The McCarthy Chronicles: What, exactly, is the Cowboys head coach supposed to do?

It’s a never ending circus in Dallas, and Mike McCarthy is just along for the ride at this point.

The Cowboys were in the perfect position. Micah Parsons, finally back on the field after an injury kept him out four games, strip sacked Jalen Hurts and rookie Marist Liufau recovered the ball at the Philadelphia six-yard line. An Ezekiel Elliott run cut the distance to paydirt in half, setting up second and goal.

Working out of the pistol, Cooper Rush faked a handoff to his left before rolling out right. A defender was coming up in his face, but Rush found CeeDee Lamb, who had sprung wide open in the back of the endzone. Rush tossed the ball to his star receiver, moments away from taking a 10-7 lead with just under two minutes left in the first half.

Mike McCarthy had done it. Except he hadn’t.

Lamb made no discernible effort to catch the ball. It hadn’t been the most perfect throw, but a player of Lamb’s caliber could’ve easily caught it, especially with the defender steps behind. The problem is Lamb was facing the sun, which was pouring in through the massive windows and blinding the receiver as he looked for the ball. After the game, Lamb confirmed he couldn’t see on this play.

Has there ever been a more perfect encapsulation of this team than this moment right here? The Cowboys came into this game as heavy underdogs, largely because of Dak Prescott’s likely-to-be season ending injury. But the defense showed up to play – they forced a punt or took the ball away on four of the Eagles’ five first half drives that didn’t start in the red zone – and McCarthy had just schemed up a perfect, easy touchdown throw.

The only thing that stopped it was Jerry Jones. The owner has been insistent in the past that he won’t put up curtains to block out the sun, which is a direct result of his stadium being one of the few that were built facing east and west, rather than north and south or even at an angle. Jones once again defended his stadium and the right to not use curtains, even after his star receiver advocated for them.

It should be noted that AT&T Stadium does, in fact, have curtains to cover the windows through which sunlight comes in. These curtains have been used for non-football events held in the stadium, such as Wrestlemania or a Taylor Swift concert.

Even if that weren’t the case, Jones’ insistence against doing this is embarrassing. The owner and general manager has repeatedly said that there’s not a thing he wouldn’t do to help his team win at the highest level, but his actions say something else entirely. This is far from the first time a Cowboys player has been blinded by the sun, and Jones still refuses to make any changes or even admit that there might be an argument for doing so.

This arrogance and stubbornness from Jones is yet another embodiment of the real problem in Dallas. McCarthy has received plenty of heat, but his hands are largely tied. The head coach took a subtle jab at his boss’s uninspiring offseason strategies in the run-up to this game, and then went to work trying to upset the Eagles with a backup quarterback. Even when things went right – his much-maligned defense got a takeaway and Lamb came wide open in the endzone for the lead – they still didn’t work out, because the owner is fundamentally unwilling to do the things it takes to win.

So what, exactly, is McCarthy supposed to do? Sure, he could’ve done more to help Rush out, or played Trey Lance more/sooner. But this game made very clear the limitations both quarterbacks have. And, again, even when things go right for this team it still doesn’t work out.

By now, everyone knows McCarthy is gone after this year. Nobody inside the building will admit it, though Parsons sure seems to have already moved on from his head coach, but it’s painfully obvious that McCarthy has fallen perfectly into the trap this front office laid to justify moving on from him when his contract expires after the year.

Losing Prescott only accelerated the level of bad football we’re going to see the rest of the year, but McCarthy is certainly still trying to win games. The problem is he’s doing so with both arms tied behind his back while Jones pries his eyes open, Clockwork Orange style, and beams the sun directly into his retinas.

Whoever takes over this team after McCarthy will be dealt the same problem: how do you win in a place with sky high expectations and a boss who has no interest in helping you meet said expectations? McCarthy won a ring in Green Bay with a quarterback who said worse things about him on a weekly basis than Parsons just said. If that man can’t overcome the circus that never leaves town, who can?