Jerry Jones’ unwavering faith in Mike McCarthy is looking wise at the moment.
Given how the first two seasons under McCarthy concluded for the Cowboys, plus their underwhelming play in the waning weeks of the regular season, it seemed plausible that a playoff loss could get McCarthy fired. But even before the Cowboys thumped the Bucs on Monday night, Jones was declaring McCarthy’s job safe.
It was little surprise then that Jones was more than happy to salute McCarthy Tuesday on “Shan and RJ.”
“They deserve their A-pluses, and I’m not exaggerating when I say that,” Jones said of McCarthy offensive coordinator Kellen Moore. “They responded in their way to what the situation is, I think we maximized our talent out there last night. Of course, Mike to me has done an outstanding job this year and this was deserved, really.
“I know how much he puts into it, and for him to have this great playoff win is just an outstanding result. As is always, these questions you have about somebody's (job), where they’re going from here, they usually answer themselves right there on the football field and they did last night.”
McCarthy has been maligned plenty throughout his career. Even though it can be deserved, he, like any other coach, has to wear most of the Cowboys’ missteps. That goes with the territory, especially with a fanbase as intense as the Cowboys'.
For that reason, Jones thinks his coach should be widely lauded.
“Let’s give Mike and his staff (credit) – but let’s give (McCarthy) all the credit since he gets all the negatives when (things go wrong),” Jones said. “He took that team from training camp, really, last spring, and he took it to – and all is fair – he took it to what we saw last night. That is, to me, a thing of beauty and it gives us a chance to basically go to San Francisco against an outstanding team. It gives us a chance to have our feet under us, have everyone prepared.
“We’ve got a lot of young players that have gotten a lot of experience this year. And we’ve got veteran players that have really managed their year – Tyron Smith, people like Peters, people like that – that have managed their years and are ready to play in this game against San Francisco, and if given a chance, play another one. That’s all you can ask. Great job, Mike.”
The Cowboys’ next opponent, the 49ers, represent a much tougher task than the Bucs. Dallas will likely need another coaching masterpiece from McCarthy if it wants to reach its first conference title game since 1995.
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