‘That’s how those things go.’ McCarthy defends play calling after Dallas Cowboys loss.
The Dallas Cowboys are back in last place in the NFC East after a deflating, 41-16 loss to Washington Thursday at AT&T Stadium.
Dallas is 2-5 in its past seven Thanksgiving Day games, including a 26-15 loss to the Buffalo Bills a year ago.
The loss to Washington is head coach Mike McCarthy’s first with the Cowboys (3-8) on the holiday.
McCarthy, who has shown a penchant for gambling with trick plays throughout the season, likely helped the Cowboys bring on their own demise when several plays backfired on Thursday. He addressed his play calling, the Cowboys’ 3-8 record and his team dealing with the death of strength coach Markus Paul during his postgame press conference. Here is an edited portion of his comments.
McCarthy on the fake punt called on fourth-and-10 from Dallas’ 24-yard line:
I mean it’s definitely a big-play opportunity. There are certain things you look for tendency-wise on when and where. But obviously, we didn’t execute it. That’s how those things go. Obviously, it’s ultimately my responsibility particularly when a play like that doesn’t work. But we’re trying to generate a big play. At that point in the game, our information that you look for going into it, it was a solid call.
McCarthy on his staff and players dealing with the death of Paul
I’ll explain the obvious. It’s extremely difficult. I mean, obviously with the passing of Markus Paul there are a lot of heavy hearts. But I can’t say enough about our football team and how our players … the way they came out and started the game. We had a number of adverse things to deal with throughout the game. We just didn’t get it going to where we wanted to get it going in the second half. You find out a lot about people in these times. I can’t tell you how proud I am of this football team. But yes, it’s a week that I don’t think any of us will ever forget.
McCarthy on the fourth-and-1 pass attempt in the second quarter
It was a clean matchup. Honestly, we had one-on-one on the perimeter. Obviously, the result wasn’t what we were looking for. I think everybody saw what happened on the play. Those are plays that you look to create opportunities and it was a good play call. We had one-on-one on the outside. We just didn’t convert.
McCarthy on more offensive line injuries and adjustments
It definitely changes the way you do some things. I think that’s obvious. I can’t tell you how proud I am of those guys just jumping in there, Brandon [Knight] and Terence [Steele]. But you know, you make adjustments. Unfortunately, we have quite a bit of experience with that situation this year. I thought [offensive coordinator] Kellen [Moore] did a really good job managing the situation. I thought [offensive line coach] Joe Philbin did a good job managing that (as well). It’s unfortunate that we had the injuries.
Did McCarthy consider the negative of a missed fake punt?
Well, you don’t get anywhere if you think about the negatives all the time. Obviously, it was a solid play call. It’s a good play design. Their gunner made a good play. He came off of it and put us in a high/low read for Cedrick [Wilson]. It’s a play that if we hit it, we’re sitting (good). That’s the nature of those plays. So, you can never hit them if you don’t call them and don’t believe in them. I clearly understood the situation when it was called.
McCarthy on calling timeout late in the first half
I made a mistake on the timeout there at the end of the first half. That was clearly my fault. That should not have been called there.
McCarthy on his team not building on Sunday’s win in Minnesota
I think everyone understands the state of our division. We’re going to reboot and we’re going to regroup. Obviously, everything we’ve had to deal with this week, we knew that we had an opportunity, a division opportunity. We understand how important that division games are. But the fact of the matter is that we play Baltimore in seven days and we’ll be ready to go.
McCarthy on his thinking behind the fake punt attempt
I’m fine with my answer before. There’s obviously film study that goes into the call when you call it. But yeah, when you call it, you’re obviously looking to convert it. You obviously understand on fourth down calls what your options are. You either convert it or don’t convert it. You always know that going in. There’s flow of the game and all those things that factor into the decision. I’m very confident in our players and we put them in position to make big plays.
McCarthy on the death of Markus Paul
Markus was a special man. He was definitely someone, when I think of him, he obviously had a lot success in his professional life but if you really look at the mark of a man, it’s more about significance over success. I can’t tell you the impact he made on our football team, really on the whole organization. I’ve only been working with Markus since January. But it’s very clearly evident throughout these last 48 to 72 hours what he means to everybody. The team meeting last night was powerful. We’re definitely going to miss him. It’s unfortunate for his family, but we had the opportunity to celebrate him last night as a team. We’ll definitely continue to do that. His memory and his impact have touched a lot of people and will always live with us.
This story was originally published November 26, 2020 at 10:08 PM.
