In 2021 Dallas Cowboys coach Mike McCarthy was pushing his team to a Super Bowl, but now he’s merely imploring players to “cut it loose” in meaningless games in 2024.
FRISCO – The Dallas Cowboys have lost so much this season that they no longer have anything to lose.
Coming off three consecutive 12-win, playoff seasons, they enter Sunday’s road finale at the Philadelphia Eagles as a 7-8 team in an uncomfortable role. From Super Bowl hopeful to spoiler.
Mike McCarthy Life-Saver
By Tony Fisher
Despite four wins in five games to reach a level of respectability and a chance at a “winning” record, this will in no way be considered a successful season. The Cowboys lost quarterback Dak Prescott in Week 9, lost five in a row to fall to 3-7 in November and were buried by Thanksgiving.
They were officially eliminated before last week’s game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
While his future with the team hangs in the balance, there’s no denying that lame-duck coach Mike McCarthy’s squad has played harder and better in recent weeks. (Not coincidentally, they’ve faced the 2-12 New York Giants and 4-11 New York Giants.)
The Eagles will be looking to clinch the NFC East at Lincoln Financial Field. The best the Cowboys can do is be the poop in the punch bowl that ruins the party.
On Friday, McCarthy repeated what he told his team going into the final two games of the season. By contrast, it’s quite the demise from the Cowboys’ highest of hopes just four seasons ago.
McCarthy in July 2021, beginning of training camp:
“Charlie (Bleep)-Around? He doesn’t work here. High School Harry? Get his (bleep) out the (bleeping) door. This is about winning a world championship. Nothing else. Winning season? Not good enough. Playoffs? Not good enough. Getting to the conference championship game? Not good enough. This is about winning the Super Bowl. Period.”
McCarthy in December 2024, with two meaningless games remaining:
“Cut it loose. We’re going in there to win. This is what you live for. This is what you work for. It’s a division game. It’s a hostile environment. I just want these guys to play with a ton of confidence and don’t look back.”
And there is your sad-truth reveal: From the Super Bowl to spoiler.
