Why Mike McCarthy says the Cowboys have ‘a different feeling’ after bounce-back win
The feelings and vibes around The Star in Frisco saw a noticeable uptick on Monday morning, as the Cowboys returned to their team facilities fresh off a chaotic divisional win over the Washington Commanders that ended a five-game losing streak.
While the roller coaster of the Dallas season to this point has seen significantly more downs than ups, riding the wave of a win at this point in the season still has its benefits.
“It’s definitely a different feeling today,” head coach Mike McCarthy said. “But I think the biggest thing is we’re in a short week and the guys did a great job of getting in here and getting done what they needed to get done.”
Despite a season-ending injury to quarterback Dak Prescott and the team still trending toward a disappointing season outcome, McCarthy and his players have attacked the preparation for each game as if things were going the opposite way. In his eyes, it’s a big reason why the Cowboys were able to get back in the win column.
“They’ve done a good job of staying the course as far as preparing,” he said. “Clearly, if you’re looking for a definition of urgency, we’ve definitely had it around here the last month. I’m just thankful. I’m happy for the players for them having the success they’ve worked so hard to achieve.”
As the NFL calendar powers on, there won’t be a lot of time to celebrate. The Cowboys have a quick turnaround for their third game in 10 days when they welcome in the New York Giants on Thanksgiving Day. With the Giants having an even worse season to this point, it’s an opportunity for the Cowboys to stack a pair of wins to finish the month of November.
“It’s a fast week,” McCarthy said. “There’s so much to do and you have to do it in a timely fashion because the recovery of the players is at the top of the list…The rest and recovery is at a premium this week.”
McCarthy said that there aren’t any big picture conversations happening around the Cowboys after just one win. According to NFL Next Gen Stats, Dallas has only a five-percent chance of making the playoffs after moving to 4-7. Instead, the message is to remain on the course.
“We’re still pretty far down in the valley of adversity right now,” McCarthy said with a laugh. “We’ve made one step in the right direction. We’ve still got a lot of climbing to do. It was great to get some wind under our wings and start that.”
This story was originally published November 25, 2024 at 6:20 PM.
