Regarding head coach and quarterback, Jones is unclear on how to respond.
Texas’s Arlington As the top seed in the NFC, Jerry Jones has seen his Dallas Cowboys lose their opening round playoff game twice.
The general manager and owner of the team had to watch the Dez Bryant catch that didn’t happen in Green Bay, even though Dallas looked good enough to make a deep run. The Packers won the divisional playoff game after that call.
Still, in the 28 years since the Cowboys last advanced to the NFC Championship Game, it’s difficult to envision a postseason setback more upsetting than Sunday’s 48-32 wild-card loss to Green Bay.
Jones remarked, “I don’t want to rank it,” outside a gloomy Dallas locker room. “But I will tell you this was beyond my comprehension.”
The Cowboys had a chance for at least two home playoff games with a 16-game winning streak at AT&T Stadium. The Packers had to finish 6-2 to sneak into the final playoff spot in the NFC.
The Cowboys had seven Pro Bowl players, four of those getting All-Pro nods as well. The Packers were shut out of the Pro Bowl and unproven quarterback Jordan Love was making his playoff debut.
Dak Prescott was the one who threw critical interceptions, including a pick-6. A Dallas defense that thrives on turnovers and sacks didn’t have any, and was worse than ordinary as a result.
Even before the game was over — and somewhere around the times the Packers had leads of 27-0 and 48-16 — pundits were already replacing Coach Mike McCarthy.
There doesn’t figure to be any immediate news on that front from Jones. McCarthy was meeting with players in exit interviews Monday and won’t talk to reporters until he’s finished with that.
There’s nothing unusual about that approach, but if the meeting with the media doesn’t come in the next couple of days, it will begin to look like the previous time things were this uncertain with a Dallas coach.
After the 2019 season, Jason Garrett sat in limbo for a week with an expiring contract, and never did address reporters. The Cowboys interviewed McCarthy before even acknowledging publicly that Garrett wouldn’t return.
McCarthy has a year remaining on his contract, and just finished his first season as Prescott’s play-caller after Dallas moved on from Kellen Moore following last season’s divisional loss at San Francisco.
A Super Bowl winner with three other deep playoff runs in 12-plus seasons with the Packers, McCarthy has led three consecutive 12-win playoff seasons with the Cowboys.
But now Dallas is the only team not to reach a conference title game in such a three-season stretch.
Jones, who typically makes a radio appearance the Tuesday following the season’s conclusion, stated, “I won’t get into addressing any aspects or any part of it. It’s as fresh on me right now as it is on anybody else.” “From the coaching to the players to what’s around the corner.”
Similar to McCarthy, Prescott is approaching the end of his contract year. The enormous $59 million pay cap that will apply to the eighth-year professional in 2024 can only be lowered with an extension.
The Cowboys must thus decide whether to reinvest in a guy who has been mentioned as the MVP several times in his career—including this season—but who hasn’t proven to be reliable in the postseason.
Prescott
The Cowboys gave up touchdowns on six of the first seven Green Bay possessions.
It’s the same unit that gave up a game-winning drive in a loss to Miami in Week 16 and would have done the same a week later against Detroit if not for a disputed penalty. The call erased a two-point conversion that put the Lions up by one with 23 seconds remaining.
Star pass rusher Micah Parsons had no impact against the Packers and now has a 1-3 playoff record with one sack.
Cornerback DaRon Bland’s NFL-leading nine interceptions and record five pick-6s were distant memories. He had a crucial illegal contact penalty on the first Green Bay possession and was beaten several times after that.
The lackluster performance even makes one wonder if Dan Quinn, the defensive coordinator, will be able to successfully run for head coach again. The former Atlanta coach is anticipated to interview for other positions, like he did the two years prior to his decision to remain.
Cornerback Jourdan Lewis stated, “I’m kind of distraught.” “You’re not sure how to feel. We most certainly had no idea that we would experience this at this early stage.”
Lamb, who broke team records this season for receptions and receiving yards, didn’t make his first catch against the Packers until the Cowboys were trailing 20-0.
He’s about to enter the last year of his rookie contract, and the Cowboys have until March to execute Parsons’ fifth-year option.
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