Quitter Dallas Cowboys have no choice but to change defensive coordinators
Nothing Mike McCarthy has done since he was hired suggests he is an upgrade over the dumped Jason Garrett. Garrett was a lot of things, but his team never consistently looked as bad as the Cowboys’ era of McCarthyism.
This team currently has no sense of decency, but the scariest part of the Dallas Cowboys’ latest loss is that they might actually be trying.
“We never quit. We don’t quit,” Cowboys defensive end Everson Griffen said Sunday, “so that’s it.”
Then this is the most telling sign of a truly horrible team.
The Dallas Cowboys are so poorly constructed on defense that even if they “executed” to the top end of their abilities there would not be that much of a difference. They’re so bad not even the NFC East can save them.
And despite that reality, after his team lost to the Washington Whatevers, 25-3, on Sunday, Jerry Jones has no choice but to call McCarthy into the big office and ask for a change. Specifically, defensive coordinator Mike Nolan.
With injuries to the entire offensive line and starting quarterback — and now the backup quarterback — the offense, and coordinator Kellen Moore, gets a pass.
Jerry has to find out if the defense is just is that terrible or if they are the Dallas Snowflakes.
Jerry is not going to fire Melatonin Mike right now, or after the season. The season is gone, but Jerry is not going to watch this type of performance on a loop every week.
No one understands the NFL better than Cowboys defensive coordinator Mike Nolan, whose father once served as an assistant to Tom Landry. Nolan has been in the NFL since before he was born, and he knows how it goes: Time to pack up.
McCarthy has no choice but to at least demote him.
However, following Sunday’s game McCarthy did not sound like a man who is going to change any of his assistants.
I asked McCarthy if speculation about a change at defensive coordinator, given how poorly that unit has played, is valid or out of line.
“It hasn’t crossed my mind,” he said. “I’m focused on getting better each and every day. So, you know, that’s where we are.”
That’s working out well.
“We’ve had so much change just in our everyday function,” McCarthy said. “The important thing is to stay the course. This is a process and we’re not where we want to be. ... We’ll continue to work and I do believe we’ll turn this in the right direction.”
The Cowboys defense has not only not made any improvement since Week 1, they have managed to regress.
They are playing at a historic rate.
They allow good offenses to break records. They allow horrible offenses to look respectable.
The latest: The Washington Dan Snyders had scored 20 points only one time this season. The only reason former Texas A&M quarterback Kyle Allen and the Washington Washingtons played well on Sunday had more to do with the Cowboys’ defense than their own offense.
There is no justifiable reason to retain a coordinator who is in charge of a group that should be declared a national disaster.
“We’re ticked off. Everybody is tired of it,” Griffen said. “We have to start fast and finish fast. It is a little training. We have to be able to bounce back and do our job. I don’t think we’re doing that right now.”
No argument here.
I asked Griffen how the morale is on defense.
“Morale is great,” he said.
Apparently, no other lies were available.
McCarthy has known Nolan for forever. Firing a friend is never easy.
The Cowboys are now 2-5, and in these situations it’s just not the players who are mad at the coaches. Just because they are not saying it, the coaches are furious at the players.
“There is a high level of frustration,” McCarthy said. “We’re not doing the basics. Let’s quit candy coating it.”
Yes. Let’s do that, and just go with a bottle of vodka.
Mike McCarthy’s first year as head coach of the Dallas Cowboys is going worse than the entire year of 2020.
There is nothing redeemable about this team, or the season.
Even if quarterback Andy Dalton returns from the concussion he suffered in the second half against the Washington Washingtonians, a 2-14 record is in play.
Since Dak Prescott fractured his ankle a few weeks ago, the Cowboys offense with Dalton has essentially made two plays: A pair of long passes to Michael Gallup to set up the game-winning field goal against the New York Giants.
The offensive line is what it is, but there is no excuse for any defense to be this bad.
They’ve either quit, don’t care, or they are just that bad, because they have no sense of decency.
This story was originally published October 25, 2020 at 5:47 PM.
