Week 18 will be very important for the Dallas Cowboys on multiple levels.
The Dallas Cowboys have not achieved a double-digit win total for three straight seasons since 1994-96. Now, in just his fourth season with Dallas, coach Mike McCarthy has his team one win away from three straight 12-win seasons. But is it possible that this record might not be enough to keep the coach around until 2024 and beyond?
In Diana Russini's recent article for The Athletic, she talked about the head coaching landscape across the league. At the end of the piece, Rossini addresses the Cowboys' situation – entering Week 18 with a chance to win the division. It was reported that the Cowboys talked about the 2019 New England Patriots and how they couldn't sleepwalk to the No. 2 seed.
In 2019, the Patriots were 14-point favorites over the Dolphins at home, looking to lock up the AFC East against a Miami team that didn't have much to play for. But New England lost, then hosted a Wild Card game against the Tennessee Titans the following week. That game was lost as well, and Tom Brady never played for the Patriots again. According to a league source, the message to the Cowboys this week was: “We can't squander the No. 2 seed.”
If that happens? I would add Mike McCarthy to the list of coaches having problems.
The playoff path is much tougher for Dallas as a No. 5 seed if they miss out on winning the NFC East and fall to No. 5. They will travel to the winner of the NFC South and then, if they win, take on the fearsome San Francisco 49ers. In 2019, when the Patriots lost to the Dolphins in Week 18, they hosted a playoff game but faced a red-hot Tennessee Titans team and lost, while the Giants reached the AFC Championship Game that year.
The goal is to set yourself up for the best possible path to the Super Bowl, and the Cowboys hosting at least two playoff games at home would be best for them — considering the last quarterback to beat Dallas at home was Tom Brady in Week 1. For the year 2022.
Could a loss in Washington mean McCarthy will be on thin ice entering the playoffs? If you don't believe one NFL insider, Adam Schefter espnalso talked about what he's hearing from The Star, how important this qualifying round is and how it's directly tied to McCarthy's chances of survival.
Dallas Cowboys: There is still a feeling among people around the league, and even some within the Cowboys organization, that coach Mike McCarthy will be measured by how Dallas' final game goes.
If the Cowboys play well in the postseason, McCarthy will have an excellent chance to keep his job. But if they struggle and end the season with an embarrassing loss, as has happened each of the past two years, some say change could come to Dallas.
It's still an unsettled situation either way, and both the Cowboys and McCarthy have – fairly or unfairly – a lot to prove on Sunday against Washington and then in the postseason.
The other factor is what the Cowboys will do with defensive coordinator Dan Quinn, who has interviewed and been offered head coaching jobs in each of the past two seasons. Quinn stayed with Dallas out of loyalty because he felt strongly about the organization.
But there's a question about how long that will last and whether Dallas can convince him to come back for another season, which could impact any decisions this team makes. According to sources, the Cowboys don't want to lose Quinn, and there are questions about what Dallas would be willing to do to keep him.
Fair or unfair, the standard in Dallas is winning championships, Schefter says. If McCarthy can't achieve that with the best team he has had since taking over, everything seems up for debate.
Could that include a potential promotion for defensive coordinator Dan Quinn? The front office loves the way he has changed the team on the defensive side of the ball and made them a consistently dominant unit. Quinn's return to Dallas in 2023 surprised many, considering he was in a coaching position for the Denver Broncos. He got away from that and wanted to come back and train his guys.
Quinn's name is already circling the league for potential opening prospects, including one in Los Angeles with the Chargers. If Dallas wants to keep Quinn from another coaching rotation, could they part with McCarthy in favor of keeping their defensive coordinator? Schefter's final sentence could mean that no one knows what the team will be willing to do to keep him. Cowboys owner Jerry Jones could certainly shock everyone with something unprecedented.
Whatever the case, it appears there could be a ripple effect that could result from the outcome of Sunday's game in Washington. If Dallas wins, locks up the NFC East, and the No. 2 seed, McCarthy should be on his way to securing a new contract as the Cowboys' captain. If not, all multiverse options for his future with Team America are on the table.
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