to the NFC East struggles, the division is still up for grabs. In fact, the Cowboys (3-7) could lead the division with a win over Washington (3-7) on Thursday.
McCarthy addressed this and how his team needs “to build off this win” during his post-game press conference. Here’s an edited transcript of his comments.
Mike McCarthy’s opening statement after beating Vikings
That was obviously an excellent team win for us. Boy, I’m just so happy for our players. It’s been a year through a lot of ups and downs. It’s so gratifying to see these men get the victory today because they damn well earned it. That’s for sure. Minnesota is an excellent football team, playing very well. We knew this was going to be a slugfest coming in here. The run defense going up against their run offense, there was definitely a battle. We have great respect for Dalvin Cook and what they bring to the table. We battled through some things in the secondary in the second half. But I just love the fight of the defense. Offensively, we did a good job of staying balanced. That was the goal coming in here. Special teams, I think was pretty much a wash of balance there. It was an excellent team win. I feel very good about what we accomplished today. Obviously, we’re coming off this win and it’s going to be a quick turnaround for the Thanksgiving game against Washington.
McCarthy on Andy Dalton’s performance
I’m very happy for the offense and Andy, him being away altogether. It was a full week’s work coming into this. I thought he did a heck of a job today. He kept us in clean plays. He really gave us the ability to stay with the run and the pass. I thought Kellen [Moore] called an excellent game just creating opportunities continuously for all of our perimeter. That’s the way we want to play. We want to be able to spread the ball around to our five perimeter positions. I thought Kellen and his staff did an excellent job with the adjustments and so forth while going up against a stingy defense in Minnesota.
McCarthy on scoreboard watching the noon games
History will tell you that you that you have to play your best football in November and December. Obviously with the state of our division, that focus is ours. We need to win Thursday. This will be our first opportunity to really stack success and the key to where we are as a team. All three phases played well. This is clearly the most rounded performance and victory that we’ve had this year. It took us a little longer to get here today but I clearly think the journey will make us stronger. We need to do something with this win. We need to build off this win. It needs to mean something. That will take a victory Thursday on Thanksgiving.
McCarthy on defensive stops in the 4th quarter
They were huge, huge plays. You just look at the way Minnesota came out in the second half to establish those scoring drives and take the lead. Once again, you have to play balanced football to win against an excellent team. We knew we would have to get it done in some form or fashion in all three phases. So we needed those stops from our defense. I really liked the patience, the discipline of our offense in that spot and then the defense came up big with that fourth down stop to win the game.
McCarthy on Ezekiel Elliott’s performance
Zeke is a warrior. He’s a huge part of our success. Frankly, I just look at the way he runs the football. The attempts, they are body blows for any defense. It’s necessary to keep us in a run/pass mentality. It’s fun to throw the football but at the end of the day, good team football is about having a healthy run game. The combination of Zeke and Tony gives us that. Zeke’s a warrior. His run style is something we all feed off of. It was great to get him 20-21 touches today.”
McCarthy on the all the receivers getting touches
I think it’s important to play that way. Especially when you get up against good defenses, it’s about matchups and where are they going to tilt the coverage. We’re trying to dictate where the ball goes. The patience of Andy and the pass protection gives us the ability to throw when we need to throw. It gives you the opportunity to spread the ball around. It’s a perimeter that obviously I love, because any day any of those guys is capable of breaking for 10 catches and 150 yards. We have those types of players throughout the perimeter. It was great to get those guys touches and get the ball spread around.
McCarthy on Zack Martin moving to right tackle
I think like anything there’s so many things that go into those types of decisions. It’s never just a one-for-one position change. We’ve had more going on this year with our offensive line, frankly, than any team I’ve ever coached. It’s really the combination of players. That’s always the goal. That’s no different than with this particular lineup. Hopefully, it’s a healthy combination and we can come back tomorrow and hopefully we can build off of it.
McCarthy on CeeDee Lamb’s touchdown catch
Unbelievable body control, discipline and focus. I go back to draft day. I’m so glad he’s a Dallas Cowboy. I think we are all seeing the beginnings of a tremendous career.
McCarthy on the player’s mentality and motivation
I think it’s clearly a team that’s been working the whole year. Everything is new. The schedule is new. The coaches are new. Clearly, it didn’t look the way we wanted it to look earlier in the season. We recognize that. We took accountability for that. This team works. They work. They earned it. Frankly, we had some opportunities where we probably played well enough but didn’t quite win. This is what it’s about. Yes, trust me it’s great to win. That’s what this is all about. It’s about winning. Our football team earned it today.
McCarthy on Donovan Wilson
He’s a stud. I just love the way he plays. I’m so proud of him. Starting on special teams when he got here, now with this opportunity that he’s earned. He brings it. There’s not a game where he’s not come up big for us. He’s probably one of our best players going after the football. He’s always on the football. That was obviously a huge play in the game.
This story was originally published November 23, 2020 at 6:00 AM.
