The Mike McCarthy era sure was something.
It started with a dud, and ended with a dud. In between, admittedly, there were some good times. The Mike McCarthy Era in Dallas has ended. The losing-season bookends of 2020 and 2024 to his time were certainly downers, but there were the three straight 12-win seasons, three playoffs trips, a couple of NFC East titles. and some powerful offenses paired with disruptive, opportunistic defenses in between. For a while, it was entertaining, but in the end, never successful.
McCarthy was hired to get this team back to a Super Bowl, not continue an excellent track record of regular-season success. He didn’t get there. But he did seem to give the Cowboys some veneer of competence, of professionalism, if not creativity, Given the distractions of what was around him, one could make the argument he did a fantastic job of navigating a turbulent atmosphere that permeates The Star. As many coaches before him have found it, that is a difficult thing to do.
There is also the idea of continuity. The team’s best players like Micah Parsons and Dak Prescott were vocal in their support of McCarthy. They believed in him even if many did not. That does count for something.
In the end, it seems that a little chaos from Jerry Jones was the final dagger that killed the relationship.
So let’s close out the era by laying down a marker. Do you approve of ending the McCarthy Era, or should they have kept it going? Vote in the poll, then hit the comments and give us your final verdict.
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