It has been a disappointing first season in Dallas for Mike McCarthy, but he will return as the Cowboys' head coach in 2021.
"There will be absolutely no change with Coach McCarthy," Cowboys executive vice president Stephen Jones said on Dallas radio station 105.3 The Fan. "I am surprised someone would question Mike, the unprecedented situation everyone's been in. And on top of that, no one's making excuses, but we have had some real challenges in the injury category. If you look at his track record and his pedigree, he's consistently won year in and year out."
McCarthy signed a five-year deal with the Cowboys in January after a 13-year stint in Green Bay, where he led the Packers to nine playoff berths, six NFC North crowns and the Super Bowl title from the 2010 season.
The Packers' .615 winning percentage from 2006-18 trailed only the New England Patriots (.779) and Pittsburgh Steelers (.642) for the best in the NFL.
Green Bay never won fewer than six games during McCarthy's tenure there, but he's gotten off to a rough start in Dallas with the Cowboys heading into Week 15 with a 4-9 record.
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"We have the utmost confidence that this ship is going to be righted quickly," Jones said. "And Mike's going to be the leader of this group."
Stephen Jones reassures his "utmost confidence" in head coach Mike McCarthy going into the 2021 season.
— Dallas Cowboys (@dallascowboys) December 14, 2020
Losing Dak Prescott to a gruesome compound fracture and dislocated ankle in Week 5 certainly did not help matters for McCarthy after the two-time Pro Bowl quarterback started all 64 games for the Cowboys from 2016-19.
Since Prescott's injury, the Cowboys turned to Andy Dalton at quarterback before he suffered a concussion and landed on the reserve/COVID-19 list, which forced the team to hand the keys of the offense to Ben DiNucci and Garrett Gilbert. Needless to say, the results have not been pretty.
Through Week 5, Dallas ranked first in the NFL in passing at 381.4 yards per game and third in the league in scoring at 32.6 points per game. Since Week 6, however, the Cowboys are 28th in the NFL in passing at 186.1 yards per game and 31st in scoring at 16.9 points per game.
While the offense has struggled mightily without its franchise quarterback, as well as Pro Bowl left tackle Tyron Smith following his season-ending injury, the defense has been a mess all year.
Dallas are allowing a league-worst 30.77 points per game, which barely edges out the 30.75 points allowed by the 1960 expansion Cowboys for the worst single-season mark in franchise history.
Despite all their problems on offense and defense, the Cowboys can still win the NFC East. Dallas need to win their remaining three games and have the Washington Football Team go 0-3 the rest of the way to capture their third division crown in five years.
If Washington win once more, however, the Cowboys will miss the playoffs in consecutive seasons for the first time since a four-year stretch from 2010-13.